The X Factor (UK series 12)

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The X Factor
Series 12
Broadcast from 29 August 2015 (2015-08-29) – present
Judges
Presenter(s)
Co-presenter(s)
Broadcaster
Chronology

The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. The twelfth series began airing on ITV on 29 August 2015.[1] Dermot O'Leary, who had presented the main show on ITV for eight series, announced his departure in March 2015 and was replaced by Caroline Flack and Olly Murs, who had both previously co-presented spin-off show The Xtra Factor on ITV2.[2] Sarah-Jane Crawford, who replaced Flack and Matt Richardson as The Xtra Factor presenter in series 10, also left and was replaced by Rochelle Humes and Melvin Odoom. Louis Walsh, the only judge who had been on the show from its inception in 2004, quit[3] and has been replaced by BBC Radio 1 DJ Nick Grimshaw.[4] Mel B was also replaced by series 9 guest judge and former The Voice UK coach, Rita Ora.[4] Simon Cowell and Cheryl Fernandez-Versini both return for their ninth and fifth series as judges, respectively.[4]

Judges, presenters and other personnel

Series 12 judges
Simon Cowell
Cheryl Fernandez-Versini
Nick Grimshaw
Rita Ora

In March 2015, Simon Cowell was confirmed to return as a judge for the twelfth series, his ninth on the show. In April 2015, Louis Walsh cited his desire to quit the show and return to management, and that it would take serious thought for him to return for series 12. He also revealed that he was in the dark about whom Cowell had the intentions of bringing onto the panel.[5] On 14 May 2015, Walsh confirmed his exit from the show after 11 series on the judging panel, stating, "The truth is I've done it for 11 years; I never thought I would even be on TV for four or five. To get 10 was great, to get 11 was amazing - I'm not hanging around for them this year." He later continued, "But I wasn't sacked, I haven't been hired and I'm not hanging around."[3] On 16 June, Cheryl Fernandez-Versini was confirmed to be returning for her fifth series followed by new judges, series 9 guest judge and The Voice UK coach Rita Ora, and BBC Radio 1 DJ Nick Grimshaw, replacing Walsh and Mel B, who left the show after only one series.[4] The new judges were met with widespread negativity across social media and the press, especially regarding the appointment of Grimshaw.[6]

Series 12 presenters
Presenter
Olly Murs
Presenter
Caroline Flack
Rochelle Humes (The Xtra Factor)

On 27 March 2015, Dermot O'Leary announced that he was quitting the show, after eight series, in order to pursue other projects. On 16 April, ITV confirmed that former contestant Olly Murs and Caroline Flack would take over presenting the show, having worked together as hosts before on the The Xtra Factor. They became the first duo to host the show.[2]

On 18 June 2015, it was confirmed that The Saturdays singer Rochelle Humes and Kiss FM DJ Melvin Odoom will be the new hosts of The Xtra Factor.[7]

The show's announcer Peter Dickson announced his departure from the show on 28 July 2015.[8]

Selection process

Eligibility

The minimum age this year was increased back to 16, after being lowered to 14 in the previous series.[9]

Auditions

Mobile auditions

In addition to the producers' auditions, the "Mobile Audition Tour" took place up and down the UK and Ireland throughout March and April. Auditions ran between 30 March and 23 May 2015, and visited Aberdeen, Skegness, Bradford, Huddersfield, Dundee, Sheffield, Peterborough, Northampton, Stirling, Cambridge, Middlesbrough, Nottingham, Scarborough, Norwich, Leicester, Ipswich, Coventry, York, Hull, Oxford, Chelmsford, Berkshire, Hertfordshire, Southend-on-Sea, Belfast, Bangor, Southampton, Isle of Man, Swansea, Blackpool, Bournemouth, Carlisle, Brighton, Truro, Isle of Wight, Wigan, Plymouth, Broadstairs, Margate, Stoke-on-Trent, Exeter, Essex and Yeovil.[10]

Open auditions

Cities in the United Kingdom where the open auditions were held. Judges' auditions were held in London and Manchester.
Cities in Ireland where the open auditions were held.

