For the current season, see The X Factor (U.S. season 2).

The X Factor
Genre | Reality television
Format | Interactive talent show
Created by | Simon Cowell
Creative director(s) | Brian Friedman
Presented by | Khlo? Kardashian (2012?) Mario Lopez (2012?) Steve Jones (2011)
Judges | Simon Cowell L.A. Reid Demi Lovato (2012?) Britney Spears (2012?) Cheryl Cole (2011) Paula Abdul (2011) Nicole Scherzinger (2011)
Theme music composer | Simon Cowell
Country of origin | United States
Original language(s) | English
No. of seasons | 2
No. of episodes | 47 (as of November 28, 2012)
Production
Executive producer(s) | Simon Cowell Cecile Frot-Coutaz Siobhan Greene Richard Holloway Andrew Llinares Rob Wade[1]
Running time | 60?150 minutes
Production company(s) | FremantleMedia North America SYCOtv
Distributor | FremantleMedia Enterprises
Broadcast
Original channel | Fox
Picture format | 480i (SDTV) 720p (HDTV)
Original run | September 21, 2011 (2011-09-21) – present
Chronology
Related shows | The X Factor (UK) Britain's Got Talent America's Got Talent
External links
Website

The X Factor is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Cowell and produced by FremantleMedia North America and SYCOtv, a partnership between Cowell and Sony Music.[2] It began airing on Fox on September 21, 2011,[3] as an addition to the The X Factor franchise based on the original UK show.

The concept of the series is to find new singing talent (solo or groups) where the winner is determined by the viewers through telephone, Internet, and SMS text voting and receives a $5 million recording contract with Epic Records. The winner of the first season was Melanie Amaro.

The series employs a panel of judges who critique the contestants' performances. Each judge is assigned one of four categories; the criteria for each has varied between seasons.[4] Throughout the live shows, the judges act as mentors to their category, helping to decide song choices, styling, and staging, while judging contestants from the other categories. They also compete to ensure that their act wins the competition, thus making them the winning judge. The original judges were Cowell, Cheryl Cole, Paula Abdul, and L.A. Reid. However, Cole was dismissed after two sets of auditions and was swiftly replaced by Nicole Scherzinger, who was originally to co-host with Steve Jones. Abdul and Scherzinger left the series after the first season, and were replaced by Britney Spears and Demi Lovato. The series was originally emceed by Jones, and was replaced by Khlo? Kardashian and Mario Lopez in the second season.

On October 22, 2012, Fox confirmed that the show will return for a third season.[5] Spears has said that she would like to return for a second season, and of course show creator, Cowell, will be back for season three.[6] Other casting confirmations have yet to be made.

## History[edit]

Although American Idol went on to become an enormous success and the number 1 show in the United States for eight consecutive seasons, the original UK version, Pop Idol did not fare so well. Cowell, who was a judge on Pop Idol, wished to launch a show which he owned the rights to. Pop Idol's first series was massively successful, and while the second series was also successful, the viewers figure for its finale dropped.[7] Some?including Pop Idol judge Pete Waterman?[8] considered Michelle McManus an unworthy winner. In 2004, Pop Idol was axed and ITV announced a new show created by former Pop Idol judge Simon Cowell, with no involvement from Idol creator Simon Fuller?The X Factor. Its ratings were average in the first couple of series, but by the sixth series in 2009, ratings were hitting 10 million every week.

Then, in April 2009, reports surfaced that Cowell was attempting to launch The X Factor in the U.S. after his American Idol contract ended after season nine.[9] Under his then contract, Cowell was forbidden from launching The X Factor as a rival show to Idol.[9] In September, Fox, the broadcaster of American Idol, signed the deal to launch the U.S. version of The X Factor.

On January 11, 2010, News Corporation (via Fox News in the U.S. and The Times in the UK) reported that Cowell would leave American Idol after season nine in order to bring The X Factor to the U.S. in September 2011. Cowell told the Television Critics Association that he was leaving American Idol so that he can judge and act as executive producer of the U.S. version of The X Factor.[10] Additionally, Cowell signed a long-term business deal with Sony Music, who already support Syco Music artists in the UK, and will now be involved with the artists on the U.S. version of the show as well as becoming involved in its production.[2]

In November 2010, Fox began airing short commercials for the program, which displayed the text "Coming to America Fall 2011".[11][12] The New York Times described the commercials as the network trying to set up The X Factor as a television event.[11] In February 2011, during Super Bowl XLV, Fox unveiled the official logo for the show in a promo starring Cowell.[13] A second promo was shown during that night, featuring Katy Perry, Justin Bieber, The Black Eyed Peas, Usher, Lady Gaga, the Pussycat Dolls and Madonna. This promo started speculation on who would be joining Cowell on the X Factor judging panel.[14]

The X Factor premiered in the U.S. and Canada on September 21, 2011.

