The X Factor is an Americanreality television music competition show created by Simon Cowell and produced by FremantleMedia North America and SYCOtv, a partnership between Cowell and Sony Music Entertainment, which aired on Fox.[2] Based on the original UK show, and an addition to The X Factor franchise, the series found new singing talent (solo artists and groups ages 12 and over), drawn from public auditions, and they competed against each other for votes. The winner is determined by the show's viewers via telephone, the Internet, and SMS text voting, and is awarded a recording contract with Cowell's record label Syco Music, worth $5 million in seasons one and two, and $1 million in season three. America voted for the following winners: Melanie Amaro, Tate Stevens, and Alex & Sierra, respectively.
Television is one of the major mass media of the United States. As of 2011, household ownership of television sets in the country is 96.7%, with approximately 114,200,000 American households owning at least one television set as of August 2013. The majority of households have more than one set. The peak ownership percentage of households with at least one television set occurred during the 1996–97 season, with 98.4% ownership.
Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unknown individuals rather than professional actors. Reality television came to prominence in the late 1990s and the early 2000s with the global successes of the series Survivor, Idols, and Big Brother, all of which became global franchises. Reality television shows tend to be interspersed with "confessionals", short interview segments in which cast members reflect on or provide context for the events being depicted on-screen. Competition-based reality shows typically feature gradual elimination of participants, either by a panel of judges or by the viewership of the show.
Simon Phillip Cowell is an English television music and talent show judge, A&R executive, businessman, talent manager, television producer, critic and entrepreneur. He has judged on the British TV talent competition series Pop Idol, The X Factor and Britain's Got Talent, and the American TV talent competition shows American Idol, The X Factor and America's Got Talent. Cowell is the principal, founder and chief executive of the British entertainment company Syco.
The show began airing on September 21, 2011,[3] and aired annually from September through December. The series employs a panel of judges who critique the contestants' performances. Each contestant is assigned to one of four categories. The group acts are one category and the others are based on age or gender. For example, in season 1 the categories were girls, boys, groups, and over 30s. Each judge was assigned to one of the categories,[4] and acted as a mentor to the contestants in his or her category, helping with song choices, styling, and staging, while also judging contestants from the other categories after each of the live performances. They competed with each other to try to get one of the contestants in their category to win the competition, thus making them the winning judge.
The first season of the American version of the music competition show The X Factor began airing on Fox on September 21, 2011.
Fifth Harmony (5H) is an American girl group based in Miami, composed of Ally Brooke, Normani Kordei, Dinah Jane, Lauren Jauregui, and previously Camila Cabello until her departure from the group in December 2016. The group signed a joint record deal with Simon Cowell's label Syco Records and L.A. Reid's label Epic Records after forming and finishing third in the second season of the American singing competition series The X Factor in 2012. Rising to prominence by social media, the group's debut extended play and their three studio albums all charted within the top ten of the Billboard 200 in the United States.
Karla Camila Cabello Estrabao is a Cuban-American singer and songwriter. She rose to prominence as a member of the girl group Fifth Harmony, formed on The X Factor (U.S.) in 2012, signing a joint record deal with Syco Music and Epic Records.
Normani Kordei Hamilton is an American singer and dancer. She is a member of the girl group Fifth Harmony. In 2017, she was a finalist in season 24 of Dancing with the Stars. Her first single as a soloist, the 2018 duet "Love Lies" with Khalid, recorded for the film Love, Simon, reached number 9 on the US Billboard Hot 100. Normani was later featured on songs from Jessie Reyez and Quavo. She also collaborated with Calvin Harris on the two-single EP Normani x Calvin Harris, and released the single "Waves" featuring 6lack in November of 2018. Her song with Sam Smith, "Dancing with a Stranger" was released in January 2019, It became her second top ten hit on the US Billboard Hot 100. Normani's debut solo album is set to be released in early 2019 by RCA/Keep Cool Records.
