The X Factor (British TV series) series 2
Template:Infobox reality music competition 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 was declared 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 twelve acts in the finals instead of nine. Kate Thornton returned as presenter of the main show on ITV and Ben Shephard presented spin-off show The Xtra Factor on ITV2, while Simon Cowell, Sharon Osbourne and Walsh returned as judges. 75,000 people auditioned for the second series.
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.
On the episode broadcast on 24 September 2005, the mentoring selection was made, with Cowell in charge of Groups, Osbourne looking after 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". It was at this stage where viewers were first introduced to series five winner Alexandra Burke,[2] and series eleven runner-up Fleur East.[3]
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.
| Judge | Category | Location | Contestants eliminated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cowell | Groups | Marbella | 4th Base Eskimo Blonde The Brothers |
| Osbourne | 25 and overs | Beverly Hills | Richie Glynn Joanne Hindley Haifa Kayali |
| Walsh | 16-24s | Dublin | James Bellamy Alexandra Burke Trevor Hodgson |
Finalists
Key:
- – Winner
- – Runner-up
- – Third place
| Category (mentor) | Acts | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16–24s (Walsh) | Nicholas Dorsett | Phillip Magee | Shayne Ward | Chenai Zinyuku |
| Over 25s (Osbourne) | Andy Abraham | Brenda Edwards | Maria Lawson | Chico Slimani |
| Groups (Cowell) | 4Tune | Addictiv Ladies | The Conway Sisters | Journey South |
Live shows
The live shows began on 15 October 2005, and the final was broadcast live on 17 December 2005.
Results summary
- Colour key
| – | Contestant was in the bottom two and had to sing again in the final showdown |
| – | Contestant received the fewest public votes and was immediately eliminated (no final showdown) |
| – | Contestant received the most public votes |
| Contestant | Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8 | Week 9 | Week 10 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Round 1 | Round 2 | ||||||||||
| Shayne Ward | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Winner (week 10) |
| Andy Abraham | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Runner-up (week 10) |
| Journey South | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | 3rd | Eliminated (week 10) |
| Brenda Edwards | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | 4th | Eliminated (week 9) | |
| Chico Slimani | Bottom two | Safe | Bottom two | Safe | Safe | Safe | Bottom two | 5th | Eliminated (week 8) | ||
| The Conway Sisters | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | 8th4 | Bottom two | Bottom two | Eliminated (week 7) | |||
| Nicholas Dorsett | Safe | Safe | Safe | Bottom two | Safe | Bottom two | 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 | Addictiv Ladies | 4Tune | Slimani | Zinyuku | Lawson | The Conway Sisters | —2 | ||||
| Osbourne's vote to eliminate | Addictiv Ladies | 4Tune | Magee | Dorsett | The Conway Sisters | Dorsett | The Conway Sisters | ||||
| Cowell's vote to eliminate | Slimani | Zinyuku | Magee | Zinyuku | Lawson | Dorsett | The 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 win |
Andy Abraham Public vote to win |
^1 For the first and, as of series 13, only time on any The X Factor series, 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 already 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.
Live show details
Week 1 (15 October)
| Act | Order | Song | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Addictiv Ladies | 1 | "Superstar" | Eliminated |
| Shayne Ward | 2 | "Right Here Waiting" | Safe |
| Chico Slimani | 3 | "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" | Bottom two |
| Journey South | 4 | "Something About the Way You Look Tonight" | Safe |
| Phillip Magee | 5 | "Amazed" | Safe |
| Brenda Edwards | 6 | "Son of a Preacher Man" | Safe |
| The Conway Sisters | 7 | "SOS" | Safe |
| Nicholas Dorsett | 8 | "On the Wings of Love" | Safe |
| Maria Lawson | 9 | "Emotion" | Safe |
| 4Tune | 10 | "I Want It That Way" | Safe |
| Chenai Zinyuku | 11 | "The Closest Thing to Crazy" | Safe |
| Andy Abraham | 12 | "Greatest Love of All" | Safe |
- 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 – said that Slimani's performance was more exciting than Addictiv Ladies', effectively backing her own act, Chico Slimani
- Walsh: Addictiv Ladies – said that Slimani had the all-round entertainment package