## Format and prize[edit]

The show is primarily concerned with identifying singing talent, though appearance, personality, stage presence and dance routines are also an important element of many performances. Each judge is assigned one of four categories. For season one, these groups were: girls between 12 and 29, boys between 12 and 29, individuals 30 and over, and groups. Season two's categories were changed to: teens (contestants 12 to 16 years old), young adults (those 17 to 24 years old), contestants 25 years and older, and groups. For both seasons, some groups were formed from soloists and other groups rejected after the audition process.[4] Through the live shows, the judges act as mentors to their category, helping to decide song choices, styling and staging, while judging contestants from other categories.

The winner of the competition is awarded a recording contract with Syco Music in association with Sony Music Entertainment, which would include cash payments totaling $5 million.[15][16] A press release on behalf of the show on February 7, 2011 called the recording contract "the largest guaranteed prize in television history."[17] Unlike the British version of the show,[18] the costs of recording and marketing the winning artist will be paid for separately from the $5?million initial contract payment. The $5 million will be paid directly to the winner in five annual installments of $1 million. Cowell said in a conference call with reporters on February 7, 2011: "I think it should be a life-changing prize and just to be clear, this isn't a dressed-up $5 million, this is a guaranteed $5 million payable to the winner. The recording, marketing, and video costs are completely separate to that. It will be paid over five years at $1 million a year."[19]

Cowell said in the same conference call that the specific music label within the Sony family with which the winner would actually sign would likely depend on which specialty label could provide the best support to the winner in light of the type of music that the winner chooses to perform.[20]

There are five stages to The X Factor:

- Stage 1: Producers' auditions (these auditions decide who will sing in front of the judges)
- Stage 2: Judges' auditions
- Stage 3: Boot camp
- Stage 4: Judges' houses
- Stage 5: Live shows (finals)

### Auditions[edit]

The show is open to solo artists and vocal groups aged 12 and above, with no upper age limit.[15][16] The successful auditionees audition in front of the judges where the judges must come to a majority vote to allow the auditionee to proceed to the next round, in this case, at least three judges have to say yes for the hopeful to go to boot camp.

### Bootcamp and judges' houses[edit]

The contestants selected at auditions are further refined through a series of performances at "bootcamp", and then at "judges' houses", until a small number eventually progress to the live finals. At bootcamp the judges collaboratively choose either 32 acts (season 1; eight from each category) or 24 acts 32 acts (season 2; six from each category) for the next round, and only then are told by the show's producers which category they are to mentor.

The judges then disband for the "judges' houses" round, where they further reduce their acts on location at a residence (often collectively spanning the globe) with the help of a celebrity guest.

### Live shows[edit]

#### The X Factor Digital Experience[edit]

In addition to the live broadcast on Fox, Sony and SYCOtv created a completely integrated second-screen experience and a Pepsi sponsored live digital pre-show known as The X Factor Digital Experience. In addition to watching the program live on television, the audience was now able to participate on multiple platforms in real-time.[21][22]

#### Final 16[edit]

The final 16 perform live, to get a place in the final 12. There will be no public vote in the first week - each of the judges instead select one of their own acts to eliminate. In season one, Cowell had to eliminate two acts, because he included Melanie Amaro as a fifth contestant in his category, as he believed that he had made "a huge mistake" at judges' houses by not choosing Amaro for the live shows. Therefore, season one had a final 17 instead of a final 16.

#### Final 12[edit]

The finals consist of a series of two live shows, with the first featuring the contestants' performances and the second revealing the results of the public voting, culminating in either one or two acts being eliminated. The two contestants with the lowest number of votes sing in a final challenge on which the judges vote to determine who is eliminated. This continues until the final four contestants, when America's votes determine all eliminations. Celebrity guest performers also feature regularly in the results shows. In season two, all four judges agreed to bring back Diamond White, who was in the teens category and was eliminated by her mentor, Spears, in the final 16. Therefore, season two had a final 13 instead of 12.

