It's finally happened. The unspeakable has hit us square in the face and everyone is left dumb and numbed-out like a Valium addict, slumped in a hedge of nettles. We're beyond pain. It's all turned into one long blinked-out fuzz. That's right, John and Edward are no more.

Of course, I'm being melodramatic. After all, this is TV we're talking about and as you damn well know, TV is far from being important. However, occasionally it is a glue that bonds us. Over the past month or so, Jedward has made us all pie-eyed and more confused than ever.

With each mauling of a pop-classic, with each off-kilter dance routine, with each surprising/disappointing good(ish) performance and their rubbish haircuts, John and Edward had transformed The X Factor into a show that people tuned into, despite the fact that they Normally Hate That Sort Of Thing.

Whilst the hordes of screaming tweens gurgled at Lloyd, the biggest non-entity to ever grace a screen (so much so that, when he appears, I know what the world was like before we had TV or radio... notably, a cultural vacuum) and the mums coo over Olly and Danyl (who, in profile, looks like Pacman when he hits a big note), Jedward left everyone with a fondness for the absurd with something to finally love.

That's because Jedward seem damaged in some way. Comparisons with The Cheeky Girls are obvious and slightly unkind. You see, The Cheeky Girls were completely self-aware, which makes them crashing bores. John and Edward on the other hand are completely oblivious to everything. It's like they've just stepped out of a very serious test-tube.

And how we loved them.

They were weirdos. The sweetest weirdos we've probably ever seen. More importantly, they were a flash of giggles in a procession of gloopy earnestness. Every singer that has ever graced the X Factor has been a puppy-eyed fawner, desperate for praise and love. John and Edward were something altogether weirder... like Chico (Time) squared.

As such, it almost feels pointless tuning into the show again because it has no surprises left in store. Unless Lloyd wins, and that's not a pleasing surprise at all. Jedward was a phenomenon that X Factor has never known the likes of before. Neither have we. And now it's gone, I can see a section of viewers slowly drifting away and going back to complaining about Christmas number ones again... and that's more boring than the saccharine Christmas number one itself.