A band's last-ditch attempt at fame seems to be paying off.

Soul group The Brothers made it through the first round of TV talent contest The X Factor on Saturday.

Singer Noel Agyei, 32, of Marine Parade, Brighton, said the show was "the last chance" for the band, formed from two sets of siblings.

Judges Simon Cowell, Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh were so impressed by their a cappella performance of The Beatles' song Yesterday that music svengalis Simon and Louis fought over who would manage the band through the next stage of the programme. Simon said: "They're more current and interesting than just another boy band but Louis would have them in blazers within a week."

Noel said: "It is absolutely brilliant. It was such a long day waiting around to be seen - we were the third from last - then we got three good reviews from the judges. They were all very nice about us.

Noel, a sales team leader for Bupa, and his brother Mark, 26, formed the soul, R & B and pop band three years ago with twins CJ and Adam Neroni.

Noel said: "We write our own music as well. I'm the oldest so they call me the daddy of the band."

Mark, CJ and Adam all live in London and the foursome had to fit rehearsals around their day jobs.

Record labels showed no interest and they had almost given up on success when Mark filled in the application form for The X Factor.

In the next episode the foursome go on to "boot camp" where the judges start whittling the contestants down to the cream of the crop.

This year almost 75,000 acts entered the competition, the highest ever for a TV talent programme.

Each week more performers will be eliminated until only the contestants with the "X factor" remain.

Last year Jon Ansell, from Bognor, made it through to the finals with classical crossover group G4.

Tune into ITV1 at 7.05pm on Saturday to find out if The Brothers make it to the next stage.