Chart act Calvin Harris claimed today that he crashed The X Factor stage to "make a mockery" of the competition and its "terrible" music.

Not impressed: Calvin Harris

The I'm Not Alone singer, who ran on stage with a pineapple on his head during John and Edward's act on Saturday, criticised the "frightening stranglehold" of judge Simon Cowell on the UK charts.

And he told Radio 1 listeners he may auction the pineapple, which had been on his rider from a concert earlier in the day, to raise money for Great Ormond Street Hospital.

The 25-year-old Scottish chart-topper was escorted from the television studios after the stunt and he was replaced on the guest panel of the ITV show's spin-off The Xtra Factor by presenter Nick Grimshaw.

Speaking on The Chris Moyles Show this morning, Harris said: "I was just inspired to make a mockery of the show. Because it is a music competition, it is a joke and I think it should be treated as such, so when people were saying 'John and Edward, maybe they deserve to stay in this week', I was like 'are you watching what I'm watching?'

"It's terrible, it's terrible... For the greater good of the nation I wanted to go out there and make an idiot of myself and sort of just bring the whole show into another kind of area in which it's treated as kind of a joke."

Harris slammed the twins John and Edward Grimes for being "knowingly funny", but said he wanted them to win The X Factor because it might undermine the competition's future.

Asked what he thought of the twins, he said: "As entertainment goes it's pretty much down there with the worst. So compared to everybody else... it's funny, but I've noticed as the week goes on it's kind of knowingly funny, whereas first it was kind of 'John and Edward, ah they're rubbish, they should get out of there' and they were doing these terrible performances and it was hilarious.

"And then the producers cottoned on to this, as occasionally they do, and kind of make scenarios which they thought it would be funnier to put them in, and it wasn't which was a shame.

"I'd love them to win because where can they go from there? Not them, where can X Factor go from there? It's not a music competition."

Echoing an interview given by singer Sting last week, in which he said The X Factor had "put music back decades", Harris criticised Cowell for encouraging generic pop music.

He said: "If you look at the chart, it's like a frightening stranglehold that Simon Cowell has got over the entire music chart in the UK at the moment.

"It would be nice to see him use that power a little bit more creatively. Why not try and make the most amazing music that anyone has ever heard in their life? I think it just shows that he's not really a music fan.

"Why can't he make groundbreaking music popular? He's pretty much just releasing the same records again and again and again."

On the fate of the pineapple, Harris added: "I've got half of it. I was actually going to auction it on eBay for Great Ormond Street Hospital.

"But I don't know if it's maybe taking it a bit too far."

The Chris Moyles Show is on BBC Radio 1, weekdays 6.30 - 10am.