The X Factor

Synopsis

For a time around 2010, The X Factor was the hottest show on television. It launched careers - Olly Murs, Little Mix, Jedward. It was television gold dust, everything it touched turned into the greatest success. And then, slowly but surely, The X Factor became less relevant, and almost nobody noticed when it came off air.

The X Factor is a phone-vote based talent show. It's similar to Pop Idol, only without an upper age limit, and allowing bands and solo acts to audition.

In fact, the mechanics of the show are slightly more complicated. After the Hilarious Auditions shows, and the Boot Camp phase which whittles the chosen few down to a more manageable number, each of the judges is assigned one set of acts (Boys, Girls, Over-25s, or Groups) to mentor. After jetting their small group of remaining hopefuls to some of the world's most glamorous locations, they choose the acts which will progress to the studio-based elimination phase. Every week during this phase, each act sings a song (two in the later stages), and the viewers vote for their favourite. But! The lowest-scorer isn't necessarily eliminated. The two worst achievers instead must sing again in the second show, and the judges decide who stays and who goes.

All these changes to the Pop Idol format have seemingly been made for the express purpose (aside from the unsuccessful attempt to avoid court cases - see below) to bring the judges into the spotlight as much as possible, essentially overshadowing the contestants themselves. This is evidenced by the fact that the first series' winner - Steve something - has apparently sunk without trace, whereas Cowell, Walsh and Co. live in solid gold houses and eat nothing but caviar and unicorn steaks.

This ramps up the tension, BUT shock horror - the judges are biased (and we didn't get that one from The Sun). Because they obviously want to keep their own acts in, this frequently results in very bad decisions (poor performers such as the Conway Sisters and Chico stayed in for far too long).

The X Factor, then, is nothing much other than a butchered version of its predecessor: the host's not as good, the rules make little sense (especially near the end when they change them again, eliminating the judges' say and making the contestants just sing again in the second show), and with pointless pantomime between the judging panel getting in the way of any actual talent that the show might theoretically uncover.

Evolution, not revolution

Over the years, several changes have been made to the format. The 2007 series was the first to bring obvious changes, with the addition of a fourth judge in singer and Australia's Got Talent judge Dannii Minogue, the lower age barrier coming down to 14 years old, and the original Under-25 category being split into male and female solo singers. These changes coincided with judge Louis Walsh briefly leaving the format - he would be back half-way through the auditions, and some suggested this was just a stunt for the press. Presenter Kate Thornton also left the show after the 2006 series; her exit was more permanent.

The 2008 series saw a major change with original judge Sharon Osbourne being replaced by Girls Aloud singer Cheryl Cole, while the 2009 series saw the programme take a leaf out of Britain's Got Talent's book, with the initial auditions and the Boot Camp stage both being conducted in front of an audience in convention centres, rather than a closed room with just the judges. The 2009 series also saw the lower age barrier raised back up to 16 years old.

More tweaks were made for the 2010 series, with the judges each choosing from eight acts at the Judge's Houses stage. This change was partly introduced to give Dannii Minogue and Cheryl Cole a wider field of hopefuls to choose from, as both had missed some or all of the early stages of the auditions due to pregnancy and ill health respectively. A further change for the 2010 series saw the cut-off age for the 'Overs' category increased from 25 to 28.

The biggest changes were announced in May 2011. The month began with Simon Cowell's withdrawal from the judging panel for the new series, allowing him to concentrate on the USA version of The X Factor. Cowell announced that he could not judge both shows, and would no longer be a weekly judge on the UK edition. ITV went on to state that Cowell would continue to be an "enormous presence backstage". Two days later, Cheryl Cole declared that she would join Cowell in judging the American version of the programme, vacating her position on the British show. Unfortunately for Cole, her tenure as a judge on the American version of the programme was short-lived, as she was sacked after a mere two weeks.

By then, Dannii Minogue had told the world that she would also leave the programme, reportedly due to a scheduling clash with her judging commitments on Australia's Got Talent. The Manchester auditions of the new series were pushed back, in order to allow more time for the new judging panel to be put together. When it was finally announced at the end of the month, the new line-up of judges was Gary Barlow from Take That, Tulisa Contostavlos of hip-hop group N-Dubz, and Kelly Rowland from Destiny's Child. Louis Walsh remained on the panel, the only original judge left. The 2011 series also saw the cut-off age for the 'Overs' category returned to 25 from 28, while the grand final was moved from Fountain Studios, taking place at Wembley Arena.

