A QUIRKY hard-working trio from Harrow reckon they have a shot at the live finals of The X Factor by "bringing something different to the show".

M.I.T.S.O.T.U have reached the crucial Judge's House stage of the TV singing spectacular where judge and 'Groups' category mentor Louis Walsh, the man behind the boy band Boyzone, invited all the bands over to Las Vegas for further training and auditions in order to whittle down his six acts to just three for the business end of the competition.

Band member and professional dancer, James Collins, of 22, The Drive, North Harrow, said: "It is great to have got through to the judge's houses, I am so ecstatic.

"We are feeling so positive about the whole thing and so far the journey has been an amazing experience."We were all surprised when we got Louis, because he normally gets the 'Overs-twentysomethings' category but he is such a sweet dude, and he knows his stuff."

James' bandmates are Jimmy Essex, 23, of Moelyn Mews, Harrow, a professional dancer who has performed with popular girl group The Saturdays, and Holly Cooper, 23, from Kent, who works as a hospital admin assistant.

The trio formed when they all attended The Urdang Academy performing arts school in Angel, north London.

James said: "We are all best mates. We hang out together all the time.

"We do our rehearsals in Harrow, so although Holly is actually from Kent, she spends most of her time in Harrow."

ITV1 broadcast on Sunday night the final 'Bootcamp' stage episode in which more than 70 acts took to the stage at Liverpool’s Echo Arena and sung for a crowd of more than 5,000 people in a bid to make the 24 acts to win a place at one of the judges' houses.

M.I.T.S.O.T.U had to battle against fellow competitors Rough Copy with the groups singing Plan B's 'She Said' together.

James said: "The one band we really didn't want to battle against was Rough Copy. They are so loud and nuts, we thought we would be totally overshadowed by them.

"But luckily we both got through which was great and I think their level of energy brought us up."

The name of the band is an acronym of the phrase 'Music is the soul of the universe' that James and Holly have tattooed on their forearms.

James said: "We both just believe in that quote so much and we really like it, so we went and got matching ones on our arms. Jimmy hasn't got one yet although he said we would get it when we get signed to a record label."

The quirky band admitted their doubts about going on such a popular and mainstream format.

James said: "Doing The X Factor was definitely not the route we were going to take but we have been together as a band for two years and we are always having doors closed so we need someone to open one for us.

"We all work really hard and we just needed an opportunity and a break. We all thought that The X Factor would do that for us.

"We obviously were a bit worried about going on the show just because the show has a bit of a stigma about it.

"People that go on it are not that rated but we went for it. This year there is high level of competition, but we are different, we will bring something different to the show."

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