End of the road for Jedward

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John & Edward are voted off 'X Factor'

The hyper-quiffed identical pop twins, known as Jedward, came up against Olly Murs in the sing off.

The twins' rendition of Boyzone's No Matter What was unusually subdued with no dance routine and no tricks.

Olly, one of the show favourites, said he was "a bit gutted" to be in the bottom two.

But his polished performance of Eric Clapton's Wonderful Tonight was too good for the brothers.

His fans will nevertheless have wondered if judge Simon Cowell could turn around and stab the superior singer in the back, as he did with Welsh teenager Lucie Jones earlier in the series when she came up against the twins.

But Cowell stuck with Olly, telling the twins: "I'm actually going to miss you, I am."

Cheryl Cole also voted for Olly while Louis Walsh went with his act, John and Edward. That left Dannii Minogue to ratchet up the tension.

Before making her decision, she said: "I have a question. Is it a singing competition that we are voting on here? I need to know the answer to make a decision."

Eventually she said: "I'm going to have to judge it as I've judged it the whole time. On the premise that it's a singing competition I will have to send home John and Edward."

Only yesterday Cowell described the pair as an "unstoppable machine".

The brothers will have to wait and see if the fan frenzy they have provoked can translate into long term success.

The pair remained all smiles as they were voted out, saying Olly deserved to go through and reach the final.
One of the twins said: "It's been the greatest experience of my life. We're here every single weekend on live television having the greatest time of our life."

The other chipped in with: "It's, like, deadly. It's, like, so cool."

Walsh said: "I've had the best time working with these guys. I feel young again. We've had an amazing time."

Earlier Britain's Got Talent sensation Susan Boyle and pop diva Mariah Carey - who both have new albums coming out - performed on the show.

Boyle, wearing a floor-length black dress, received a standing ovation for her performance of Rolling Stones classic Wild Horses.

She said the whirlwind of the past six months was "bloody fantastic", adding: "Look out the public, that's all I can say, look out the public."

Her album, I Dreamed a Dream, is hotly tipped to go straight to number one.

After performing Foreigner's I Want To Know What Love Is, Carey, whose new album is called Memories Of An Imperfect Angel, joked: "Of course we are all nervous when singing in front of Simon."