I went to the Jingle Bell Ball at the O2 arena the Sunday before last. Plenty of top pop stars were there including Janet Jackson. But there was an extra act that was not on the programme: John and Edward, known as Jedward. They had been contestants on the X Factor.

When they finished their song, they got applause and screams, like the other acts, but then a growing amount of booing.

I have asked a few people why they were being booed. I am told it is because some people think they should be have been knocked out of the X Factor earlier than they were. They think that John and Edward sing out of tune and that they stayed in the competition while better singers were being knocked out. This may all be true. But as far as I can tell, John and Edward did nothing wrong. They just benefited from votes and/or from the choices of X Factor judges. If they were kept on longer than than some people think they ought to have been, it was not their fault. Booing them was unfair and cruel. It is a kind of yobbish, mob behaviour in which insulting and bullying is considered a kind of fun and not shameful. It is also a relatively new kind of behaviour in Britain. I have not been to many pop concerts but I have not heard of booing at them before.

Posted by James Bartholomew • Indexed in Behaviour & Crime

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