Producers auditions commenced on 8 April in Dublin and ended on 7 June in London.[11]

Audition city Open audition date[12] Open audition venue[12]
Dublin 8–9 April 2015 Croke Park
Newcastle 11–12 April 2015 St. James' Park
Leeds 16–17 April 2015 Elland Road
Birmingham 18–19 April 2015 St Andrew's
Glasgow 23–24 April 2015 Ibrox Stadium
Liverpool 26–27 April 2015 ACC Liverpool
Cardiff 29–30 April 2015 Mercure Holland House
Manchester 10 May 2015 EventCity
London 7 June 2015 The SSE Arena, Wembley

Judges' auditions

This series, the judges only visited Manchester (EventCity) and London (The SSE Arena, Wembley) on the audition tour, rather than going all around the UK as in previous series.[13] The room auditions were scrapped and therefore, the format saw the return of the arena auditions.[14] The auditions were originally scheduled to begin in Manchester on 6 July; however, following the death of Cowell's mother on 5 July, the first two days of auditions were postponed[15] to 8 July.[16][17] As a result, a new day of auditions was announced for 9 July,[16] but this last-minute addition meant that both Ora and Flack were absent due to prior commitments, resulting in just three judges that day and Murs having to host solo.[18] The first day of London auditions were scheduled to be recorded on 14 July, but were cancelled due to the aforementioned bereavement.[19] Flack was also absent from filming on 15 July due to her filming the Love Island final in Spain.[20] Grimshaw had to leave the evening sessions (15, 16, 17, 19, 20 July) of auditions early due to the session over-running and his contract obligated him to have a certain amount of rest between finishing filming and being on BBC Radio 1 the following morning.[21] Filming was delayed on 20 July due to Fernandez-Versini suffering an burns injury to her foot after stepping on some hair tongs.[22] Cowell was absent from the first session on 17 July due to illness.[23] Ora was again absent from filming on 22 July, due to performing a prearranged gig in Italy.[24]

Notable returning auditionees included Havva Rebke, who reached bootcamp in series 9;[25] Monica Michael, who was controversially eliminated during the six chair challenge in series 11;[26] and Rumour Has It, who reached judges' houses in series 11 as an unnamed girl group created by the judges.[27]

Summary of judges' auditions
City Date(s) Venue Absent judges
Manchester 8–9 July 2015 EventCity Rita Ora (9 July)
London 15–17 July 2015 The SSE Arena, Wembley Simon Cowell (17 July)
19–23 July 2015 Rita Ora (22 July)

Bootcamp

Bootcamp took place from 27 to 31 July, and was filmed at The Grove Hotel, Watford,[28] having taken place at The SSE Arena, Wembley every other series.[29] The first challenge of bootcamp was to perform in groups of five acts, with a mix of at least three categories in each group, and perform a song from a list. The judges would decide immediately after each performance which of the 180 acts would pass the challenge and which would be eliminated.[30] For the second challenge of bootcamp, the 93[citation needed] successful acts were to perform a solo performance to the judges, who gave little or no feedback to them. At the end of the challenge, the judges decided on who would be successful and who would be eliminated.[28] Grimshaw was absent from the second day of the challenge due to his commitments with BBC Radio 1, although partially assisted Cowell, Fernandez-Versini and Ora with their decisions via Skype video link.[28] The 64 acts that passed through this stage went on to face the six-chair challenge.[31] It was reported that the standard of auditions were so high that acts who got a "yes" from all four judges were not necessarily guaranteed a place at bootcamp.[32]

For the first time in X Factor history, viewers voted via hashtags on Twitter to determine which of the judges was allocated each of the four categories (for example, #SimonBoys or #RitaGroups). The judges learnt the result during the six-seat challenge.[33] Cowell will mentor the Over 25s, Fernandez-Versini has the groups, Grimshaw will look after the boys and Ora is in charge of the girls.[34]

Bootcamp aired over two episodes on 20 and 27 September.

Six-chair challenge

The six-chair challenge took place on 1 and 2 September, at The SSE Arena, Wembley.[32] 64 acts faced the six-chair challenge, with 16 in the Girls category, 16 in the Boys, 17 in the Over 25s, and 15 in the Groups.[31] The challenge was broadcast on 4, 11 and 18 October. At the start of the challenge, the judges discovered which categories they would mentor: Ora was given the Girls, Grimshaw was given the Boys, Cowell was given Over 25s, and Fernandez-Versini was given the Groups.[34]

The 24 successful acts were:

  • Boys: Ché Chesterman, Ben Clark, Josh Daniels, Simon Lynch, Seann Miley Moore, Mason Noise
  • Girls: Louisa Johnson, Monica Michael, Lauren Murray, Chloe Paige, Havva Rebke, Kiera Weathers
  • Over 25s: Bupsi, Ebru, Jennifer Phillips, Kerrie-Anne Phillips, Anton Stephans, Max Stone
  • Groups: 4th Impact, Alien Uncovered, BEKLN Mile, Melody Stone, New King Order, Reggie n Bollie

Tom Bleasby was originally put through, but it was reported on 12 October that he had withdrawn for personal reasons.[35] On 15 October, it was announced that Mason Noise would replace Bleasby at Judges' Houses.[36]

