| The X Factor | |
|---|---|
| Series 3 | |
| Broadcast from | 19 August – 16 December 2006 |
| Judges | |
| Presenter(s) | Kate Thornton (ITV) |
| Co-presenter(s) | Ben Shephard (ITV2) |
| Broadcaster | |
| Winner | |
| Leona Lewis | |
 Lewis performing in 2009 | |
| Origin | Islington, London, England |
| Song | "A Moment Like This" |
| Genre(s) | Pop, R&B |
| Mentor | Simon Cowell |
| Runner-up | |
| Ray Quinn | |
The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. The third series was broadcast on ITV from 19 August 2006 until 16 December 2006. Louis Walsh, Sharon Osbourne and Simon Cowell all returned for their third series on the judging panel. Kate Thornton returned to present the main show on ITV, while Ben Shephard returned to present spin-off show The Xtra Factor on ITV2. After the semi-final on 9 December, Cowell became the winning judge even though the series had not yet finished, as two of his acts, Ray Quinn and Leona Lewis, became the two finalists. Lewis won the series on 16 December, with Quinn finishing as runner-up.
The X Factor is a British reality television music competition to find new singing talent. The contestants are aspiring singers drawn from public auditions. Created by Simon Cowell, the show began broadcasting on 4 September 2004 and ended on 2 December 2018 with 445 episodes broadcast over fifteen series. The show is produced by Fremantle's Thames and Cowell's production company Syco Entertainment. It is broadcast on the ITV network in the UK and simulcast on Virgin Media One in Ireland. "X Factor" refers to the undefinable "something" that makes for star quality. The series consists of auditions, bootcamp, judges' houses, several weeks of live shows, semi-finals and the final. The series had a spin-off behind-the-scenes show called The Xtra Factor, which aired directly after the main show on ITV2. This lasted for the first thirteen series, when it was cancelled by ITV in January 2017. It is replaced by an online spin-off show Xtra Bites exclusively on the ITV Hub. The first three series were presented by Kate Thornton, since series four, with the exception of series twelve, the show has been presented by Dermot O'Leary. The twelfth series was presented by Caroline Flack and Olly Murs
ITV is a British free-to-air television network with its headquarters in London, it was launched in 1955 as Independent Television under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to BBC Television, that was established in 1932. ITV is also the oldest commercial network in the UK. Since the passing of the Broadcasting Act 1990, its legal name has been Channel 3, to distinguish it from the other analogue channels at the time, namely BBC 1, BBC 2 and Channel 4. In part, the number 3 was assigned because television sets would usually be tuned so that the regional ITV station would be on the third button, with the other stations being allocated to the number within their name.
Michael Louis Vincent Walsh is an Irish entertainment manager and former judge on British television talent show The X Factor.
Contents
- Judges and presenters
- Selection process
- Auditions
- Bootcamp
- Judges' houses
- Finalists
- Live shows
- Results summary
- Live show details
- Winner's single
- Reception
- Ratings
- References
Instead of the earlier red and purple colour scheme, this year's theme was red and blue. A new-look website for the third series was launched on 11 August 2006. The final on 16 December brought in the show's then-highest ever audience, with 12.6 million people tuning in (a 56% audience share), and 8 million votes were cast, with Lewis receiving 60%. [1] Lewis released a cover of Kelly Clarkson's "A Moment Like This" as her winner's single, and it went on the become the Christmas number one on 24 December [2] despite only going on sale four days before on 20 December. [3] It was reported that 1 million copies of the winner's single were pre-ordered by stores and that it was downloaded 50,000 times within 30 minutes of being available online. [4] It ended as the United Kingdom's second best selling single of the year. [5] In January 2007, the single was awarded platinum status by the British Phonographic Industry. [6] According to the Official Charts Company, the song has sold 895,000 copies in the United Kingdom as of December 2012. [7]
Kelly Brianne Clarkson is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. She rose to fame in 2002 after winning the inaugural season of the reality competition television series American Idol, which earned her a record deal with RCA Records. Clarkson's debut single, "A Moment Like This", topped the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and became the country's best-selling single of 2002. It was followed by the release of her debut album, Thankful (2003), which debuted atop the US Billboard 200. Trying to reinvent her image, Clarkson decided to part ways with Idol management and shifted to pop rock music for her second album, Breakaway (2004). After numerous top 40 radio number-one singles, such as "Since U Been Gone" and "Because of You", the album sold over 15 million copies worldwide and earned Clarkson two Grammy Awards.
"A Moment Like This" is the debut single by American singer Kelly Clarkson. The song was written by Jörgen Elofsson and John Reid and produced by Stephen Ferrera and Steve Mac. It was released as a double A-side with "Before Your Love" as her coronation single after winning the first season of American Idol. The song was later included on her debut studio album, Thankful (2003). "A Moment Like This" was a huge hit in North America, topping the US Billboard Hot 100 and Canadian Singles Chart. It eventually became the best-selling single of 2002 in the United States.
The BPI Limited, commonly known as the British Phonographic Industry or BPI, is the British recorded music industry's trade association.
Lewis emerged as the most successful contestant to appear on the X Factor having sold over 30 million records worldwide as well as being the only former contestant to be nominated for a Grammy.
This was the last series presented by Kate Thornton and the last time Ben Shephard presented The Xtra Factor. It was also the last series with only three judges (excluding times when a judge was absent).
Kate Thornton is an English journalist and television presenter, best known as the first presenter of The X Factor (2004–2006) and for presenting daytime shows including Loose Women (2009–2011) and This Morning (2009–2012). In 2010, she co-presented the first series of 71 Degrees North alongside Gethin Jones.
Benjamin Peter Sherrington Shephard is an English television presenter and journalist who is currently employed by ITV and Sky Sports. His most recognised role was as a main presenter on the now defunct breakfast programme GMTV. He has hosted game shows such as The Krypton Factor (2009–2010), Tipping Point (2012–present) and Ninja Warrior UK (2015–present). In 2012 along with co-welcomer Helen Skelton he welcomed home the athletes of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games to Trafalgar Square as part of the athletes homecoming parade. ‘ Since April 2014, Shephard has co-hosted the ITV breakfast show Good Morning Britain, alongside Susanna Reid and Kate Garraway.