Paula Julie Abdul is an American dancer, choreographer, singer, actress, and television personality. She began her career as a cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers at the age of 18 and later became the head choreographer for the Laker Girls, where she was discovered by The Jacksons. After choreographing music videos for Janet Jackson, Abdul became a choreographer at the height of the music video era and soon thereafter she was signed to Virgin Records. Her debut studio album Forever Your Girl (1988) became one of the most successful debut albums at that time, selling 7 million copies in the United States and setting a record for the most number-one singles from a debut album on the Billboard Hot 100 chart: "Straight Up", "Forever Your Girl", "Cold Hearted", and "Opposites Attract". Her six number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 tie her with Diana Ross for seventh among the female solo performers who have topped the chart.
Cheryl Ann Tweedy is an English singer and television personality. Born and raised in Newcastle upon Tyne, she rose to fame in late 2002 upon winning a place in Girls Aloud, a girl group created through ITV's Popstars: The Rivals. While still in the group, she began a solo career in April 2009, and between then and 2014, she released four studio albums – 3 Words (2009), Messy Little Raindrops (2010), A Million Lights (2012) and Only Human (2014). Collectively, the albums included ten singles, five of which – "Fight for This Love, "Promise This", "Call My Name", "Crazy Stupid Love" and "I Don't Care" – reached the top position on the UK Singles Chart. Cheryl was the first British female solo artist to have five number-one singles in the UK, and she held the record for the British female solo artist with the most UK number-one singles until Jess Glynne overtook her in 2018.
Antonio Marquis "L.A." Reid is an American record executive, record producer, A&R representative, and panelist. He is founder and current co-chairman of Hitco Entertainment. He has served as the chairman and CEO of Epic Records and The Island Def Jam Music Group, the president and CEO of Arista Records. Reid was the founder and CEO of Hitco Music Publishing and the co-founder of LaFace Records with producing partner Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds. He has won three Grammy Awards, picking up awards as a songwriter for songs such as Boyz II Men's "End Of The Road."
On February 7, 2014, Fox announced that The X Factor would not be renewed for a fourth season, following Cowell's decision to return to the UK version of the series a day earlier.[6] Later that year in November, Cowell stated that he was "more than willing" to give the American version a reboot, and that Fox received offers to bring it back on other networks. However, he said he would bring back this version when there is less competition in the TV talent show landscape. As of 2019, there is no word on a possible reboot for the American version of the show.
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 in 2004 and has since aired annually from August/September until December. 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
History
Simon Cowell was previously a critically acclaimed judge on the enormously successful reality show American Idol, which was the number one show in the United States for eight consecutive seasons. Cowell was also a judge on the original UK version of the show, called Pop Idol, which did not fare so well but he did help the creator sell the franchise to the United States.
American Idol is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle USA and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It initially aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to April 7, 2016, for 15 seasons. Since March 11, 2018, a revival of the series has aired on ABC.
Pop Idol is a British music competition television series created by Simon Fuller which ran on ITV from 2001 to 2003. The aim of the show was to decide the best new young pop singer in the UK based on viewer voting and participation. Two series were broadcast, one in 2001–2002 and a second in 2003. Pop Idol was subsequently put on an indefinite hiatus after series judge Simon Cowell announced the launch of The X Factor in the UK in April 2004.
Cowell wished to create and launch a new show that he would own the rights to. In 2004, Pop Idol was axed, and ITV announced a new show in the United Kingdom, The X Factor, in which the winner receives a $5 million recording contract with his record label; the show had produced highly flourished multi-platinum artists, such as series three winner Leona Lewis and the group One Direction, respectively.
In April 2009, it was reported that Cowell was planning to try to launch a version of The X Factor in the U.S. after his American Idol contract ended at the close of its season nine.[7] (As long as Cowell's American Idol contract was still in force, it had prohibited him from launching a competing show such as The X Factor in the U.S.)[7] In September, Fox, the broadcaster of American Idol, signed the deal to launch the U.S. version of The X Factor.
However, prior to selling The X Factor franchise to the United States, American Idol creator Simon Fuller sued Cowell, claiming that he should be credited as an executive producer despite having no involvement with Cowell's new show (Fuller also sued Cowell in the U.K. after Pop Idol was cancelled due to the success of The X Factor, alleging it somehow infringed his Pop Idol series). After the lawsuit in 2011 in the U.S., Cowell was allowed to bring The X Factor to the United States but could not be credited with the titles "creator" or "executive producer".
