The X Factor (British TV series)
The X Factor is a British reality television music competition, created by Simon Cowell. Premiering on 4 September 2004, it was produced by Fremantle's British entertainment company, Thames (Talkback Thames until 2011), and Cowell's production company Syco Entertainment for ITV,[2] as well as simulcast on Virgin Media One in Ireland. The programme ran for around 445 episodes across fifteen series, each one primarily broadcast late in the year, until its final episode in December 2018. The majority of episodes were presented by Dermot O'Leary, with some exceptions: the first three series were hosted by Kate Thornton; while Caroline Flack and Olly Murs hosted the show for the twelfth series.
The X Factor
Phil Heyes
- Brian Friedman
- Brian Burke
- Elizabeth Honan
- Jerry Reeve
- Mark Swanhart
- Ashley Evans
- Antony Ginandjar
United Kingdom
English
15
445
- Simon Cowell
- Richard Holloway
- Beth Hart
- Mark Sidaway
- Cheryl[1]
- Caroline Davies
- Lee McNicholas
- Iona Mackenzie
60–150 minutes
- Syco Entertainment[a]
- Talkback Thames (2004–2011)
- Thames (2012–2018)
4 September 2004 –
2 December 2018
Each year of the competition saw contestants of all ages and backgrounds auditioning for a place, in hopes of proving that they had singing talent. Auditionees attempted to do so before a panel of judges, each selected for their background in the music industry – these have included Cowell, Louis Walsh, Sharon Osbourne, Dannii Minogue, Cheryl, Gary Barlow, Tulisa, Kelly Rowland, Nicole Scherzinger, Mel B, Rita Ora, and Robbie Williams. Those acts who survived the auditions entered a bootcamp stage in which the judges each took charge of a category of contestants to mentor, determining who may move on to the live stages of the contest, with a public vote in the live rounds eliminating these contestants one by one. The winner of the live final received a recording contract with record label Syco Music and a cash payment, though the majority was allocated to marketing and recording costs.[3]
At the same time of its premiere, The X Factor was accompanied by spin-off behind-the-scenes show called The Xtra Factor on ITV2, which focused on the recent episode's performances; this was later replaced in 2016 with an online spin-off show, Xtra Bites, on ITV Hub.[4] The programme itself proved popular on British television,[5] attracting high viewing figures at its peak – over 14 million on average in the seventh series – leading to the formation of an international franchise. In addition, many of its acts, including JLS, Little Mix, One Direction and Ella Henderson, later went on to release singles that entered number-one in the UK charts.
From 2011, viewing figures began to decline, and Cowell later opted to rest the programme in 2019, assigning two spin-offs as mini-series that year – The X Factor: Celebrity and The X Factor: The Band. On 28 July 2021, ITV announced that there were no plans to air another series of the programme, effectively meaning it was shelved.[6]
Format
Auditions
Each year's competition begins with auditions round, which consists of three stages held several months prior to the series premiere, and within venues around the United Kingdom; in some series, auditions were also allowed within the Republic of Ireland. Participants are required to provide a performance across each stage, focused on singing a piece from another artist to gauge their musical talent. The first round consists of auditionees performing before production staff – either by application and appointment, or at "open" auditions that anyone can attend. Those wishing to apply could do so via postal or online applications,[9] with The X Factor having no upper-age limit and no restriction on groups participating. If an auditionee passes this stage, they then move on to the second stage in which they perform before a senior production member.[10] Both of these stages are not filmed, but shots of the crowds waiting to audition are later spliced into audition episodes during final editing; the televised version can sometimes misrepresent the process in this fashion by implying that huge crowds all perform before the judges.[10]
Participants that make it to the third stage of auditions then conduct their performance and potential singing talent before the judges for that year's competition. To proceed into the next round of the contest, each participant must secure a majority vote from the judges, otherwise they are eliminated at this point; the judges themselves will usually comment on what they heard first, before they cast their vote. For the majority of series (Series 1–5, 10–11, and 13–14), the third stage auditions were conducted in a closed room in which performance were done without a backing track, while for other series, they were conducted before a live audience (similar to Britain's Got Talent, with performances either done a cappella or over a backing track. Filming takes place during this stage, with the final edits for audition episodes focusing on the best, the worst and the most bizarre.[11]
Bootcamp and judges' houses
In the second round, participants who reach this stage are sent to a "bootcamp" to refine their performances, while they are organised into categories based on the conditions of their application. The first category consists of men and women solo acts aged under 24 – both categories were conjoined in early series until separated in the fourth series – with the minimum age allowed being 16 (except for the fourth to sixth series where it was lowered to 14). The third category consists of men and women solo acts aged 25 and older (with the exception of a few series where the minimum age was raised to 26, 27, 28 and 29).[12][13][14][15] The final category consists of group acts, which include two or more members within each group. During this time, the producers decide on which judge for that year's competition is assigned to mentoring one of the category of participants. After the judges receive their assigned category, they then oversee two stages of performances from participants in each category, in which they must whittle down the number of participants to around six per category (eight for the seventh and eighth series).[12] The process varies across the programme's history – in most cases, their performances during this stage determines whether they move on to the next round or not; in some series, audition tapes are reviewed before the round with the judges making their choices before this stage of the competition.
Once the judges each have their selected participants for their category to mentor, these participants move on to the "judges' houses" stage of the competition, which is held in private residences for each judge; according to Louis Walsh, these homes tend to not belong to the judges, but rented out for this purpose.[16] In this stage, the participants each conduct a performance before their category's judge, who must decide which of their group will proceed into the live rounds.[17][18]
Both the bootcamp and the judges' homes stages of the contest are pre-recorded, though in some cases, either between the first and second stages of Bootcamp or prior to judges' houses, judges may look at certain rejected solo artists who they feel have potential but may be better suited in a group, and in an attempt to give them a lifeline, then send these acts into a room to form a number of different groups, each depending on size, height, fashion and chemistry. Lineup changes may also sometimes occur depending on what the judges feel the group is missing or which members they think work well with others. In the tenth series, the bootcamp stage was changed to a new format called "Six-Chair Challenge" in which participants had to secure a majority vote to sit in one of six empty chairs for their category, to move into the next stage; if all six seats were filled, the judge of that category must replace one of these participants with another they wish to see through. This new format, despite some tweaks, was not well received by viewers after its introduction.[19]
Cancellation
While The X Factor had attracted a large degree of mass appeal from among the British public, become a synonymous part of Saturday night television,[125][126] after its peak in 2010, viewing figures declined by more than 50% over the next decade, with its final series aired in 2018.[127] Although the programme was put into hiatus by Cowell in 2019, to give the format a break and determine how best to proceed with it, this hiatus continued on throughout 2020, until ITV formally announced in July 2021 that it had 'no current plans' for another series. At the time of its cancellation, the programme's overall format and presentation was described as having gone 'slightly stale' towards the end,[128] with no major appeal to television audience.[129]