## Series overview[edit]

Contestant in (or mentor of) "Boys" category
Contestant in (or mentor of) "Girls" category
Contestant in (or mentor of) "Teens" category
Contestant in (or mentor of) "Young Adults" category
Contestant in (or mentor of) "Over 25s" or "Over 30s" category
Contestant in (or mentor of) "Groups" category

Season | Start | Finish | Winner | Runner-up | Third place | Winning mentor | Main host(s) | Sponsor(s) | Main judges | Guest judge(s)
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ---
One | September 21, 2011 | December 22, 2011 | Melanie Amaro | Josh Krajcik | Chris Rene | Simon Cowell | Steve Jones | Pepsi Sony Verizon Chevrolet | Simon Cowell Paula Abdul Nicole Scherzinger L.A. Reid | Cheryl Cole (Los Angeles Chicago auditions; was originally planned to be permanent judge)
Two | September 12, 2012 | December 20, 2012 |  |  |  |  | Khlo? Kardashian Mario Lopez | Simon Cowell Demi Lovato Britney Spears L.A. Reid | Louis Walsh (Kansas City auditions)[23]

## Judges and hosts[edit]

Nicole Scherzinger (left) and Louis Walsh (right) are both currently judges on the UK version and both have worked on the U.S. version.

At the time of announcing the U.S. version of The X Factor, Cowell was the only confirmed judge for the show.[24] He later said that he was taking the choices of who to join him on the show very seriously, saying, "It's pointless hiring judges who don't know anything about the music business. I'll probably go and find someone who did what I did for a living. I was an AR guy for 20 years."[25] Many people were rumored to be in the running to join the judging panel, including Nicole Scherzinger, George Michael,[26] Nicki Minaj,[27] Rihanna, Usher, Katy Perry, Jay Electronica, Elton John, Madonna, Miley Cyrus, Mariah Carey, Justin Timberlake, and Jessica Simpson, though Cowell denied that Perry, Cyrus and John were.[26] Eventually, Grammy Award-winning record executive, songwriter, and record producer L.A. Reid,[28][29] former UK X Factor judge Cheryl Cole,[30][31] and Cowell's former American Idol colleague Paula Abdul[32] were confirmed to join Cowell in the judging panel. Cowell initially indicated that The X Factor may have two hosts.[33][34] Numerous people were speculated to host the series, including High School Musical star Corbin Bleu, model Marisa Miller,[35] and Dermot O'Leary, host of the UK version.[36][37] On May 8, 2011, Nicole Scherzinger and Welsh presenter Steve Jones were announced as co-hosts of the show.[38][39]

On May 26, 2011, it was reported that Cole had been removed from the show and was set to be replaced by Scherzinger. Rumors of the reasoning of why she had left varied from being fired because American audiences had trouble understanding her accent, being fired because of a lack of chemistry between her and Abdul, and that she had stepped down herself due to homesickness.[40][41] Cole's departure was officially confirmed on June 6 in a statement from Fox, which also confirmed Scherzinger as her replacement, leaving Jones to present the show on his own.[42] On August 5, 2011, Cowell announced that the reason why Cole left was because he offered her the job in the UK version back and he felt that she would have been more comfortable there. He said if her departure had anything to do with her not getting along with Abdul then he would not be judging the show.[43]

In January 2012, it was announced that Abdul, Scherzinger and Jones had all left the show and would not be returning for season two.[44][45][46] Prior to her death, singer and actress Whitney Houston was approached to be a replacement judge.[47] Fox executives had targeted young, childhood stars such as Demi Lovato and Miley Cyrus. On May 13, it was reported that Lovato had signed on to be a judge. At the Fox Upfront the next day, it was confirmed that Britney Spears and Lovato would be joining Reid, and Cowell on the panel for season two.

As for the presenters, the season two auditions went without one as they have yet to hire a new one, though Cowell has confirmed that there will be two hosts this year, one male and one female. It was reported that Glee star Kevin McHale was also approached for the male vacancy as a host. It was falsely rumored that The X Factor reached out to Glee star Darren Criss for the position, but he turned it down. Criss later stated that he was never offered the role of host, and even if he was offered the job, he would have not accepted. Some names rumored to be in talks with Cowell for the job include reality television star Khlo? Kardashian, Extra host Mario Lopez, actress, model, and former wrestler Stacy Kiebler, and singer and fashion designer Kelly Osbourne. It was reported on July 16, 2012 that Kardashian was out of the running and that Osbourne was close to signing a deal with the show. At a press conference with the Television Critics Association Cowell had said the new hosts would be confirmed in mid-August 2012.