On 20 October, it was revealed that all the groups would undergo name changes due to copyright reasons. The new names were revealed as 4th Impact (4th Power), Alien Uncovered (Alien), BEKLN Mile (BEKLN), Melody Stone (Silver Tone), New King Order (The First Kings) and Reggie n Bollie (Menn On Point)[37]

Judges' houses

The X Factor will resume its usual Saturday and Sunday night slots for judges' houses and will take place over one weekend (24–25 October). Murs and Flack will not appear at judges' houses, but will film from the studio. Judges' houses was planned to be broadcast fully live, and filmed back-to-back.[38] However, on 15 September, it was announced that judges' houses would not be aired live as it would result in logistical problems. Instead, the judges' houses performances will be pre-recorded in the scheduled destinations, with all of the contestants who made it to that stage of the competition brought to London afterwards to find out if they have made it through to the live shows, shown live on 25 October during the airing of the second judges' houses episode. This is the only portion of judges' houses that will be broadcast live.[39]

On 1 October, the guest judges for the judges' houses stage were revealed. Meghan Trainor will assist Ora, Fernandez-Versini will be joined by Jess Glynne, Mark Ronson will help Grimshaw, and Cowell's assistant is Louis Tomlinson.[40]

Summary of judges' houses
Judge Category[34] Location Assistant(s)[40] Contestants eliminated
Cowell Over 25s TBA Louis Tomlinson TBA
Fernandez-Versini Groups TBA Jess Glynne TBA
Grimshaw Boys TBA Mark Ronson TBA
Ora Girls TBA Meghan Trainor TBA

Live shows

This year, there will be seven weeks of live shows instead of the usual 10. ITV are contractually obliged to show all of Home Nation's Rugby World Cup games in October, some of which take place during The X Factor‍‍ '​s Saturday night slot. One option that was considered was to air a bumper show on Sunday nights on these weekends, while some reports suggested that the live shows would run for a fewer number of weeks, launching after the World Cup.[41] The revealed option is that bootcamp will air whilst the Rugby World Cup airs and the live shows will begin on 31 October and continue to run until 13 December, airing every Saturday and Sunday night in its regular timeslot.[42] On 2 October, it was announced that The Xtra Factor would be airing a third weekly episode, which would be filmed and aired live each Thursday before the live shows, beginning on 29 October.[43]

Reception

Ratings

Episode Air date Duration (minutes)1 Share (%) Official ITV rating
(millions)[44],2,3		 Official ITV HD rating
(millions)[45],3		 Total viewers
(millions)2,3		 Weekly rank[44],4
Auditions 1 29 August 90 35.9[46] 7.33 1.64 8.97 2
Auditions 2 30 August 60 27.7[47] 6.14 1.35 7.49 11
Auditions 3 5 September 75 32.8[48] 6.88 1.64 8.52 4
Auditions 4 6 September 75 29.6[49] 6.43 1.34 7.77 10
Auditions 5 12 September 75 36.5[50] 7.22 1.58 8.80 4
Auditions 6 13 September 60 30.9[51] 6.76 1.38 8.14 8
Auditions 7 19 September 90 32.2[52] 6.91 1.62 8.53 6
Bootcamp 1 20 September 120 31.3[53] 6.51 1.70 8.21 9
Bootcamp 2 27 September 120 31.3[54] 6.33 1.63 7.96 14
Six-chair challenge 1 4 October 120 30.8[55] 6.67 1.66 8.33 8
Six-chair challenge 2 11 October 120 29.7[56] 6.87 1.66 8.53 9
Six-chair challenge 3 18 October 120 TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA
Judges' houses 1 24 October 145 TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA
Judges' houses 2 25 October 90 TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA

^1 Includes advert breaks
^2 Excludes ITV+1
^3 The ratings over a 7 day period, including the original broadcast and streaming through ITV Player.
^4 The rank for the ITV broadcast, compared with all channels for that week, from Monday to Sunday.

Controversy and criticism

Bootcamp

It was reported that before bootcamp, some contestants who were given three or four "yes" votes from the judges were sent emails from the producers of the show saying that they would not be attending bootcamp due to limited places and a higher standard of auditions. One contestant who received such an email said, "I feel X Factor needs to be shamed for this shocking incident. They are playing with people's lives." A spokesperson for the show said this was "kinder and fairer than an immediate 'cull' of singers on arrival at bootcamp, which has happened in previous series."[57]

