October 24, 2012 16:56

X Factor contestant accused of copying YouTube star

Originality of James Arthur's LMFAO cover questioned

Photo: ITV/Nicky Johnston

The X Factor contestant James Arthur has been accused of ripping off a YouTube musician on a cover of LMFAO's 'Sexy and I Know It'.

The Middlesbrough-born singer performed a cover of the pop track on Saturday's live show (October 20), impressing the judges in the process with Gary Barlow telling him that he had given the song "real meaning" and delivered the "performance of the series so far".

However, fans of the show have been quick to point out that Arthur's take on the LMFAO song is not as original as first thought and that the song was first performed in that style by a musician who uploads covers of pop songs to YouTube under the name Only1Noah. James Arthur has not tried to hide his inspiration too much though, Tweeting Noah after his performance to say: "Thx for the inspiration Noah! @Xfactoruk team loved ur version & asked me to put a spin on ur spin."

Despite this declaration, Arthur's versions remains very similar to the one uploaded by Only1noah. Noah has picked up over 13 million hits for his LMFAO cover and has also covered tracks by Adele, Taylor Swift, Alex Clare and David Guetta in recent months.

Speaking about Arthur's performance on The X Factor, judge Gary Barlow said: "You absolutely turned that song on its head. It's kind of a silly dance song... I reckon those guys took about five minutes writing those stupid lyrics. But do you know what? You gave those lyrics meaning tonight."

You can see both James Arthur and Noah's versions of the song below:

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