Coldplay have opened up about their decision to perform at 2011's X Factor final and explained that the show plays an "important" role in the UK music industry. 

Chatting to Absolute Radio, the band's frontman Chris Martin admitted that although it perpetuates the stereotype of manufactured music there is definitely a place for the talent contest in today's market now that Top Of The Pops has gone:

"We really feel grateful for it because they don't often have bands on and we get to play what we want to play and play songs that we wrote, and no-one's asking us to change anything. It's amazing. It always has great songs on it every week. [There's] no CD:UK. No Top of the Pops. No MTV, really."

"There's no other TV show, really, except for Jools Holland, that gives you that. So we were like, 'Thank you, we'd love to'... I understand that there are people who are musically not into it, but I don't agree with them and I say that with all respect. I really love it and I think the music's great."

The X Factor final is set to take place this weekend at London's Wembley Arena and you can watch their fantastic performance at Rock In Rio below: