The X Factor (British series 2)

The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. The second series ran from 20 August to 17 December 2005.[1] Shayne Ward became the winner and Louis Walsh emerged as the winning mentor. The second series was longer than the first, with seven acts in each of the three categories going to the judges' homes, and 12 acts in the finals instead of 9. Kate Thornton returned as presenter of the main show on ITV and Ben Shepherd presented the spin-off show The Xtra Factor on ITV2, while Simon Cowell, Sharon Osbourne and Walsh returned as judges. 75,000 people auditioned for the series.

The X Factor
Series 2
Ward performing during the Shayne Ward Live 2007 tour.
Hosted byKate Thornton (ITV)
Judges
WinnerShayne Ward
Winning mentorLouis Walsh
Runner-upAndy Abraham
Release
Original network
Original release20 August (2005-08-20) 
17 December 2005 (2005-12-17)
Series chronology

On the back of their performances and popularity in the competition, Ward (winner), Andy Abraham (runner-up), Journey South (third place) and Maria Lawson (8th place) landed recording contracts. Chico Slimani (5th place) also released a single which topped the UK Singles Chart.

Aired on 24 September 2005, the mentoring selection was made, with Cowell in charge of Groups, Osbourne with the 25 and overs and Walsh managing the 16–24s. The bootcamp stages were shown on 1 October 2005, and those who got through were taken to the "judges' homes".

Judges, presenters and other personnel

Simon Cowell, Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh returned as judges, quashing rumours that Osbourne and Walsh might not return for financial reasons. Kate Thornton also returned as presenter of the main show on ITV and Ben Shephard returned as presenter of spin-off show The Xtra Factor on ITV2. Yvie Burnett joined the show as vocal coach.

Selection process

The auditions episodes were broadcast on 20 August 27 August 3 September 10 September 17 and 24 September 2005. The first two episodes of Bootcamp aired on 1 October 2005 and the last two the following week on 8 October 2005.

Bootcamp Tasks per Category

16-24s:

Location: artsdepot

Task 1 Songs:

Task 2 Songs: The 21 remaining contestants in the 16-24s category were divided into three groups of 7 with one song in each of the groups. Each contestant then performed their chosen song solo in front of Louis and his team. The songs were.

Groups:

Location: An Manor House within the Oxfordshire countryside.

Task 1: Perform both an uptempo and a slow song to show versatility.

Task 2: Learn one song of their choice within an hour and then perform it to Simon and his team.

Over 25s:

Location: Café de Paris

Task 1: Perform a song of their choice to Sharon and the rest of the contestants.

Task 2: Choose a song from an list of five and learn it overnight to perform for a place in Judges Houses. The songs performed during this round were:

Judges Houses Performances
  • Contestant highlighted in bold advanced.

Over 25s:

Groups:

16-24s

Summary of judges' houses
Judge Category Location Acts Eliminated
Cowell Groups Marbella 4th Base
Eskimo Blonde
The Brothers
Osbourne Over 25s Beverly Hills Richie Glynn
Joanne Hindley
Haifa Kayali
Walsh 16-24s Dublin James Bellamy
Alexandra Burke
Trevor Hodgson

Acts

Key:

  – Winner
  – Runner-up
Act Age(s) Hometown Category (mentor) Result
Shayne Ward 21 Manchester 16-24s (Walsh) Winner
Andy Abraham 41 North London Over 25s (Osbourne) Runner-up
Journey South 25 & 30 Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire Groups (Cowell) 3rd place
Brenda Edwards 36 Luton Over 25s (Osbourne) 4th place
Chico Slimani 34 Bridgend 5th place
The Conway Sisters 17-28 County Sligo, Ireland Groups (Cowell) 6th place
Nicholas Dorsett 18 London Borough of Enfield 16-24s (Walsh) 7th place
Maria Lawson 26 London Over 25s (Osbourne) 8th place
Chenai Zinyuku 19 Bradford 16-24s (Walsh) 9th place
Phillip Magee 21 Larne 10th place
4Tune 18-21 Southampton Groups (Cowell) 11th place
Addictiv Ladies 16-17 London 12th place

Live shows

The live shows began on 15 October 2005, and the final was broadcast live on 17 December 2005.

