The X Factor (British TV series) series 6
The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. The sixth series started on ITV on 22 August 2009 and was won by Joe McElderry on 13 December 2009.[1] Cheryl Cole emerged as the winning mentor for the second consecutive year, the first time in the show's history that a mentor has won back-to-back series.[2] The show was presented by Dermot O'Leary, with spin-off show The Xtra Factor presented by Holly Willoughby on ITV2. McElderry's winner's single was a cover version of Miley Cyrus's "The Climb".[3] Public auditions by aspiring singers began in June 2009 and were held in five cities across the UK. Simon Cowell, Louis Walsh, Dannii Minogue and Cole returned as judges. This season was the first to be sponsored by TalkTalk after they took over the sponsorship from The Carphone Warehouse. For the first time, auditions were held in front of a live audience. Following initial auditions, the "bootcamp" stage took place in August 2009, where the number of contestants was narrowed down to 24. The 24 contestants were split into their categories, Boys, Girls, Over 25s and Groups, and given a judge to mentor them at the "judges' houses" stage and throughout the finals.
The X Factor
Dermot O'Leary (ITV)
22 August –
13 December 2009
During "judges' houses", the 24 acts were reduced to twelve, with one act being eliminated each week by a combination of public vote and judges' decision until a winner was found. The live shows started on 10 October 2009. The acts performed every Saturday night with the results announced on Sundays. This was change of format from previous series in which the results were announced later on the Saturday evening. This series was sponsored by TalkTalk.
Sponsors[edit]
This series of The X Factor was sponsored by TalkTalk and featured break bumpers pioneered by CHI & Partners, showing light graffiti set against night-time backdrops across the United Kingdom.[59] Part of the deal, which applied to ITV, ITV2 and the programme's website, saw TalkTalk customers having the chance to design the break bumpers and download exclusive content.[59] In the Republic of Ireland, the series was sponsored by Domino's Pizza.
Reception[edit]
Ratings[edit]
The first episode, which was broadcast on 22 August and showed the first set of auditions, attracted 9.9 million viewers; 47.9% of the viewing audience and the largest number of viewers within its timeslot.[60] One week later, 9.75 million people viewed the second episode; a 47.1% share of the TV audience.[61] The third episode averaged 11.76 million viewers and a 51.9% audience share.[62] Episode four attracted 10.26 million viewers.[63] The fifth episode, which was scheduled directly against Strictly Come Dancing drew in about 9.27 million viewers, compared to 7.72 for Strictly.[64] The X Factor reached a record high number of viewers for the second and third results shows on 18 and 25 October, scoring 14.8 million viewers each.[65][66] This was beaten on 8 November when the fifth results show peaked at 16.6 million people.[67]
The final episode peaked with 19.1 million viewers when Joe McElderry was announced as the winner.[68]
Controversies[edit]
Bootcamp[edit]
On 2 August 2009, The People reported that some bootcamp contestants felt they had been poorly treated by the show's producers; one compared the experience with that of a concentration camp and another claimed that those competing were only allowed to use the toilet twice a day.[93] However, a spokesperson for the programme denied the claims, saying "Yes, it was long hours but they knew what they were signing up for. The hopefuls got breakfast at the hotel and decent food throughout the day".
Audition format[edit]
This season's audition format, in which the auditions were held in front of a studio audience, was criticised by fans, by Cole and by certain former contestants. These included Alexandra Burke, who branded it "too intimidating", and the members of JLS who stated it detracted from the intimacy of the auditions.[94]
Recycled contestants[edit]
The show was criticised in September 2009 for "recycling" contestants, as three singers from the final 24 acts had already been in pop bands, two had auditioned for The X Factor in previous years and one had appeared on Britain's Got Talent.[95]