August 22, 2009 15:49

Second swine flu scare rules N-Dubz singer out of V Festival

Band recruit crowd member for reduced set

pic: andrew whitton

N-Dubz played V Festival this afternoon (August 22) with one band member missing.

The group took to The Arena stage without Tulisa Contostavlos after the vocalist was ruled out with a suspected case of swine flu.

A spokesperson told NME.COM she was "very disappointed" to have missed the slot.

The singer was the subject of a H1N1 scare earlier in the year, but it later turned out she did not have the virus on that occasion.

Battling on as a duo – backed by drums, guitar, keyboards and a DJ – the group paid tribute to their bandmate and at one point picked a girl out of the crowd to mime along to the missing singer's pre-recorded parts.

As a result the group played a reduced set, but did perform their chart single 'Number 1' from the pit at the front of the stage, although collaborator Tinchy Stryder did not join them despite playing the same stage earlier in the afternoon.

NME.COM will be coming live from both the V Festival sites this weekend (August 22-23). Stay tuned to NME.COM/festivals/v-festival for news reports, blogs, video interviews and photos from the event. Plus get next Wednesday's (August 26) issue of NME for the ultimate V Festival review.