The 2012 series saw yet more changes. Kelly Rowland left the judging panel - a seemingly mutual decision. Her departure led to all manner of people being linked to the vacant judge's seat, including most notably former judge Dannii Minogue. However with the two parties reportedly being unable to agree on a fee, and with the first open auditions mere days away, the producers resorted to using a series of guest judges for the majority of the open auditions. One guest judge was former Pussycat Doll singer-dancer Nicole Scherzinger, and it was Ms Scherzinger who would ultimately be installed as the fourth judge, starting from towards the end of the open auditions. Another change for the 2012 series saw the Bootcamp stage switched from London to Liverpool, reportedly due to London being completely booked due to the Olympics. The series also saw the 'Overs' category once again changed to 28, while the final took place at Manchester Central. The official line was that they were simply giving fans of the programme from outside London a chance to attend the final. Later reports suggested the actual reason was they forget to book Wembley Arena after the 2011 final, and found it was already booked up when they finally inquired as to its availability, meaning they had to look elsewhere.

The second decade

2013 saw the programme air its tenth series, and with it came yet more changes. Former judge Sharon Osbourne returned to the panel, having last appeared as a judge during the fourth series in 2007. Meanwhile, the series also saw the return of contestants auditioning in front of the judges in a room without an audience, the first time this method had been used since the fifth series in 2008. The arena auditions remained resulting in an extra audition stage for the contestants. This additional phase meant more audition episodes were needed, resulting in the programme airing on both Saturday and Sunday evenings throughout its entire run for the first time. The Boot Camp stage also saw a change with each judge having to fill six chairs (representing a pass to the next stage) from the 24 contestants left in their category. Each contestant sung in turn, and if their judge liked what they saw, they would give them a seat in one of the six chairs, otherwise they would be sent home. However if the judge had filled all six of their chairs, but they preferred a later contestant, they could send home (with the sound of 4000 people in the arena shouting 'Swap!' ringing in their ears) someone who had already been granted a seat, and replace them with a later contestant. Newspaper reports at the time derided the alleged cruelty of this twist. Unsurprisingly Simon Cowell, while conceding it was controversial, reportedly stated it was something 'we all love'.

A further change to the 2013 series saw the introduction of a 'flash vote' during the live shows. After all the contestants had performed on the Saturday show, the voting lines opened for just 10 minutes. After the votes were tallied, the contestant with the fewest votes was then told they would be in the Sunday show's sing-off. The voting lines re-opened during Sunday's show, with the contestant with the fewest votes from the second vote also facing the sing-off. This added a new dimension to the judge's vote to save, as previously, the judges could send the vote to deadlock, unaware of who the contestant with the fewest votes was. However under the new system, sending the vote to deadlock would instantly eliminate the contestant who polled the fewest votes on Saturday.

2014 saw Simon Cowell and Cheryl Fernandez-Versini (formerly Cole) return to the judging panel, while Mel B from the Spice Girls also joined the line-up. The series also introduced a Friday night episode for the first time, allowing the Boot Camp and Judges' Houses stages to be screened over three consecutive nights. ITV maintained this had been planned for some time. Its announcement around the same time it was confirmed that rival Strictly Come Dancing would air its first live performance show the same night meant few were convinced.

2015 saw some of the biggest changes in the programme's history, and it became clear The X Factor had lost its mojo. Long-standing host Dermot O'Leary decided to leave the series (although unconfirmed rumours suggested it may have been before he was pushed). O'Leary was replaced by former Xtra Factor presenting duo Olly Murs and Caroline Flack. Original judge Louis Walsh also left the programme - unlike his previous brief exit in 2007, this was more permanent. Spice Girl Mel B also left the judging panel, with Nick Grimshaw and Rita Ora taking up the empty spaces. Due to clashes with the Rugby World Cup, more episodes aired on Sundays than normal, while the live shows were condensed into fewer weeks, resulting in a lot of double eliminations. The series as a whole received worse reviews than usual, and ratings were some of the lowest the programme had ever seen. The winner's single, normally a runaway winner of the battle for Christmas number one, barely scraped the top ten, and was gone from the Top 40 within a fortnight; while its poor initial showing may be attributable to the charts moving publication to Fridays, its rapid descent showed the series had failed to resonate with viewers.

As a result of the lacklustre 2015 series, 2016 saw further changes. Nick Grimshaw announced early in the year he would not be returning as a judge, while Murs and Flack also confirmed their exits as hosts. As had become traditional, information continued to be drip-fed to the public, with first Cheryl Fernandez-Versini then Rita Ora leaving the show.

