Smiling through the stress: Amelia Lily puts Fix Factor claims behind her as she returns to Middlesbrough ahead of show final
By Sarah Bull and Andrea Magrath
Last updated at 6:24 PM on 7th December 2011
More rumours emerged yesterday that The X Factor is a fix after Amelia Lily's 'winner's single' was made available for pre-order on HMV's website.
But the 17-year-old singer decided to put the scandal behind her today as she returned to her hometown of Middlesbrough ahead of the show final this weekend.
Dressed in a tight black dress with a pink faux fur coat to match her pale pink hair, Amelia looked delighted as she caught up with her former classmates at Teesside High School and treated them to a quick performance in the school hall.
Smiling through the stress: Amelia Lily put the new Fix Factor claims behind her today as she returned to her hometown of Middlesbrough ahead of the show's final this weekend
Excited: Amelia looked delighted to be returning to Teesside High School as she hugged a former classmate
The teenager was greeted by crowds of pupils all armed with signs congratulating Amelia on reaching the final as she made her way into the school.
Amelia will be facing off against girl group Little Mix and Liverpudlian Marcus Collins in the X Factor final this weekend.
But reports yesterday suggested the winner had already been chosen, after HMV gave fans the chance to pre-order the winning track.
Daddy's girl: The singer embraced her father Barry Oliver as she arrived home
Support: Amelia was greeted at the school by crowds of pupils all armed with signs backing her to win
While all three finalists have pre-recorded their single to go on sale immediately after the winner is announced this weekend, only Amelia's appeared on the website.
An immediate Twitter storm ensued, causing the HMV site to crash as curious fans flooded the website to see for themselves.
However, HMV spokesperson Gennaro Castaldo said: 'Hmv.com was looking to accept customer pre-orders for versions of the X Factor winner’s single recorded by each of the three finalists.
Belting it out: Despite apparently suffering from laryngitis, Amelia treated pupils to a performance
Swarmed: Amelia was joined by her mentor Kelly Rowland in Middlesborough
What's My Name: Amelia wore nameplate rings on her hands
'However, due to a technical issue only Amelia Lily’s details were uploaded. These have been temporarily removed so that all three finalists’ details can go up at the same time.
'This has been the result of an unforeseen but regrettable technical issue, for which we apologise and ask that nothing further be construed.'
Despite the explanation, social networking sites went into overdrive as X Factor fans speculated over the repeated 'fix' blunders that have plagued the show this season.
But the stress of the 'fix' claims is said to have left Amelia feeling even more exhausted and concerned about the final.
Whoops: Yesterday, HMV put up Amelia Lily's 'winner's single' days before the X Factor final
She is even thought to have contracted laryngitis and is suffering from strained vocal cords as the gruelling promotional schedule, which sees finalists practise for 12 to 14 hours every day, takes its toll.
A source told The Sun: 'Amelia Lily has been under the most amount of pressure out of anyone and she's just 17. She is fiercely ambitious but she hasn't had the chance to grow up yet.
'Her voice is her biggest weapon but this week singing has started to hurt and she's worried. It's stress on top of stress.'
The first fixing rumours started after an ITV official blog announced that Amelia was the returning contestant following Frankie Cocozza's departure.
Arriving in style: Meanwhile, Amelia's competitor Marcus Collins flew back to his hometown of Liverpool
Meeting and greeting: Marcus gave pupils the chance to sing some lyrics back to him as he belted out songs
At the time fans took to Twitter after they spotted a video on the website of Scottish ITV (STV) which they believed showed Amelia Lily, 17, had won the public vote even though fans were still being urged to pay for telephone votes.
The video showed clips of Amelia from earlier rounds with a report proclaiming her the winner. It said: ‘Amelia Lily is back in The X Factor after winning the public vote tonight.’
There was also a statement posted on the website that added: 'As Dermot O’Leary read out her name, mentor Kelly Rowland jumped to her feet screaming as Amelia Lily looked stunned.'
A spokesman said at the time: ‘The STV web team prepared stories regarding each contestant in anticipation of the result and due to a technical hitch, all four stories went live on our website. We apologise.’
Fix Factor! Fans of the show grumbled about a fix when Amelia replaced Misha B at the end of the M&S Christmas advert
Amelia triumphed in the vote over James Michael, 2 Shoes and Jonjo Kerr. The pink-haired teenager gave a rousing version of Queen’s The Show Must Go On. Just a week later, viewers were left grumbling about yet another 'fix' after Amelia replaced Misha B as the 'star' of the M&S Christmas campaign.
Early in the competition viewers had noted that Misha, who was eliminated on Sunday night, was given far more air time than any other contestant in the ad.
But after Miss Lily's return to the show, she took the coveted end scenes and featured heavily in the ad.
A spokesperson for the chain insists they chose to make the switch as they change the advert according to which contestants remain on the show.
The representative said: 'X Factor contestants come and go every single week. The ad is constantly changing to reflect the show.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2071109/X-Factor-2011-fix-Amelia-Lily-puts-claims-returns-Middlesborough.html#ixzz1fsdoYrqV
