A disgruntled UK music-lover is taking on American Idol and X Factor bigwig Simon Cowell’s “music machine,” urging fellow punters to download a Rage Against The Machine classic to wipe The X Factors’s five year reign from the number one spot.

Jon Morter and his wife started a Facebook group to get “Killing In The Name Of” into the hot spot and so far he’s attracted more than 550,000 members, including the celebrity likes of UK comic Lenny Henry and John Lydon, aka Sex Pistols’ ‘Johnnie Rotten.’

Morter told NME that his song choice was a “rallying cry” against the five year reign of Cowell’s X Factor pets.

“Some certainly do see it as a direct response to him personally. If that’s what they take out of that song, then that’s fine for them. We’ve nothing personal against him at all, we just do not want yet another Christmas chart-topper from that show again.”

Current standings place the Rage Against The Machine anthem just behind The X Factor favourite in the number two spot.

Meanwhile, unable to resist taking a bite at the controversy, Simon Cowell himself has said that the campaign is “cynical” and “stupid” and deprives X Factor hopefuls of a number one 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.”

Cowell denied that missing out on a Christmas chart-topper on his record label was the real reason for his condemnation.

-Carley Hall