The final panel of judges was familiar. Simon Cowell remained, Louis Walsh returned after a year's sabbatical. Sharon Osbourne and Nicole Scherzinger also came back; they and Walsh had worked well on the 2013 series. Perhaps looking for a safer pair of hands, Dermot O'Leary was asked back to present the programme. While the shows were better, the spark had gone, and the show was playing to smaller audiences every year.

There was no regular series in 2019, replaced by a celebrity series spread across the autumn. Originally The X Factor: All Stars was to follow it but, after Little Mix announced their The Search for BBC One, Cowell brought "The X Factor: The Band" forward into All Stars' slot. It was a contest squeezed into a week just before Christmas, amid considerable hoopla over who first came up with the idea. (Whomever came up with Popstars, wethinks.) The Band aired on Monday 9, Wednesday 11, Friday 13 and Sunday 15 December. Wouldn't it have made more sense to end that series on Friday, so that the winners' single could have a now much-needed whole week's sales?

And that proved to be the final cross in the box. At the start of the 2010s, The X Factor had been the talk of the nation, the biggest thing on TV, the winner mattered and was assured of some years in the spotlight. By the end of the decade, nobody cared who won, nobody used the show as a springboard to fame, nobody watched.

The pandemic gave Simon Cowell and ITV a perfect excuse to "rest" the series in 2020, and again in 2021. At the end of July 2021, ITV confirmed what we all knew. The X Factor wasn't resting. It was an ex-factor.

I won't do what you tell me

Since its inception, The X Factor had been criticised for many reasons. Some objected to an emphasis on the judges over the acts they're supposedly mentoring, others claimed the editing shows bias, or that the judges orchestrated publicity stunts on the broadcasts. Many contestants gave accounts of personal trauma they've experienced, hoping the audience would vote on an emotional connection rather than their performance. Other musicians have called the show "televised karaoke" and "a soap opera", accused it of "cheapening music", and being "like valium but less enjoyable".

These critical reactions have occasionally been addressed on the show - the sob stories were toned down, the annual flounce-out by Louis Walsh quietly dropped - but the show's musical policy remained resolutely middle-of-the-road, sticking to proven commercial hits. Mostly proven commercial hits from the Sony/BMG catalogue as that's where the winners release records, and where Simon Cowell's paycheques are signed.

Some music fans were so annoyed by the hoopla that they began campaigns to buy a particular song in a particular week, hoping to outsell The X Factor winner's single, whatever it was that year. In 2008, the chosen track was Jeff Buckley's rendition of "Hallelujah", which narrowly failed to beat Alexandra Burke's performance. Roles were reversed in 2009, when Joe McElderry's interpretation of "The Climb" was beaten by "Killing In the Name", a track by Rage Against the Machine notorious for its profane climax. This success inspired copycat campaigns by other fans - supporters of football clubs, Christian rock groups, and disgraced politicians all tried to score massive chart hits, and all failed.

Champions

2004 Steve Brookstein, as mentored by Simon Cowell
2005 Shayne Ward, as mentored by Louis Walsh
2006 Leona Lewis, as mentored by Simon Cowell
2007 Leon Jackson, as mentored by Dannii Minogue
2008 Alexandra Burke, as mentored by Cheryl Cole
2009 Joe McElderry, as mentored by Cheryl Cole
2010 Matt Cardle, as mentored by Dannii Minogue
2011 Little Mix, as mentored by Tulisa Contostavlos
2012 James Arthur, as mentored by Nicole Scherzinger
2013 Sam Bailey, as mentored by Sharon Osbourne
2014 Ben Haenow, as mentored by Simon Cowell
2015 Louisa Johnson, as mentored by Rita Ora
2016 Matt Terry, as mentored by Nicole Scherzinger
2017 Rak-Su, as mentored by Simon Cowell
2018 Dalton Harris, as mentored by Louis Tomlinson

The X Factor: Battle of the Stars
2006 Lucy Benjamin, as mentored by Louis Walsh

The X Factor: Celebrity
2019 Megan McKenna, as mentored by Louis Walsh

The X Factor: The Band
2019 Real Like You

Participants

A celebrity version - The X Factor: Battle of the Stars - aired in May and June 2006, as a Big Brother spoiler. Those who took part were:

Solo performers

• Lucy Benjamin (ex-EastEnders actress)
  
• Gillian McKeith (TV Nutritionalist)
  
• Michelle Marsh (glamour model)
  
• Chris Moyles (Radio 1 DJ)
  
• Nikki Sanderson (ex-Coronation Street actress)
  
• Matt Stevens (rugby player)

