Two Irish acts made it to the final stages of The X Factor this year, it has been revealed.
The Sunday World has reported that brothers Sean and Conor Price, who hail from Wicklow, will jet to Simon Cowell’s mansion in Los Angeles for the Judges Houses stage – after surviving the dreaded Six Chair Challenge.
Sean, 17, and Conor, 15, are regular buskers on Grafton Street, and have also appeared on RTÉ kids programme Swipe.
An onlooker at their Bootcamp audition at Wembley said, “They sang Beggin by Madcon and Sing by Ed Sheeran. The audience liked them after their first track., but Simon wasn’t keen, so they sang Sing. They are a dead cert for the live shows in my opinion, potentially the new One Direction.
New One Direction: Brother Sean and Conor Price make it to Simon’s judges houses | FACEBOOK
“One brother sang, the other was rapping and playing the guitar – they’re like Shawn Mendes meets Ed Sheeran,” they added.
However, it was bad news for Dublin girlband F.A.E. – as they were sent home by Simon at the Six Chair Challenge stage.
The band consists of Kelly Irwin, Alana Fox, Katie Ball, Louisa Farrell, Charley White and Kez Higgins, and are aged between 16 and 18.
An onlooker at their audition said, “They sang Masterpiece by Jessie J. The wore white jeans and different coloured jumpers and looked like skittles. Simon then asked them who chose the choreography and the group said their teacher.
“Simon said they should sack their teacher and that the audience wasn’t feeling them. They got through to the Six Chair Challenge by the skin of their teeth,” they explained.
Bad news: Dublin girlband F.A.E. were sent home at the Six Chair Challenge | FACEBOOK
The band’s manager Alison Vard Miller, who is also the teacher in question, has since warned aspiring singers to “avoid reality TV and Simon Cowell” and slammed the “ruthless” talent show.
When contacted by the Sunday World, Alison – who runs the Miss Ali Stage School – said she was restricted in what she could say about their time on the show, but slammed the talent show’s process.
‘They got far in the competition and obviously I can’t give further comment about it, but it was a ruthless situation in London and, as their manager, I found it very cut-throat.
“I think a lot of young people today have the wrong impression of the music industry, that you have to become a winner of one of these reality TV shows. I think that is absolute nonsense,” she added.