On October 16, 2012, several media outlets confirmed that Kardashian and Lopez had become the official hosts of the series for season two.[48][49][50]

### Judges' categories and their finalists[edit]

Melanie Amaro won the first season
See also: List of The X Factor (U.S.) finalists

In each season, each judge is allocated a category to mentor and chooses small number of acts (four or five, depending on the season) to progress to the live finals. This table shows, for each season, which category each judge was allocated and which acts he or she put through to the live finals.

Key:

  ? Winning judge/category. Winners are in bold, eliminated contestants in small font.

Season | Simon Cowell | Paula Abdul | Nicole Scherzinger | L.A. Reid
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
One | Girls Melanie Amaro Rachel Crow Drew Simone Battle Tiah Tolliver | Groups Lakoda Rayne The Stereo Hogzz InTENsity The Brewer Boys | Over 30s Josh Krajcik LeRoy Bell Stacy Francis Dexter Haygood | Boys Chris Rene Marcus Canty Astro Phillip Lomax
Season | Simon Cowell | Demi Lovato | Britney Spears | L.A. Reid
Two | Groups Emblem3 Fifth Harmony LYRIC 145 Sister C | Young Adults CeCe Frey Paige Thomas Jennel Garcia Willie Jones | Teens Carly Rose Sonenclar Diamond White Beatrice Miller Arin Ray | Over 25s Tate Stevens Vino Alan Jason Brock David Correy

## Post The X Factor[edit]

The winner of The X Factor is awarded a recording contract, stated to be worth $5 million (?3.2 million), with Syco Music in association with Sony Music Entertainment.[15][16] A press release on behalf of the show called the recording contract "the largest guaranteed prize in television history."[51] In comparison to the UK version of the show, where a portion of the ?1 million ($1.6 million) prize is used to pay for the costs of recording and marketing the winning artist,[52] these expenses will be paid for separately from the $5?million initial contract payment offered on the U.S. version, which will be paid in five annual installments of $1?million.[53]

## Television ratings[edit]

Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of The X Factor on Fox.

  Each U.S. network television season starts in late September and ends in late May, which coincides with the completion of May sweeps.

Season | Premiered | Ended | TV season | Season time slot | Season ranking
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ---
Date | Viewers (in millions) | Date | Viewers (in millions)
1[54][55][56] | September 21, 2011 | 12.49 | Final performances: December 21, 2011 | 12.67 | 2011 | Wednesday 8:00?pm (performance show) | 19
Season finale: December 22, 2011 | 12.57 | Thursday 8:00 pm (results show) | 20
2[57] | September 12, 2012 | 8.79 | Final performances: December 19, 2012 | TBA | 2012 | Wednesday 8:00?pm (performance show) | TBA
Season finale: December 20, 2012 | TBA | Thursday 8:00?pm (results show) | TBA

## International broadcast[edit]

Following the announcement of the show coming to America, several other broadcasters around the world expressed interest in acquiring the rights to show the American version of the show in their country. The below mentioned countries may have their own version of The X Factor, dubbed equally or under another name.