Results summary

Colour key

  Act in 16-24s

  Act in Over 25s

  Act in Groups

  Act was in the bottom two and had to sing again in the final showdown
  Act received the fewest public votes and was immediately eliminated (no final showdown)
  Act received the most public votes
Weekly results per act
Act Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Quarter-Final Semi-Final Final
First Vote Second Vote
Shayne Ward Safe 1st 5 Safe Safe Safe 2nd5 Safe Safe Safe Safe Winner
Andy Abraham 1st 5 Safe 1st 5 Safe Safe 1st 5 Safe Safe Safe Safe Runner-Up
Journey South Safe Safe Safe Safe 2nd5 4th5 Safe Safe Safe 3rd Eliminated
(final)
Brenda Edwards Safe Safe Safe Safe 3rd5 5th5 Safe Safe 4th Eliminated
(semi-final)
Chico Slimani Bottom Two Safe Bottom Two Safe Safe 3rd5 Bottom Two 5th Eliminated
(quarter-final)
The Conway Sisters Safe Safe Safe Safe 8th4 7th5 Bottom Two Eliminated
(week 7)
Nicholas Dorsett Safe Safe Safe Bottom Two 1st 5 6th 5 Eliminated
(week 6)
Maria Lawson Safe Safe Safe 1st3 7th4 Eliminated
(week 5)
Chenai Zinyuku Safe Bottom Two Safe Bottom Two Eliminated
(week 4)
Phillip Magee Safe Safe Bottom Two Eliminated
(week 3)
4Tune Safe Bottom Two Eliminated
(week 2)
Addictiv Ladies Bottom Two Eliminated
(week 1)
Final Showdown Addictiv Ladies,
Slimani
4Tune,
Zinyuku
Magee,
Slimani
Dorsett,
Zinyuku
The Conway Sisters,
Lawson
The Conway Sisters,
Dorsett
The Conway Sisters,
Slimani
No final showdown or judges' votes; results were based on public votes alone
Walsh's vote to eliminate (16-24s) Addictiv Ladies4TuneSlimaniZinyukuLawsonThe Conway Sisters2
Osbourne's vote to eliminate (Over 25s) Addictiv Ladies4TuneMageeDorsettThe Conway SistersDorsettThe Conway Sisters
Cowell's vote to eliminate (Groups) SlimaniZinyukuMageeZinyukuLawsonDorsettThe Conway Sisters1
Eliminated Addictiv Ladies
2 of 3 votes
Majority
4Tune
2 of 3 Votes
Majority
Phillip Magee
2 of 3 votes
Majority
Chenai Zinyuku
2 of 3 votes
Majority
Maria Lawson
2 of 3 votes
Majority
Nicholas Dorsett
2 of 3 votes
Majority
The Conway Sisters
2 of 2 votes
Majority
Chico Slimani
Public vote
to save
Brenda Edwards
Public vote
to save
Journey South
Public vote
to save
Andy Abraham
Public vote
to win

^1 For the only time in The X Factor history, a judge made an unforced decision to eliminate one of their own acts over another judge's act.
^2 Walsh was not required to vote as there was a majority.
^3 In Lawson's 2008 autobiography, Life Starts Now, she revealed she had topped the vote the week before her elimination.
^4 According to voting figures published in the Sunday Mirror, Lawson turned out to have received twice as many public votes as the Conway Sisters.
^5 Some of the voting results were also published in the same edition of the Sunday Mirror, the full voting results of the sixth week, Dorsett turned out to have topped the fifth week, Abraham topped the first, third and sixth weeks and Ward topped the second week.

Week 1 (15 October)

Acts' performances on the first live show
Act Order Song Result
Addictiv Ladies 1 "Superstar" (Jamelia) Eliminated
Shayne Ward 2 "Right Here Waiting" (Richard Marx) Safe
Chico Slimani 3 "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" (Rod Stewart) Bottom Two
Journey South 4 "Something About the Way You Look Tonight" (Elton John) Safe
Phillip Magee 5 "Amazed" (Lonestar)
Brenda Edwards 6 "Son of a Preacher Man" (Dusty Springfield)
The Conway Sisters 7 "SOS" (ABBA)
Nicholas Dorsett 8 "On the Wings of Love" (Jeffrey Osborne)
Maria Lawson 9 "Emotion" (Bee Gees)
4Tune 10 "I Want It That Way" (Backstreet Boys)
Chenai Zinyuku 11 "The Closest Thing to Crazy" (Katie Melua)
Andy Abraham 12 "Greatest Love of All" (George Benson) Safe (Highest Votes)
Judges' votes to eliminate
  • Cowell: Chico Slimani – said that the judges had to pick the real talent over a "joke act", effectively backing his own act, Addictiv Ladies.
  • Osbourne: Addictiv Ladies – backed her own act, Chico Slimani, whose performance she said was more exciting.
  • Walsh: Addictiv Ladies – said that Slimani had the all-round entertainment package.

Week 2 (22 October)

Contestants' performances on the second live show
Act Order Song Result
Andy Abraham 1 "You to Me Are Everything" (The Real Thing) Safe
Chenai Zinyuku 2 "Young Hearts Run Free" (Candi Staton) Bottom Two
4Tune 3 "I'll Be There" (Jackson 5) Eliminated
Chico Slimani 4 "Play That Funky Music" (Wild Cherry) Safe
Nicholas Dorsett 5 "Let's Get It On" (Marvin Gaye)
The Conway Sisters 6 "You Raise Me Up" (Westlife)
Maria Lawson 7 "The Way You Make Me Feel" (Michael Jackson)
Phillip Magee 8 "Wind Beneath My Wings" (Roger Whittaker)
Journey South 9 "Desperado" (Eagles)
Brenda Edwards 10 "Rescue Me" (Fontella Bass)
Shayne Ward 11 "If You're Not the One" (Daniel Bedingfield) Safe (Highest Votes)
Judges' votes to eliminate
  • Cowell: Chenai Zinyuku – gave no reason, though effectively backed his own act, 4Tune.
  • Walsh: 4Tune – gave no reason, though effectively backed his own act, Chenai Zinyuku.
  • Osbourne: 4Tune – said that Zinyuku had a better chance of selling records.

Week 3 (29 October)

Acts' performances on the third live show
Act Order Song Result
Phillip Magee 1 "Johnny B. Goode" (Chuck Berry) Eliminated
Brenda Edwards 2 "Midnight Train to Georgia" (Gladys Knight & the Pips) Safe
Shayne Ward 3 "Summer of '69" (Bryan Adams)
Chico Slimani 4 "Livin' la Vida Loca" (Ricky Martin) Bottom Two
The Conway Sisters 5 "Total Eclipse of the Heart" (Bonnie Tyler) Safe
Chenai Zinyuku 6 "Hero" (Mariah Carey)
Andy Abraham 7 "Unforgettable" (Nat King Cole) Safe (Highest Votes)
Journey South 8 "Angel of Harlem" (U2) Safe
Nicholas Dorsett 9 "Let's Stay Together" (Al Green)
Maria Lawson 10 "Piece of My Heart" (Janis Joplin)
Judges' votes to eliminate
  • Osbourne: Phillip Magee – gave no reason, though effectively backed her own act, Chico Slimani.
  • Walsh: Chico Slimani – gave no reason, though effectively backed his own act, Phillip Magee.
  • Cowell: Phillip Magee – he thought the public would want to see Chico back.

Week 4 (5 November)

Acts' performances on the fourth live show
Act Order Song Result
Brenda Edwards 1 "Somebody Else's Guy" (Jocelyn Brown) Safe
Nicholas Dorsett 2 "I Want You Back" (Jackson 5) Bottom Two
Andy Abraham 3 "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" (Andy Williams) Safe
Chenai Zinyuku 4 "Always on My Mind" (Elvis Presley) Eliminated
Chico Slimani 5 "Kiss" (Prince) Safe
Journey South 6 "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" (Roberta Flack)
Maria Lawson 7 "You're Beautiful" (James Blunt) Safe (Highest Votes)
Shayne Ward 8 "You Make Me Feel Brand New" (Simply Red) Safe
The Conway Sisters 9 "One Voice" (Barry Manilow)
Judges' votes to eliminate
  • Osbourne: Nicholas Dorsett – said that Zinyku deserved her place in the competition more.
  • Cowell: Chenai Zinyuku – said that Dorsett had not been in the bottom two previously and deserved a second chance.
  • Walsh: Chenai Zinyuku – said that it was a tough decision to choose between his own acts.

Week 5 (12 November)

Acts' performances on the fifth live show
Act Order Song Result
Shayne Ward 1 "Cry Me a River" (Justin Timberlake) Safe
Maria Lawson 2 "Brown Sugar" (The Rolling Stones) Eliminated
The Conway Sisters 3 "Hold On" (Wilson Phillips) Bottom Two
Andy Abraham 4 "I'll Make Love to You" (Boyz II Men) Safe
Journey South 5 "Livin' on a Prayer" (Bon Jovi)
Chico Slimani 6 "Hero" (Enrique Iglesias)
Nicholas Dorsett 7 "I Believe I Can Fly" (R.Kelly) Safe (Highest Votes)
Brenda Edwards 8 "Heartbreaker" (Dionne Warwick) Safe
Judges' votes to eliminate
  • Osbourne: The Conway Sisters – gave no reason, though effectively backed her own act, Maria Lawson.
  • Cowell: Maria Lawson – gave no reason, though effectively backed his own act, The Conway Sisters.
  • Walsh: Maria Lawson – went with his heart.

Walsh's decision to eliminate Lawson caused controversy when Osbourne accused Walsh of being part of the "Irish Mafia", since both he and The Conway Sisters are Irish. Cowell, though backed his own act to eliminate Lawson, said that if he had to go with his heart, he would have sent his own act home. He felt they would not have a chance to win, and that Lawson had more talent and her elimination would be the first one that the public would disagree with.

However, voting statistics revealed that Lawson received more votes than The Conway Sisters which meant that if the result went to deadlock, The Conway Sisters would have been eliminated.

Week 6 (19 November)

Acts' performances on the sixth live show
Act Order Song Result
The Conway Sisters 1 "One Moment in Time" (Whitney Houston) Bottom Two
Andy Abraham 2 "Me and Mrs. Jones" (Billy Paul) Safe
Nicholas Dorsett 3 "If I Ever Fall in Love" (East 17) Eliminated
Journey South 4 "Angels" (Robbie Williams) Safe
Brenda Edwards 5 "Last Dance" (Donna Summer)
Shayne Ward 6 "A Million Love Songs" (Take That)
Chico Slimani 7 "It's Chico Time" (original song)
Judges' votes to eliminate
  • Walsh: The Conway Sisters – gave no reason, though effectively backed his own act, Nicholas Dorsett.
  • Cowell: Nicholas Dorsett – backed his own act, The Conway Sisters.
  • Osbourne: Nicholas Dorsett – gave no reason.

However, voting statistics revealed that Dorsett received more votes than The Conway Sisters which meant that if the result went to deadlock, The Conway Sisters would have been eliminated.

Week 7 (26 November)

Acts' performances on the seventh live show
Act Order Song Result
Chico Slimani 1 "Billie Jean" (Michael Jackson) Bottom Two
The Conway Sisters 2 "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" (Starship) Eliminated
Andy Abraham 3 "I Have Nothing" (Whitney Houston) Safe (Highest Votes)
Shayne Ward 4 "I Believe in a Thing Called Love" (The Darkness) Safe
Brenda Edwards 5 "I Will Always Love You" (Whitney Houston)
Journey South 6 "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" (U2)
Judges' votes to eliminate
  • Osbourne: The Conway Sisters – gave no reason, though effectively backed her own act, Chico Slimani.
  • Cowell: The Conway Sisters – said that both acts deserved to be in the bottom two, but felt Slimani had an entertainment value and voted to eliminate The Conway Sisters despite them being his own act. This became the first time ever in the history of the show that a mentor decided to eliminate his own act over the act from another category.
  • Walsh was not required to vote as there was already a majority.

Week 8: Quarter-Final (3 December)

  • Best bits song: "Hero"
Acts' performances in the quarter-final
Act Order First song Order Second song Result
Journey South 1 "Bad Day" (Daniel Powter) 6 "Candle in the Wind" (Elton John) Safe
Chico Slimani 2 "I Got You (I Feel Good)" (James Brown) 7 "Time Warp" (from The Rocky Horror Show) Eliminated
Brenda Edwards 3 "I'm Outta Love" (Anastacia) 8 "I'll Never Love This Way Again" (Dionne Warwick) Safe
Shayne Ward 4 "Take Your Mama" (Scissor Sisters) 9 "Careless Whisper" (Wham!)
Andy Abraham 5 "Easy Lover" (Phil Collins) 10 "When I Fall in Love" (Nat King Cole)

The quarter-final did not feature a final showdown and instead the act with the fewest public votes, Chico Slimani, was automatically eliminated. After his elimination, Slimani reprised his performance of "Time Warp" as his exit song.

Week 9: Semi-Final (10 December)

Acts' performances in the semi-final
Act Order First song Order Second song Result
Andy Abraham 1 "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" (Bryan Adams) 5 "Lately" (Stevie Wonder) Safe
Journey South 2 "You're in My Heart (The Final Acclaim)" (Rod Stewart) 6 "Let It Be" (The Beatles)
Brenda Edwards 3 "Respect" (Otis Redding) 7 "Without You" (Badfinger) Eliminated
Shayne Ward 4 "If Tomorrow Never Comes" (Ronan Keating) 8 "Unchained Melody" (Todd Duncan) Safe

The semi-final did not feature a final showdown and instead the act with the fewest public votes, Brenda Edwards, was automatically eliminated. After her elimination, Edwards reprised her performance of "Without You" as her exit song.

Week 10: Final (17 December)

Acts' performances in the final
Act Order First song Order Second song Order Third song Order Fourth song Result
Journey South 1 "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" (Elton John) 4 "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" (John Lennon) 7 "Let It Be" (live show 9) N/A N/A (already eliminated) Eliminated
Andy Abraham 2 "When a Man Loves a Woman" (Percy Sledge) 5 "O Holy Night" (Traditional) 8 "Me and Mrs. Jones" (live show 6) 10 "That's My Goal" Runner-Up
Shayne Ward 3 "If You're Not the One" (live show 2) 6 "When a Child Is Born" (Johnny Mathis) 9 "Over the Rainbow" (Judy Garland) 11 "That's My Goal" Winner

Reception

Ratings

Episode Air date Official ITV1 rating[2] Weekly rank[2]
Auditions 1 20 August6.7220
Auditions 2 27 August7.4814
Auditions 3 3 September7.7513
Auditions 4 10 September7.2919
Auditions 5 17 September9.797
Auditions 6 24 September10.0410
Bootcamp 1 1 October8.9313
Bootcamp 2 8.9612
Judges' houses 1 8 October9.0914
Judges' houses 2 9.9610
Live show 1 15 October7.8719
Live results 1 8.9615
Live show 2 22 October8.4716
Live results 2 9.0212
Live show 3 29 October8.6013
Live results 3 9.5210
Live show 4 5 November7.7618
Live results 4 7.5119
Live show 5 12 November9.0915
Live results 5 8.9917
Live show 6 19 November8.9519
Live results 6 8.7620
Live show 7 26 November8.4525
Live results 7 9.1318
Live show 8 3 December10.0012
Live results 8 8.9522
Live show 9 10 December7.8022
Live results 9 8.4820
Live final 17 December9.6513
Live final results 9.9011
Series average 2005 8.73

Controversies

Elimination of Maria Lawson and "Irish Mafia"

After the final showdown in week 5, controversy was created around the judges' voting process when Walsh cast the deciding vote to keep The Conway Sisters, who are Irish, in the show at the expense of Maria Lawson. Osbourne later claimed that Lawson was the victim of the "Irish Mafia" after Walsh chose to keep The Conway Sisters in. When the voting statistics were revealed at the end of the series, Lawson was revealed to have received twice as many public votes as The Conway Sisters.[3] Osbourne's "Irish Mafia" remark resulted in an investigation by media regulator Ofcom over Osbourne's "Irish Mafia" remark, however on 9 January 2006, Ofcom cleared Osbourne of any wrongdoing.[4]

Louis Walsh

Rumours later circulated that Walsh had quit the show after being humiliated and "bullied" by Osbourne and Cowell. In addition to the media outrage at his choice to eliminate Lawson, there were verbal assaults. Furthermore, on 19 November, during the sixth live show of the series, Osbourne threw water over Walsh live on air after he asked her, "Are you on drugs? Are you taking Ozzy's drugs?" at the start of her (positive) critique of Journey South's performance of Robbie Williams' 1997 hit single "Angels".[5] Cowell apparently "begged" Walsh to come back and, in the event, Walsh did turn up for the next show; it was stated that he had indeed quit midweek but had been persuaded to return. He explained how he had felt he could not take the pressure any more, and denied that the episode was a publicity stunt.[6]

References

  1. Neil Wilkes (9 August 2005). "'X Factor' to return on August 20". Digital Spy. Retrieved 12 August 2011.
  2. "Weekly Viewing Summary (see relevant week)". BARB. Archived from the original on 1 July 2014.
  3. Gordon, Naomi (19 November 2012). "Aiden Grimshaw, Ella Henderson, Maria Lawson: 'X Factor's shock exits". Digital Spy. Retrieved 20 October 2013.
  4. Welsh, James (9 January 2006). "Ofcom clears Sharon's "Irish Mafia" remark". Digital Spy. Retrieved 20 October 2013.
  5. Wilkes, Neil (23 November 2005). "Louis Walsh quits 'The X Factor'?". Digital Spy. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
  6. West, Dave (24 November 2005). "Walsh "agrees 'X Factor' come-back deal"". Digital Spy. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
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