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 could judge and act as executive producer of the U.S. version of The X Factor.[8] Additionally, Cowell signed a long-term contract with Sony Music, who already supported Syco Music artists in the UK, under which he was involved with the production of the U.S. version of the show and also worked with the artists who won recording contracts.[2]
In November 2010, Fox began airing short commercials for the program, which displayed the text "Coming to America Fall 2011".[9][10]The New York Times described the commercials as efforts by the network to set up the launch of The X Factor as a television "event."[9] In February 2011, during Super Bowl XLV, Fox unveiled the official logo for the show in a promo starring Cowell.[11] A second promo was shown during the course of that evening, featuring Katy Perry, Justin Bieber, The Black Eyed Peas, Usher, Lady Gaga, the Pussycat Dolls, and Madonna. This promo gave rise to speculation about who would join Cowell on the X Factor judging panel.[12]
In November 2014, it was reported that Cowell was considering re-launching the American version in 2015, though this was proved untrue.[13] However, Cowell has said he was more than willing to give the American version another go, and that they received offers to bring it back on other networks, though he said he would bring it back when there is less competition in the TV talent show landscape.
Format
Categories
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, to use their experience to help the artists. For season one, these categories were: "Boys" (aged 12–29 males), "Girls" (aged 12–29 females), "Over 30s" (solo acts aged 30 and over), and "Groups" (including duos). Season two's categories and age group boundaries were changed, with the "Boys" and "Girls" categories becoming "Teens" (solo acts aged 12–17) and "Young Adults" (solo acts aged 18–24), and the "Over 30s" became "Over 25s" (solo acts aged 25 and over). 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.
Stages for seasons 1 and 2
There are five stages to the competition:
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)
Stages for season 3
There are four stages to the competition:
Stage 1: Producers' audition (these auditions decide who will sing in front of the judges)
Stage 2: Judges' auditions
Stage 3: Four-chair challenge
Stage 4: Live shows (finals)
Auditions
The show is open to solo artists and vocal groups aged 12 and above, with no upper age limit.[14][15] Applicants are given an opportunity to apply by uploading a video audition to the Internet. The show's producers also send a "mobile audition van" to various locations throughout the U.S. to audition singers who are unable to attend the arena auditions. A round of first auditions is held in front of producers months before the show is aired, some by application and appointment, and others in "open" auditions that anyone can attend. These auditions, held at various venues around the U.S., attract very large crowds. The producers' auditions are not televised, but shots of crowds waving and "judges' cars" arriving are filmed and later spliced in with the televised auditions shot later in the year. After waiting at the venue for hours (during which crews film more shots of crowds screaming and waving), each candidate is given a brief audition by someone from the production team. If they pass that audition (either because of their talent or because the producers think they will make entertaining television), they are given a "golden ticket" that allows them to audition for a more senior member of the production team. Only candidates who successfully pass this second audition (and then a third along similar lines) are invited to perform in front of the judges. (The televised version misleadingly gives the impression that everyone in the huge crowds shown is waiting for a chance to perform for the judges.)
A selection of the auditions in front of the judges – usually the best, the worst and the most bizarre – are broadcast during the first few weeks of the show. The judges' auditions are held in front of a live audience, and the acts sing over a backing track. If a majority of the judges (in this case, at least three judges) have to say "yes" then the act goes through to the next stage, otherwise, they are sent home.
Boot camp and judges' houses
In the first two seasons, The contestants selected at the auditions were further refined through a series of performances at "boot camp", and then at the "judges' houses", until a small number eventually progressed to the live finals (seventeen in season 1, and sixteen in season 2).
At boot camp, the judges collaboratively chose a small number of acts (32 in season 1 with eight in each category; 24 in season 2 with six in each category) for the next round, "judges' houses". The producers then assigned each of the judges a category to mentor, and the judges split up for the "judges' houses" round, in which each of them hosted the contestants in their assigned category at a luxurious residence, often scattered around the globe. The houses the contestants visited did not in every case actually belong to the judges, some were rented for the occasion.
The contestants did not know who their mentor would be until they arrived at that judge's house.
During this round, each judge held another round of auditions on location, and then further reduced the number of acts with the help of a celebrity guest.
In season three, these stages of the competition are being replaced by a new stage called "The Six-Chair Challenge", first introduced in the Dutch version of the series.[16]
Live shows
CBS Television City
The selected finalists (either 16 or 17 acts) move into shared accommodation at the Hollywood Hills to take part in the show. The mansion is also notably used for housing the finalists from American Idol.[17]
The finals consist of a series of two live shows, the first featuring the contestants' performances and the second revealing the results of the public voting, culminating in one or more acts being eliminated. Celebrity guest performers also feature regularly. These live shows are filmed at CBS Television City in Los Angeles, California. The performance shows are broadcast on Wednesday nights and the results show on Thursday nights. In season one, seventeen acts were put through to the live shows, and sixteen acts were put through in season two.
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.[18][19]
Performances
The show is primarily concerned with identifying a potential pop star or star group, and singing talent, appearance, personality, stage presence and dance routines are all important elements of the contestants' performances. In the initial live shows, each act performs once in the first show in front of a studio audience and the judges, usually singing over a pre-recorded backing track. Dancers are also commonly featured. Acts occasionally accompany themselves on guitar or piano. Each live show has had a different theme; each contestant's song is chosen according to the theme. After each act has performed, the judges comment on their performance. Heated disagreements, usually involving judges defending their contestants against criticism, are a regular feature of the show. Once all the acts have appeared, the phone lines open and the viewing public vote on which act they want to keep. Once the number of contestants has been reduced to five (season 1), or six (season 2), each act would perform twice in the performances show. This continues until only three acts remain. These acts go on to appear in the grand final which decides the overall winner by public vote.
Results
Before the results are announced, the results show occasionally begins with a group performance from the remaining contestants. However, the song is pre-recorded and the contestants mime, due to problems with the number of microphones. The two acts polling the fewest votes are revealed. Both these acts perform again in a "final showdown", and the judges vote on which of the two to send home. They were able to pick new songs to perform in the "final showdown". "Double elimination" took place in some of the results show, where the bottom three acts were revealed and the act with the fewest votes was automatically eliminated, and the two with the next fewest votes performed in the "final showdown" as normal. In season two, at the end of each result show, the rankings of the acts based on the public votes were announced.
Ties are possible as there are four judges voting on which of the two to send home. In the event of a tie, the result goes to deadlock, and the actors who came last in the public vote is sent home. The actual number of votes cast for each act is not revealed, nor even the order. However, a twist occurred in season two where the rankings of the acts based on the public vote for the week were revealed after the eliminations on the show. Once the number of contestants has been reduced to four, the act which polled the fewest votes is automatically eliminated from the competition (the judges do not have a vote; their only role is to comment on the performances).
At the end of judges' houses, it was announced that Cowell would bring back one further act from his "Girls" category that he had eliminated at the judges' houses. He believed that he had made "a huge mistake" at judges' houses by not choosing the act for the live shows. The act was later revealed to be Melanie Amaro and therefore season one had a final 17 instead of a final 16. On the first live show, there was no public vote. Instead, each of the judges selected one of their own acts to eliminate. Cowell had to eliminate two acts because he included Amaro as a fifth contestant in his category.
Similar to season one, there was no public vote on the first live show and each of the mentors selected one of their own acts to eliminate. However, prior to the elimination of each category, each mentor selected two finalists from their own category as the bottom two. The bottom two acts performed another song of their choice in the "final showdown" and their mentor was required to eliminate one of them based on the performance. At the start of the second live show, it was announced that all judges agreed to bring back one further act whom they felt should not have been eliminated on the first live show by the mentor. The act was later revealed to be Diamond White.
Just like the previous two seasons, there was no public vote or final showdown during the first live show. Instead, each of the judges selected one of their own acts to eliminate. At the start of the second live show, it was announced that all judges agreed to bring back one further act whom they felt should not have been eliminated on the first live show by the mentor. The act was later revealed to be Josh Levi.
After The X Factor
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.[14][15] A press release on behalf of the show on February 7, 2011 called the recording contract "the largest guaranteed prize in television history."[20] Unlike the British version of the show,[21] 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."[22] Cowell said in the same conference call that the specific music label within the Sony family that the winner signs with depends on which label could provide the best support to the winner with regard to the type of music the winner chooses to perform.
