The X Factor (American TV series)

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.

Season three's categories and age group boundaries were changed, with the "Teens" and "Youth Adults" categories becoming back as "Boys" (aged 12–24 males) and "Girls" (aged 12–24 females) and the "Over 25s" (solo acts aged 25 and over).

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)

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)

The show is open to solo artists and vocal groups aged 12 and above, with no upper age limit.[11][12] 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.

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.[13]

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.[14]

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 were 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.[15][16]

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.

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 shows, 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 act who finished last in the public vote is sent home. The actual number of votes cast for each act is not revealed, nor even the order until after the season's conclusion. 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 received the lowest number votes is automatically eliminated from the competition (the judges do not have a vote; their only role is to comment on the performances).

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.[11][12] A press release on behalf of the show on February 7, 2011 called the recording contract "the largest guaranteed prize in television history."[17] Unlike the British version of the show,[18] 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."[19] 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.

At the time of announcing the U.S. version of The X Factor, Simon Cowell was the only confirmed judge for the show.[20] Eventually, Grammy Award-winning record executive, songwriter, and record producer L.A. Reid,[21][22] former The X Factor UK judge Cheryl Cole,[23][24] and Cowell's former American Idol colleague Paula Abdul[25] were confirmed to join Cowell in the judging panel. However, Nicole Scherzinger would replace Cole on the judging panel after two audition sites.

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[26] When searching for replacements, Cowell sought to hire pop star Britney Spears as Abdul'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, the show confirmed that Demi Lovato would replace Scherzinger.

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 judge on The X Factor UK Kelly Rowland was the front-runner to replace Reid. In May 2013, the show officially confirmed that Rowland would replace Reid and Paulina Rubio would replace Spears and join Cowell and Lovato for the third season.[27]

• Judges gallery
• 
  Simon Cowell (2011–2013)
• 
  L.A. Reid (2011–2012)
• 
  Paula Abdul (2011)
• 
  Nicole Scherzinger (2011)
• 
  Britney Spears (2012)
• 
  Demi Lovato (2012–2013)
• 
  Kelly Rowland (2013)
• 
  Paulina Rubio (2013)

Cowell initially indicated that The X Factor may have two hosts.[28][29] Numerous people were speculated to host the series, including High School Musical star Corbin Bleu, model Marisa Miller,[30] and Dermot O'Leary, host of the UK version.[31] On May 8, 2011, Nicole Scherzinger and Welsh presenter Steve Jones were announced as co-hosts of the show.[32][33] However, Scherzinger would later replace Cheryl Cole on the judging panel.

After season one, Jones followed judges Paula Abdul and Scherzinger out the door as they were all dismissed from their duties on the show. Reality star Khloé Kardashian and Extra host Mario Lopez were confirmed as the two hosts hired, replacing Jones. 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.[34]

• Hosts gallery
• 
  Mario Lopez (2012–2013)
• 
  Khloé Kardashian (2012)
• 
  Steve Jones (2011)

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.

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.

The show was also broadcast on ITV2 in the united Kingdom, season 1 proved popular launching just 1 day after the American launch date

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.