Groups

• Paul Daniels and Debbie McGee (TV magician and assistant)
  
• James Hewitt (ex-Army officer) and Rebecca Loos (model)
  
• The Chefs - Aldo Zilli, Paul Rankin, Ross Burden and Jean-Christophe Novelli (erm, chefs)

The X Factor: Celebrity

After Battle of the Stars, Simon Cowell promised that he would never again consider a celebrity edition. "Never" turned out to be sooner than we thought, and a full celebrity series went out on Saturday nights in autumn 2019. The contenders were:

Overs

• Martin Bashir (talks with princesses)
• Victoria Ekanoye (Angie Appleton in Coronation Street)
• Vinnie Jones (footballer and actor)
• Ricki Lake (talkshow host)
• Jenny Ryan (Only Connect champion)

Unders

• Hayley Hasselhoff (daughter of David Hasselhoff)
• Jonny Labey (Paul Coker from Eastenders)
• Kevin McHale (Artie in Glee)
• Megan McKenna (from The Only Way is Essex)
• Olivia Olson (Marceline the Vampire Queen in Adventure Time)

Groups

• Brendan Cole and Jeremy Edwards (Strictly Come Dancing pro, and Danny Shaughnessy in Holby City)
• The Influencers: Sofia, Alondra, Laura, Natalie and Wendii (internet influencers)
• The Islanders: Wes Nelson, Samira Mighty, Eyal Booker, and Zara McDermott (all from Love Island 2018)
• Max and Harvey (from CBBC)
• Rugby Supergroup: Thom Evans, Ben Foden, Levi Davis (rugby players)

Key moments

In October 2007, Walsh let slip on Graham Norton's chat show that the houses that the contestants fly to before the studio knock-out stage do not in fact belong to the judges. A spokesman for the show claimed that viewers were not misled because at no point were the properties referred to as the judges' "homes". A spokesman called Pinocchio, presumably.

Inventor

Technically Simon Cowell, but Simon Fuller of 19 Management took him to court over it for its similarities to Pop Idol. The case was settled out of court.

Theme music

Theme music composed by Simon Cowell, Jos Jorgensen, Andy Love, Ashley Tabor.

Trivia

Series 1 winner Steve Brookstein was a finalist on The Big Big Talent Show. Rowetta from the same series had spent the 1990s as a backing vocalist for the Happy Mondays. Her success demonstrated that any semi-professional singer or group could enter.

Kerry McGregor appeared in series 3, having finished second in A Song for Europe 1997. Her track "Yodel in the Canyon of Love" came up against the inevitable winner "Love Shine a Light".

Cheryl Cole's former Popstars: The Rivals co-star Nikk Mager auditioned for the show in 2008. Cole decided that she couldn't judge him, and left the panel, leaving his fate in the hands of the other judges. He didn't make it through to the Boot Camp stage, and the encounter left both Cole and Mager in tears.

Series 6 runner-up Olly Murs previously appeared on Deal or No Deal. He won £10.

When boyband The Wanted appeared in series 7, it was the end of a long journey for two members. Max George had been one-fifth of Avenue, who had been ejected from series 3 at the Boot Camp stage, on the grounds they'd been specifically formed for the show and had professional representation. Tom Parker had also auditioned for the programme, failing to make it past the first audition in front of the producers.

Nathan Fagan-Gayle, who reached the Judges' Houses stage of the competition in the ninth series, previously appeared in Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack. Carolynne Poole was first out of the live shows that year; as Carolynne Good, she had made third place in Fame Academy's 2003 series.

Lucy Spraggan had released a digital album in late 2011, before appearing in the following year's X Factor. When her audition aired a year later, the song "Last night" raced into the top ten, with the album following close behind. Both single and album were deleted a few days later, officially "to preserve the integrity of the contest". Spraggan later left the contest, with the official line at the time being that she had left through illness. She disclosed in 2023 that the illness was side-effects of anti-HIV prophylaxis, taken after being raped by a hotel porter.

Between 2008 and 2011, promotion for The X Factor included a song performed by all the year's finalists in aid of charity. Inevitably, this made the top of the singles chart.

Contestants who win the series aren't assured a long-lasting career - only Shayne Ward, Leona Lewis, Alexandra Burke, and Little Mix managed two hit albums while still under the winner's contract.

On the other hand, contestants who don't win the series do occasionally go on to have modestly successful singing careers. There have been number one singles for Chico Slimani (series 2), Diana Vickers (series 5), Cher Lloyd (series 7), and Ella Henderson (series 9). Classical group G4 (series 1) and Rhydian Roberts (series 4) both extended their success over two hit albums.