Series overview
To date, three seasons have been broadcast, as summarized below.
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
^ Cheryl Cole originally served as a permanent judge for the Los Angeles and Chicago auditions but was dropped and replaced by Nicole Scherzinger who was originally a co-host.
^ Louis Walsh served as a guest judge for only the Kansas City auditions to replace Simon Cowell who was ill.
Judges and hosts
Judges
At the time of announcing the U.S. version of The X Factor, Simon Cowell was the only confirmed judge for the show.[23] 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 A&R guy for 20 years."[24] Eventually, Grammy Award-winning record executive, songwriter, and record producerL.A. Reid,[25][26] former The X Factor judge Cheryl Cole,[27][28] and Cowell's former American Idol colleague Paula Abdul[29] were confirmed to join Cowell in the judging panel. Cole was dismissed from the show after two sets of auditions and was replaced by co-host Nicole Scherzinger from the Newark auditions.
After season one, the show's producers had said that they would undergo some changes which resulted in, what media outlets called, an "X Factor Shake-up". On January 30, 2012, it was announced that neither Abdul nor Scherzinger would return as a judge for season two.[30] When searching for replacements, Cowell sought to hire pop star Britney Spears as Scherzinger's replacement. After months of negotiations, Cowell and Spears came to an agreement for season two. Following the employment of Spears, Cowell was looking for a young superstar, in order to bring in a younger audience. On May 14, it was confirmed that Demi Lovato and Spears were the new judges.
On December 13, 2012, Reid announced that he would not be returning as a judge for a third season, instead opting to focus on Epic Records. Spears announced on January 11, 2013, that she would not be renewing her contract for another season, opting to focus on recording her eighth studio album. In March 2013, Lovato was announced to be joining Cowell on the panel again for season three. In April 2013, it was reported that former X Factor UK judge Kelly Rowland was the front-runner to replace Spears. In May, it was officially confirmed that Rowland and Paulina Rubio would join Cowell and Lovato for season three.[31]
Cowell initially indicated that The X Factor may have two hosts.[32][33] Numerous people were speculated to host the series, including High School Musical star Corbin Bleu, model Marisa Miller,[34] and Dermot O'Leary, host of the UK version.[35][36] On May 8, 2011, Nicole Scherzinger and Welsh presenter Steve Jones were announced as co-hosts of the show.[37][38] However, following the departure of judge Cheryl in season one, Scherzinger took her place and Jones became sole host.
After season one, Jones followed Scherzinger and judge Paula Abdul out the door as they were all dismissed from their duties on the show. Reports on who was going to replace Jones as the host circulated for months. Reality star Khloé Kardashian and Extra host Mario Lopez were confirmed as the two hosts hired. The season two auditions, boot camp, and judges' houses phases of the show went on without hosts as they were not yet confirmed. On April 22, 2013, Fox announced that Lopez would return as sole host for season three after Kardashian was not asked back as co-host.[39]
Nicole Scherzinger (2011) (However, Cole was dropped from the show in which Scherzinger became judge and Jones became solo host.)
Judges' categories and their finalists
In each season, each judge is allocated a category to mentor and chooses a 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.
– Winning judge/category. Winners are in bold, eliminated contestants in small font.
The Pepsi Pre-show Live is a podcast, sponsored by Pepsi, that is broadcast through the X Factor website one hour before every episode in the live rounds of the show. This program features behind-the-scenes looks backstage, acoustic performances, and interviews with celebrities, judges, contestants, and X Factor alumni. This program is hosted by Jesse Giddings, Adrienne Bailon, and Jim Cantiello.
Reception
Television ratings
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.
At the 2012 Teen Choice Awards, The X Factor beat rival shows American Idol and The Voice to take the award for Reality Competition Show. The X Factor also won the award for Breakout Show, and Simon Cowell won the Male Personality award.
