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"LeAnn Rimes has condemned the &amp;quot;gossip and lies&amp;quot; stemming from her controversial X Factor USA performance. The country singer sang an awkward duet with contestant Carly Rose Sonenclar on Wednesday night (December 19), prompting speculation from some viewers that she was drunk.       Rimes was subsequently quoted by TMZ denying such rumours, while also seeming to imply that her performance was affected by her duet partner&amp;#039;s nervousness.  The site reported her to have said: &amp;quot;I was trying to help this 13-year-old girl who was having some trouble with the song.&amp;quot; The 30-year-old singer&amp;#039;s lawyer Larry Stein had also allegedly weighed in, adding: &amp;quot;LeAnn was not performing the way she would normally perform, because she was on stage with a young girl.&amp;quot; However, Rimes has since taken to her Twitter page to clarify the issue and pledge her support for Sonenclar.  &amp;quot;In my 18 years of performing, I have never been anything but professional on stage,&amp;quot; she posted. &amp;quot;It is a shame that gossip and lies are overshadowing the performance of Carly, a very talented young girl. &amp;quot;And while I have not given any media outlet a quote, if you want one, here it is - &amp;#039;It was an amazing opportunity to share this experience with Carly and I know I&amp;#039;ll be watching for her to win tonight&amp;#039;.&amp;quot; TMZ has insisted that Rimes&amp;#039;s rep did indeed give them a quote on behalf of the musician, and accused Rimes of &amp;quot;backtracking hard&amp;quot;. The grand finale of The X Factor USA airs tonight (December 20) on Fox. Photo gallery - X Factor USA finale part one:  "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/the-x-factor-us/news/a446646/leann-rimes-slams-gossip-and-lies-after-x-factor-usa-performance/>