References

  1. ^ Rackham, Jane (29 August 2015). "The X Factor". Radio Times. Immediate Media Company. Retrieved 29 August 2015. 
  2. ^ a b "Olly Murs and Caroline Flack revealed as new X Factor presenters". ITV News. 16 April 2015. Retrieved 16 June 2015. 
  3. ^ a b "Louis Walsh confirms X Factor exit". RTE Ten (RTÉ). 14 May 2015. Retrieved 14 May 2015. 
  4. ^ a b c d Hawksley, Rupert (16 June 2015). "Rita Ora and Nick Grimshaw join The X Factor". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 16 June 2015. 
  5. ^ Hegarty, Tasha (11 April 2015). "Louis Walsh threatens to quit The X Factor: "I'm done with it"". Digital Spy. Retrieved 16 June 2015. 
  6. ^ Crawley, Joanna (16 June 2015). "Twitter reacts as Rita Ora and Nick Grimshaw join X Factor's Cheryl as judges". Daily Mail. Retrieved 9 July 2015. 
  7. ^ Wightman, Catriona (18 June 2015). "The Xtra Factor: Rochelle Humes and Melvin Odoom confirmed as new hosts". Digital Spy. Retrieved 18 June 2015. 
  8. ^ Nissim, Mayer (28 July 2015). "The X Factor will never be the same again: Voiceover man Peter Dickson leaves the show". Digital Spy. Retrieved 28 July 2015. 
  9. ^ "APPLY NOW". xfactor.tv. ITV. Retrieved 9 July 2015. 
  10. ^ "Biggest ever The X Factor Audition Tour". itv.com (ITV). 1 May 2015. Retrieved 3 August 2015. 
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  12. ^ a b Fletcher, Alex (31 March 2014). "X Factor gets biggest ever audition tour: Find out how to apply". Digital Spy. Retrieved 2 April 2014. 
  13. ^ Darvill, Josh (17 June 2015). "X Factor 2015 auditions: Judges' audition dates and venues revealed". TellyMix. Retrieved 11 August 2015. 
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  17. ^ Saunders, Emmeline (8 July 2015). "First look at The X Factor 2015 auditions!". Heat. Retrieved 2 August 2015. 
  18. ^ Percival, Ashley (8 July 2015). "Rita Ora To Miss 'X Factor' Auditions In Manchester Due To Paris Fashion Week Date Clash". The Huffington Post (AOL). Retrieved 2 August 2015. 
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  21. ^ "Auditions 3". The X Factor. Series 12. 5 September 2015. ITV. 
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  25. ^ Daly, Emma (13 September 2015). "Watch Havva Rebke's original X Factor 2012 audition - video". Radio Times (Immediate Media). Retrieved 16 September 2015. 
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  31. ^ a b Walker, Danny. "Which X Factor contestants made it through from bootcamp?". Retrieved 2015-09-29. 
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  36. ^ http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/s103/the-x-factor/news/a673796/x-factor-nick-grimshaw-confirms-mason-noise-will-replace-tom-bleasby.html
  37. ^ http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/s103/the-x-factor/news/a674452/the-x-factor-2015-all-of-cheryl-fernandez-versinis-groups-have-changed-their-names.html
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  46. ^ Lee, Ben (30 August 2015). "UK TV ratings: X Factor drops nearly 2 million compared to last year's opening episode". Digital Spy. Retrieved 30 August 2015. 
  47. ^ Goodacre, Kate (31 August 2015). "UK TV ratings: X Factor just shy of 6m viewers on Sunday night". Digital Spy. Retrieved 31 August 2015. 
  48. ^ Lee, Ben (6 September 2015). "UK TV ratings: Strictly Come Dancing comfortably comes out on top against The X Factor". Digital Spy. Retrieved 7 September 2015. 
  49. ^ Eames, Tom (7 September 2015). "UK TV ratings: The X Factor has a much better second Sunday with 6.6 million viewers". Digital Spy. Retrieved 7 September 2015. 
  50. ^ Lee, Ben (13 September 2015). "UK TV ratings: The X Factor rises to 7.5m but is still down from last year". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 15 September 2015. 
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  52. ^ Lee, Ben (20 September 2015). "UK TV ratings: The X Factor dips to 7 million as the auditions come to an end". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 20 September 2015. 
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  54. ^ Eames, Tom (28 September 2015). "UK TV ratings: The X Factor attracts 6.8m, Downton Abbey down to 7m on Sunday". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 28 September 2015. 
  55. ^ Lee, Ben (5 October 2015). "UK TV ratings: Strictly beats X Factor again, This Is England '90 ends with 1m". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 5 October 2015. 
  56. ^ Eames, Tom (12 October 2015). "UK TV ratings: Strictly beats X Factor on Sunday by nearly a million viewers". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 12 October 2015. 
  57. ^ Deen, Sarah (26 July 2015). "X Factor 2015: Are hopefuls being told yes by judges but no by producers?". Metro. Retrieved 30 August 2015. 

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