In week seven of season one, Scherzinger voted to eliminate contestant Rachel Crow from the show over Marcus Canty; this took the results to deadlock. Following this, Crow was eliminated and Scherzinger was booed off the stage and her future on the show was put in jeopardy.[45] She subsequently received death threats from some viewers.[46] Scherzinger was let go at the end of the season and later relocated to London to replace Kelly Rowland as a judge on the original UK version of the show.
The airing of the season two judges' houses episode on October 17, 2012 was cut short abruptly in the middle of Lovato's selection for the top 16 to return to MLB on Fox coverage of Game 3 of the 2012 National League Championship Series, which had been in a lengthy rain delay and restarted (the game started at 4 p.m. ET so that Fox could run their primetime lineup upon the game's completion).[47] After viewer complaints and a Twitter message from Cowell that consisted of his reaction being "It's what's known as a total f up," the episode was re-aired the next week in full.
In season three, due to graphics errors made in the top 13 round of the live shows regarding voting, all voting results posted in that episode were invalidated, and the contestants sang once more in November 7, 2013, show, with the results revealed on November 13.[48]
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 one premiered Saturday, November 3, 2012 on FOX
Hungary: Premiered on October 1, 2011, and is broadcast on every Sunday and Saturday on RTL Klub[52]
India: Premiered on September 22, 2011 and is simulcast on Big CBS Prime, Love and Spark.
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 (now RTV) 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
Iran: Premiered on December 20, 2012, and is broadcast on Thursday and Friday on GEM TV
Japan: Premiered on October 1, 2011 on FOX bs238
Latin America: Premiered on October 12, 2011 on Sony Channel. Season 2 premiered on October 26, 2012 also on Sony Channel.
Latvia: Premiered on December 1, 2012 on Channel 2
Serbia: Premiered on November 2, 2012 on FOX Serbia.
Slovakia: Premiered on September 23, 2011 on JOJ Plus; season two premiered September 14, 2012 on TV JOJ (broadcast in Slovakia 24 hours after it is aired in the U.S.)
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, meaning there was initially a delay of two weeks after the U.S. airing. From the live shows onwards, this gap has again reduced to 48 hours. Season 3 premiered on September 20, 2013, 9 days after the U.S. premiere.
Sponsorship
On January 7, 2011, Fox, SYCOtv and FremantleMedia North America announced that Pepsi would be the official sponsor of The X Factor.[4][9] The sponsorship included 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 would also include an extensive multi-platform on and off-air marketing partnership.[56]Sony was confirmed as the third official sponsor on July 26. Sony's sponsorship of The X Factor would also include an extensive multi-platform on and off-air marketing partnership.[57]Verizon also sponsored the show; they were the official wireless sponsor.[58]
In 2012, the show was the second-highest revenue earning show of the year, with US$5.55 million ad revenue per half-hour, behind American Idol.[59]
The X Factor was an Australian television reality music competition, based on the original UK series, to find new singing talent. The first season of the show premiered on Network Ten on 6 February 2005. Ten dropped The X Factor after the first season due to poor ratings. In 2010, the Seven Network won the rights to the show, and a second season went into production. The X Factor was renewed after the highly successful Australian Idol was no longer broadcast on Network Ten. The X Factor was produced by FremantleMedia Australia, and was broadcast on the Seven Network in Australia and on TV3 in New Zealand. The program was cancelled after its eighth season in 2016.
Britain's Got Talent is a televised British talent show competition, and part of the global Got Talent franchise created by Simon Cowell. Presented by Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly, it is produced by both Thames and Syco Entertainment, distributed by Fremantle, and broadcast on ITV every year in late Spring to early Summer. The show premiered on 9 June 2007, after its initially planned premiere in 2005 was scrapped and production suspended, following a dispute between the broadcaster and Paul O'Grady, the originally planned host for the programme.
The X Factor Arabia originally aired in March 26, 2006 with the title "XSeer Al Najah", meaning Elixir or Essence of Success. "XSeer Al Najah" was the Arab version of The X Factor. The Arabic-language version of the program also created by Simon Cowell has a similar format to the British version, in that there are judges who each have a team of contestants to mentor and compete with each other for the X Factor title. The 14-episode first series was broadcast in 22 Arabic-speaking countries. In its debut, it was known as being one of the most watched programs on television and was produced and supported by Rotana, one of the largest production companies in the Arab World. The winner of "XSeer Al Najah" earned a chance to sign with Rotana.
