James Arthur has hit out at ‘The X Factor’ finalists for being described as "brave" for performing their own songs.
The 29-year-old singer – who won the TV talent show in 2012 – took to Twitter during last night’s (03.12.17) showpiece, which saw Rak-Su beat off competition from Grace Davies to win the latest series, to air his frustrations, insisting this year’s contestants had an "advantage".
He wrote: "Let’s be honest, this is the first year contestants have been allowed to do their own songs. Let’s stop saying how brave these guys are, it’s an advantage and respect to them for being able to do it (sic)"
Rak-Su performed original tunes ‘Touche’ and ‘Mona Lisa’ in the final and Grace sang her own songs, ‘Nothing But Words’ and ‘Too Young’.
After Rak-Su’s final performance, show boss Simon Cowell admitted not many contestants with "this much at stake" would’ve performed their own track.
He said: "Not many artists with this much at stake rather than just doing something before, or doing an old song, you stuck to yourselves.
"You wrote your own song, and not many people do that."
In July, it was reported Simon had decided to encourage this year’s acts to perform their own material following similar success on ‘Britain’s Got Talent’.
A source said at the time: "Simon knows he can’t change the format too much, but one thing he and the contestants can change is what’s sung.
"If there’s lots of new material it could attract a new audience.
"Original songs by young performers have generally been well received on ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ too, so it seems a risk worth taking."
James Arthur: X Factor acts aren’t brave
