Simon Cowell has blasted the campaign aiming to get Rage Against The Machine’s ‘Killing In The Name’ to Christmas number one ‘stupid’.

At today’s X Factor press conference Simon said:

“If there’s a campaign, and I think the campaign’s aimed directly at me, it’s stupid.”

"Me having a Number One record at Christmas is not going to change my life particularly," he said. "It does however change these guys' lives and we put this opportunity there so that the winner of The X Factor gets the chance of having a big hit record.

"I think it's quite a cynical campaign geared at me which is actually going to spoil the party for these three [contestants]. I also think it's incredibly dismissive of the people who watch and enjoy the show… to treat our audiences as if they're stupid and I don't like that."