The X Factor was a New Zealand television reality music competition, originating from the original UK series and based on the Australian The X Factor production format. The show began in 2013 and was open to anyone aged 14 and over. The winner was signed to Sony Music Entertainment New Zealand.
X-Factor is the Armenian version of The X Factor, a show originating in the United Kingdom. It is a televised music talent show contested by aspiring pop singers drawn from public auditions in the Republic of Armenia and the Armenian diaspora. The show in its inaugural year was broadcast on the Armenian Shant TV station, the same station that broadcasts the Armenian Idol series Hay Superstar.
Season two of the American television music competition show The X Factor premiered on Fox on September 12, 2012, and ended on December 20, 2012.
The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. The ninth series began airing on ITV on 18 August 2012 and ended on 9 December 2012. Dermot O'Leary returned as presenter of the main show on ITV, whilst Caroline Flack and Olly Murs returned to co-present The Xtra Factor on ITV2. Louis Walsh, Gary Barlow and Tulisa returned as judges. Nicole Scherzinger was confirmed as the fourth permanent judge after Geri Halliwell, Leona Lewis, Rita Ora, Mel B, Anastacia and Scherzinger herself stood in as guest judges for the vacant position left by Kelly Rowland. After the show of 8 December, two of Scherzinger's acts, James Arthur and Jahméne Douglas, became the top two, meaning that Scherzinger was guaranteed to win. Arthur was announced as the winner on 9 December, and released a cover of Shontelle's "Impossible" as his winner's song. As of 2016, it is the most successful winner's single in the show's history.
The X Factor Indonesia is an Indonesian reality television music competition to find new singing talent, contested by aspiring singers drawn from public audition. The show that was adopted from the British The X Factor with the show is produced by FremantleMedia and Cowell's production company Syco. It is broadcast on the RCTI. In 2014, X Factor Indonesia won the Panasonic Gobel Awards for the category Talent and Best Reality Show.
X Factor was the Swedish version of The X Factor, with the only season of the series debuting on September 9, 2012 and ending on December 7, 2012. The winner of the series was Awa Santesson-Sey. TV4 announced in January 2013 that Idol, another singing talent show seeking to discover the best singer through nationwide auditions, would return in 2013 and that X Factor will not continue.
X Factor Česko a Slovensko is a Czech and Slovak reality television music competition created by Simon Cowell and produced by FremantleMedia, on TV Prima and TV JOJ. Based on the original UK show, and an addition to the X Factor franchise, the series finds new singing talent, drawn from public auditions, and they compete against each other for votes. The winner is determined by the show's viewers SMS text voting, and is awarded a recording contract, worth 200.000 €.
The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. The thirteenth series began airing on ITV on Saturday 27 August 2016 and ended on Sunday 11 December 2016. Dermot O'Leary returned to present the main show on ITV for the ninth time, after having quit the previous year. Simon Cowell was the only judge from the 12th series to return; Nicole Scherzinger, Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh all returned, replacing Rita Ora, Cheryl Fernandez-Versini and Nick Grimshaw. Matt Edmondson and Rylan Clark-Neal replaced Rochelle Humes and Melvin Odoom as hosts of The Xtra Factor, which was rebranded as The Xtra Factor Live and was broadcast live twice every week, with Roman Kemp making appearances as a digital presenter and social media reporter. Matt Terry was announced the winner on 11 December 2016, making Scherzinger the winning mentor for the second time. Saara Aalto came second.
X Factor is a Brazilian reality television music competition show created by Simon Cowell and produced by FremantleMedia and Syco Entertainment, which airs on Band, with reruns airing the following day on TNT. The series premiered on August 29, 2016. On July 7, 2017, it was confirmed that the programme would not be returning for a second series.
X Factor Malta is the current first season of the Maltese version of the British television music competition The X Factor, created by Simon Cowell. The season premiered on 7 October 2018 and is broadcast on Television Malta. The show was used as the platform for the selection of Malta's entrant at the Eurovision Song Contest 2019, and the winner will also secure a record contract with Sony Music Italy.
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