There was sustained popularity for the groups JLS (series 5) and One Direction (series 7), and series 6 performer Olly Murs. JLS became a big teen pop band for a few years, until One Direction became the world's biggest band. Olly hit as a performer targetted at mothers and daughters, his down-to-earth style allowed him to co-present the series some years later.

Almost inevitably, some of The X Factor alumni have competed in the Eurovision Song Contest. Andy Abraham (series 2) represented the BBC in 2008, where he finished joint last. Lucie Jones (series 6) followed suit in 2017; all six contestants in that year's BBC selection had been on The X Factor. Ruth Lorenzo went forward for Spanish broadcaster TVE in 2014, six years after making the final five on this show. Series 6 livewires Jedward (pedantically known on The X Factor as John and Edward) had become the biggest pop celebrities in Ireland, and appeared at Eurovision on behalf of RTÉ in both 2011 and 2012; their entries still proved more popular than the British entrants. Jedward went on to appear on the 2011 Celebrity Big Brother, which they also failed to win.

Series 3 runner-up Ray Quinn did become a reality winner, taking the Dancing on Ice crown in 2009, and again in 2014 in the all-stars series. Third-placed series 6 contestant Stacey Solomon won the following year's series of I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!.

Matthew Raymond-Barker, who was eliminated from the 2010 competition at the Boot Camp stage, would go on to appear on the French version of the show while living in the country as part of his university course. The French-speaking Londoner was rather more successful across the Channel, as on 28 June 2011, he was crowned the winner of the French series, receiving a cash prize and a recording contract with Sony Music.

Joe McElderry, winner of the 2009 series of The X Factor, would go on to win the 2011 series of Popstar to Operastar, and found a new career singing standards for mums and grannies. In 2014, he also won winter sports series The Jump, and was the first X Factor alumnus to appear in Countdown's Dictionary Corner.

Series 9 contestant Rylan Clark, who finished in fifth place, would go on to win the eleventh series of Celebrity Big Brother, and then hosted the late-night spin off Bit on the Side. He's since gone on to become a really big star, hosting Strictly Come Dancing It Takes Two and ITV2's Supermarket Sweep.

A stage musical based on The X Factor was made. The show, I Can't Sing was written by Harry Hill, and suffered delays and technical troubles before opening in London in March 2014. It closed two months later.

Two of the contestants from The X Factor: The Band, Luena Martinez from the winners Real Like You and Harrison Cole from the runners-up Unwritten Rule, entered into a relationship on 4 February 2020, formed their own band, KYNO, in May 2022, and got engaged on 26 March 2023.

The seventh series of the show in 2010 saw a series of guest judges fill in for Dannii Minogue during the open audition stage of the show, while Minogue was away for the birth of her first child. Minogue returned to the judging panel for the Judge's Houses stage. Nicole Scherzinger, who appeared as one of the guest judges during the open audition stage, also appeared on the judging panel during the Boot Camp stage, as a result of Cheryl Cole's absence due to ill health. 2008 winner Alexandra Burke stood in for judge Kelly Rowland on the fourth live show of the eighth series due to Rowland being unwell, and being unable to travel from Los Angeles. Former judge Tulisa Contostavlos stood in for judge Mel B during the first part of the two part final of the 2014 series as a result of the former Spice Girl falling ill earlier the same week, and being unable to attend. Nile Rodgers covered for Robbie Williams for the third results show and the fourth and fifth weeks of the 2018 run while he was touring The Heavy Entertainment Show; they actually prerecorded the third live show so that Williams could partake, but technical problems plagued the broadcast, and one suspects they were deterred from prerecording further programmes.

The music often played during the pre-opening title montage, and as the judges take to the stage, is the Munich Radio Orchestra's recording of "O Fortuna", which was composed by Carl Orff for his 1935/6 work Carmina Burana. Thanks in part to its use on The X Factor (and a classic advertisement for male grooming products), a survey released in December 2009 claimed it was the UK's most-played classical recording of the previous 75 years. The top ten.

Localised versions of the format have aired in no less than 47 territories around the world, including countries such as Chile, Indonesia, and Kazakhstan.

Web links

Official site

Wikipedia entry

Off the Telly Review

Bother's Bar review

The show publicised the hashtags #xfactor and #WhoseTimeIsNow. Meanwhile, spin-off show The Xtra Factor publicised the hashtag #xtrafactor.

See also

The Voice UK

Weaver's Week reviews: 2005, 2011, 2016. All the reviews are of shows from Saturday 19 November.

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