- Brazil: Premiered on October 11, 2011 on Canal Sony
- Bulgaria: Season 1 premieres Saturday November 3, 2012 on FOX
- Canada: Simultaneously broadcast with the Fox broadcast on CTV (on Wednesday) or CTV Two (on Thursday).[58]
- Cyprus: Premiered on September 30, 2011 on RIK 1
- Czech Republic: Season 2 premiereed on September 15, 2012 on Prima love
- Denmark: Premiered on October 1, 2011 on DR HD
- Estonia: Premiered on October 9, 2011, and is broadcast on every Sunday on TV3[59]
- Finland: Premiered on October 4, 2011, and is broadcast on Tuesday and Friday on Sub
- Greece: Premiered on October 1, 2011 on ANT1[60]
- Hungary: Premiered on October 1, 2011, and is broadcast on every Sunday and Saturday on Cool TV[61]
- India: Premiered on September 22, 2011 and is broadcasted on AXN. It currently airs every Saturday and Sunday.
- Indonesia: A group of local TV networks is airing the shows the same week it is aired in America; in Jakarta it airs on B Channel on Thursday and Friday, with repeats on Saturday and Sunday
- Ireland: Premiered on September 13, 2011 on TV3 and is broadcast every Friday. Also airs on ITV2 (see UK section).
- Israel: Premiered on September 14, 2011, and is broadcast on Friday and Saturday on Hot 3
- Japan: Premiered on October 1, 2011 on FOX bs238
- Latin America: Premiered on October 12, 2011 on Sony Channel
- Malaysia: Premiered on September 23, 2011 on 8TV (Malaysia)
- Middle East: Premiered on September 24, 2011 on OSN First
- New Zealand: Broadcast 6 hours and 30 minutes after it is aired in the U.S, on TV3[62]
- Philippines: Airs on Studio 23; premiered on September 22, 2011 and the final performance and results night airs on ABS-CBN.
- Poland: Premiered on October 11, 2011 on Fox Life and is broadcast every Tuesday[63]
- Russia: Premiered on January 2, 2012, and is broadcast on Monday to Friday on MTV
- Singapore: Broadcast direct off-satellite at the same time as the U.S. on MediaCorp Channel 5[64]
- Serbia: Premiered on November 2, 2012 on FOX Serbia.
- Slovakia: Premiered on September 23, 2011 on JOJ Plus; season 2 premiered September 14, 2012 on TV JOJ (broadcast in Slovakia 24 hours after it is aired in the U.S.)
- South Africa: Broadcast on Mnet
- Trinidad and Tobago: Airs on CNC3
- United Kingdom and Ireland: As part of Cowell's contract, it was agreed that ITV2, the sister channel to the ITV network (which airs the original British version of The X Factor), would have rights to air the U.S. version. The first season was broadcast in the UK 18 hours after the U.S. airing?? it premiered on September 22, 2011 in the UK and airs on Thursday and Friday nights. The second season premiered on September 27, 2012, so it is was initially broadcast two weeks after the U.S. airing, however by the time the live shows began it airs less than 48 hours later.

## Media sponsorship[edit]

On January 7, 2011, Fox, SYCOtv and FremantleMedia North America announced that Pepsi will be the official sponsor of The X Factor.[4][11] The sponsorship includes an extensive multi-platform on and off-air marketing partnership.[4] On June 9, Chevrolet was announced as the second official sponsor of the show. Chevrolet's sponsorship will also include an extensive multi-platform on and off-air marketing partnership.[65] Sony was confirmed as the third official sponsor on July 26. Sony's sponsorship of The X Factor will also include an extensive multi-platform on and off-air marketing partnership.[66] Verizon also sponsors the show; they are the official wireless sponsor.[67]

## References[edit]

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65. ^ "News Corporation". Newscorp.com. June 9, 2011. Retrieved December 23, 2011.
66. ^ "Fox Broadcasting Company, Syco Television and FremantleMedia Announce Sony as Official Consumer... - SAN DIEGO, July 26, 2011 /PRNewswire/". California: Prnewswire.com. Retrieved December 23, 2011.
67. ^ About 6 hours ago. "Verizon Wireless Becomes ?X Factor? Sponsor And Hawks Mobile App??". Deadline.com. Retrieved December 23, 2011.

## External links[edit]

- Official website
- The X Factor on Hulu
- The X Factor on Facebook
- API on Twitter
- The X Factor's channel on YouTube
- API on Myspace
- The X Factor USA at the Internet Movie Database

The X Factor (U.S.)
Seasons | 1 2 3
Hosts |
Current | Mario Lopez
Former | Steve Jones Khloé Kardashian
Judges |
Current | Simon Cowell Demi Lovato Kelly Rowland Paulina Rubio
Former | Cheryl Cole Nicole Scherzinger Paula Abdul L.A. Reid Britney Spears
Guest | Louis Walsh
Winners | Melanie Amaro Tate Stevens
Winners' songs | "Listen" "Tomorrow"
Related articles | List of finalists (season 1 2 3) Discography Fox X Factor Around the World

Notable contestants of The X Factor (U.S.)
Season 1 | Melanie Amaro Josh Krajcik Chris Rene Marcus Canty Rachel Crow LeRoy Bell Stacy Francis Simone Battle Christa Collins
Season 2 | Tate Stevens Carly Rose Sonenclar Fifth Harmony Emblem3
Season 3 | Jeff Gutt Carlito Olivero Lillie McCloud Rachel Potter Jamie Pineda Ellona Santiago

The X Factor
Americas | Colombia Chile United States |
Asia-Pacific | Australia China India Indonesia Israel Kazakhstan New Zealand Philippines
Europe | Albania and Kosovo Armenia Belgium Bulgaria Czech Republic Denmark Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Italy Lithuania Netherlands Norway Poland Portugal Romania Russia Serbia Spain Sweden United Kingdom Ukraine
Regional | Arab world X Factor Around the World

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