GAMU Nhengu’s big week as the star of Britain’s biggest music talent search competition was overshadowed on Monday by claims that her voice had been artificially enhanced by the show’s producers.
Both the Mirror and Times newspapers on Monday specifically claimed Gamu’s voice had been “doctored” to improve her performance on the X Factor. The Mirror also singled out eccentric star Shirlena Johnson as another beneficiary.
Citing unnamed “experts”, the Mirror reported that “the voices of contestants Gamu Nhengu, 18, and Shirlena Johnson, 30, had clearly been tampered with on Saturday night’s show."
The paper said the “singers’ voices were doctored to improve their appearances”, adding: “Other performers are said to have been cruelly edited by technicians in the auditions to make them sound even more out of tune.”
ITV and TV watchdog Ofcom got hundreds of complaints following claims that Auto-Tune was used on the show.
ITV admitted using voice enhancing technology “to deliver the most entertaining experience possible for viewers” but denied this was used selectively.
"The judges make their decisions at the auditions stage based on what they hear on the day, live in the arena," a spokesman for the show said. "The footage and sound is then edited and dubbed into a finished programme, to deliver the most entertaining experience possible for viewers."
But the show added that when the live rounds start in mid-October, this will not be the case.
"When it gets to the live shows, it will be all live."
Gamu will be disappointed by the row which dominated social networking sites, TV, blogs and newspapers on Monday.
Weighing into the debate, the Telegraph's TV Features Editor Michael Deacon said: “The people complaining appear to be under the peculiar delusion that The X Factor is some kind of serious music programme. Perhaps they weren’t paying close attention to the previous six series.
“If they had been, they’d have noticed that the programme’s aim – well, apart from lining Simon Cowell’s pockets – is to give millions of people something to argue about ... What I want from The X Factor is controversy, silliness, bickering, absurdity, glitz and tat. And I’m certainly getting it.”
Twelve million people watched Gamu's TV debut as she sang a rendition of 'Walking On Sunshine' to a rapturous reception at the pre-recorded X Factor audition held in Glasgow, Scotland, in June.
Bookies have installed the Zimbabwean as an early favourite to win the competition.
WATCH GAMU'S X-FACTOR AUDITION
SHIRLENA JOHNSON'S AUDITION