Factor X (Spain)

The X Factor Spain
Format	Interactive reality talent show
Created by	Simon Cowell
Presented by	Nuria Roca
Judges	Miqui Ping Eva Perales Jorge Flo
Country of origin	Spain
Broadcast
Original channel	Cuatro
Original run	13 May 2007 (2007-05-13) – present

For versions in other countries, see The X Factor (TV series).

Factor X is the Spanish version of the British television music competition The X Factor, created by Simon Cowell. The show, which airs on Cuatro, follows series 2-3 of the British format, with three categories, mentored by one judge each, whom choose the acts to represent the category in the live shows. The judges are singer and DJ Miqui Puig, headhunter Eva Perales and music radio producer Jorge Flo. Nuria Roca hosts the show. The first series was won by María Villalón. The second series is currently being broadcast.

Key:

     – Winning judge/category. Winners are in bold, eliminated contestants in small font.

Season	Jorge Flo	Eva Perales	Miqui Puig
One	16-24's María Villalón Angy Fernández Walter Renato Ailyn	Over 25's Leire Martínez Pedro Heredia Yolanda Yugueros David Hooper	Groups Sometimes United Mr Roch Lady's
Two	Groups Vocal Tempo New Boys Élanis Lunáticas Alikindoi	16-24's Laura Gónzalez Gera Márquez Javier Luis Delgado Mario Gómez Marta Cabrera Miriam Milanés	Over 25's Alex Jer Dunia Trujillo Evelyn Evangelisti María López

Series 1 (2007)

The first series, started its run on Sunday 13 May 2007. The show was then broadcast nightly with 'Los Castings' (the auditions), which lasted until 20 May 2007. From the 21 May until the 27 May 2007 'La Selección Final' (final selection) was shown, again nightly. On 28 May 'Las Galas' (live shows) began.

The categories and acts were as follows

16 to 24s (Jorge Flo)	25 and overs (Eva Perales)	Groups (Miqui Puig)
María Villalón	Leire Martínez	Sometimes
Angy Fernández	Pedro Heredia	United
Walter Renato	Yolanda Yugueros	Mr Roch
Ailyn	David Hooper	Lady's

Season 1 (2007)
María Villalón	Winner
Angy Fernández	July 16
Walter Renato	July 16
United	July 16
Pedro Heredia	July 9
Leire Martínez	July 2
Sometimes	June 25
Ailyn	June 18
David Hooper	June 18
Yolanda Yuguero	June 11
Lady's	June 4
Mr Roch	May 28

• Winner: María Villalón 52%
• Runner-up: Angy Fernández 48%

Factor X proved successful for TV station Cuatro. It achieved an average audience of 12.3%. Factor X live shows were shown at 10pm every Monday evening.

Contestants' colour key:

Less than 25

More than 25

Groups

	Gala 1	Gala 2	Gala 3	Gala 4	Gala 5	Gala 6	Gala 7	Gala 8
Maria	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Winner
Angy	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Finalist
Walter	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Bottom 2	Safe	Safe	Finalist
United	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Bottom 2	Finalist
Pedro	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Bottom 2	Bottom 2	Eliminated Gala 7
Leire	Safe	Safe	Bottom 2	Safe	Safe	Bottom 2	Eliminated Gala 6
Sometimes	Safe	Safe	Safe	Bottom 3	Bottom 2	Eliminated Gala 5
Ailyn	Safe	Bottom 2	Safe	Bottom 3	Eliminated Gala 4
David	Safe	Safe	Safe	Least vote	Eliminated Gala 4
Yolanda	Bottom 2	Safe	Bottom 2	Eliminated Gala 3
Lady's	Safe	Bottom 2	Eliminated Gala 2
Mr.Roch	Bottom 2	Eliminated Gala 1

Series 2 (2008)

The second series started its run September 1, 2008 with the auditions. The first "gala" or live show was aired on September 22, on primetime. In a similar fashion to the last seasons in the original British series, each gala had a different theme (number-one hits or 80's music, for example). Five acts were chosen for the finals in each category, and an additional contestant was chosen in the middle of the season through Internet auditions:

16 to 24's (Eva Perales)	25 and Over's (Miqui Puig)	Groups (Jorge Flo)
Gera Márquez	Alex	Alikindoi
Javier Luis Delgado	Jer	New Boys
Mario Gómez	Dunia Trujillo	Élanis
Marta Cabrera	Evelyn Evangelisti	Lunáticas
Miriam Milanés	María López	Vocal Tempo
Laura Gónzalez (Internet Wildcard)

• Winner: Vocal Tempo
• Runner-up: Laura

Contestants' colour key:

Younger than 25

Older than 25

Groups

	Gala 1	Gala 2	Gala 3	Gala 4	Gala 5	Gala 6	Gala 7	Gala 8
Vocal Tempo	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Winner
Laura	Not in the competition			Entered	Safe	Safe	Safe	Runner-up
Élanis	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Bottom 3	3rd
Dunia	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Semi-finalist
Gera	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Bottom 2	Safe	Safe	Semi-finalist
María	Safe	Bottom 2	Safe	Bottom 2	Safe	Safe	Bottom 3	Eliminated Gala 7
Alex	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Bottom 3	Least votes	Eliminated Gala 7
Alikindoi	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Bottom 3	Eliminated Gala 6
Mario	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Least votes	Eliminated Gala 6
Marta	Safe	Safe	Bottom 2	Safe	Bottom 2	Eliminated Gala 5
New Boys	Duel a	Safe	Safe	Bottom 2	Eliminated Gala 4
Javier Luis	Duel b	Safe	Bottom 2	Eliminated Gala 3
Jer	Duel c	Bottom 2	Eliminated Gala 2
Evelyn	Duel c	Eliminated Gala 1
Miriam	Duel b	Eliminated Gala 1
Lunáticas	Duel a	Eliminated Gala 1

Post Factor X

A few weeks after the first series ended, eventual winner María Villalon released a debut EP entitled María Villalon, an album with all the songs she sang whilst in the competition. A few months later, she released her debut album Te Espero Aquí, which made the Spanish top 40 album chart, just like her debut Lp did. But she wasn't the only one who received a record deal, runner-up Angy released her debut self-titled album (with the artisic name Angy) a couple of weeks after Villalon's debut album release. She also began an acting career starring in the teen drama television series Física y Química, aired on Antena 3. 3rd placed Walter released a single, but it didn't see much success. Angy's debut single 'Sola En Silencio' was a major hit across Spain, making the top 20 in Spanish Los 40 Principales. In turn, Maria Villalon's first two singles 'Aguita De Abril' and 'Te Espero Aqui' failed to gain chart stardom. So far, Angy's debut album has sold more than Maria Villalon's.

Months after the contest finished, 6th placed Leire Martínez's popularity boosted as she was chosen to replace Amaia Montero as the new lead singer of La Oreja de Van Gogh, one of the best-selling pop bands in Spain and Latin America. Her first album with the band, A las cinco en el Astoria, was released on September 2, 2008 reaching the number-one spot in the Spanish charts.

8th placed Ailyn submitted a song to Salvemos Eurovisión, the Spanish selection for the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest, but failed to get to the final round. She was later chosen to be the new female vocalist of the Norwegian Gothic Metal band Sirenia.

External links

• Official site (Spanish)
• Cuatro casting call page (Spanish)