Simon Cowell axes 60 X-Factor contestants in final stages before allowing them to audition

X Factor bosses told 60 boot camp contenstants that they were no longer part of the show following fears that too many “average” singers had made it through to the show’s final stages

Around 200 would-be stars had travelled to Liverpool in an attempt to make it through to the judges’ houses round.

But they were gathered on stage at the city’s Echo Arena last night and almost a third were sent straight home.

A show source told the Sun: “It was carnage. They were told there would be an important announcement. They went out on stage to face Tulisa, Louis, Gary and Nicole - and then the bombshell. There were looks of shock on people’s faces. Even the judges looked upset.”

It is believed show supremo Simon Cowell ordered the move amid fears that too many average acts had been put through.

An X Factor spokesman said: “Some of the contestants who got a yes at their first auditions, when seen side by side against the others, were not of a good enough standard.”