Week 2 (22 October)
| Act | Order | Song | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Andy Abraham | 1 | "You to Me Are Everything" | Safe |
| Chenai Zinyuku | 2 | "Young Hearts Run Free" | Bottom two |
| 4Tune | 3 | "I'll Be There" | Eliminated |
| Chico Slimani | 4 | "Play That Funky Music" | Safe |
| Nicholas Dorsett | 5 | "Let's Get It On" | Safe |
| The Conway Sisters | 6 | "You Raise Me Up" | Safe |
| Maria Lawson | 7 | "The Way You Make Me Feel" | Safe |
| Phillip Magee | 8 | "Wind Beneath My Wings" | Safe |
| Journey South | 9 | "Desperado" | Safe |
| Brenda Edwards | 10 | "Rescue Me" | Safe |
| Shayne Ward | 11 | "If You're Not the One" | Safe |
- 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)
| Act | Order | Song | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phillip Magee | 1 | "Johnny B. Goode" | Eliminated |
| Brenda Edwards | 2 | "Midnight Train to Georgia" | Safe |
| Shayne Ward | 3 | "Summer of '69" | Safe |
| Chico Slimani | 4 | "Livin' la Vida Loca" | Bottom two |
| The Conway Sisters | 5 | "Total Eclipse of the Heart" | Safe |
| Chenai Zinyuku | 6 | "Hero" | Safe |
| Andy Abraham | 7 | "Unforgettable" | Safe |
| Journey South | 8 | "Angel of Harlem" | Safe |
| Nicholas Dorsett | 9 | "Let's Stay Together" | Safe |
| Maria Lawson | 10 | "Piece of My Heart" | Safe |
- 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 – said that he was gradually getting used to Slimani's "entertainment factor"
Week 4 (5 November)
| Act | Order | Song | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brenda Edwards | 1 | "Somebody Else's Guy" | Safe |
| Nicholas Dorsett | 2 | "I Want You Back" | Bottom two |
| Andy Abraham | 3 | "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" | Safe |
| Chenai Zinyuku | 4 | "Always on My Mind" | Eliminated |
| Chico Slimani | 5 | "Kiss" | Safe |
| Journey South | 6 | "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" | Safe |
| Maria Lawson | 7 | "You're Beautiful" | Safe |
| Shayne Ward | 8 | "You Make Me Feel Brand New" | Safe |
| The Conway Sisters | 9 | "One Voice" | Safe |
- 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)
| Act | Order | Song | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shayne Ward | 1 | "Cry Me a River" | Safe |
| Maria Lawson | 2 | "Brown Sugar" | Eliminated |
| The Conway Sisters | 3 | "Hold On" | Bottom two |
| Andy Abraham | 4 | "I'll Make Love to You" | Safe |
| Journey South | 5 | "Livin' on a Prayer" | Safe |
| Chico Slimani | 6 | "Hero" | Safe |
| Nicholas Dorsett | 7 | "I Believe I Can Fly" | Safe |
| Brenda Edwards | 8 | "Heartbreaker" | 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.
Week 6 (19 November)
| Act | Order | Song | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Conway Sisters | 1 | "One Moment in Time" | Bottom two |
| Andy Abraham | 2 | "Me and Mrs. Jones" | Safe |
| Nicholas Dorsett | 3 | "If I Ever Fall in Love" | Eliminated |
| Journey South | 4 | "Angels" | Safe |
| Brenda Edwards | 5 | "Last Dance" | Safe |
| Shayne Ward | 6 | "A Million Love Songs" | Safe |
| Chico Slimani | 7 | "It's Chico Time" | Safe |
- 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 – refused to give a reason.
Week 7 (26 November)
| Act | Order | Song | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chico Slimani | 1 | "Billie Jean" | Bottom two |
| The Conway Sisters | 2 | "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" | Eliminated |
| Andy Abraham | 3 | "I Have Nothing" | Safe |
| Shayne Ward | 4 | "I Believe in a Thing Called Love" | Safe |
| Brenda Edwards | 5 | "I Will Always Love You" | Safe |
| Journey South | 6 | "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" | Safe |
- 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 (3 December)
| Act | Order | First song | Order | Second song | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Journey South | 1 | "Bad Day" | 6 | "Candle in the Wind" | Safe |
| Chico Slimani | 2 | "I Got You (I Feel Good)" | 7 | "Time Warp" | Eliminated |
| Brenda Edwards | 3 | "I'm Outta Love" | 8 | "I'll Never Love This Way Again" | Safe |
| Shayne Ward | 4 | "Take Your Mama" | 9 | "Careless Whisper" | Safe |
| Andy Abraham | 5 | "Easy Lover" | 10 | "When I Fall in Love" | Safe |
This week 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)
| Act | Order | First song | Order | Second song | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andy Abraham | 1 | "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" | 5 | "Lately" | Safe |
| Journey South | 2 | "You're in My Heart (The Final Acclaim)" | 6 | "Let It Be" | Safe |
| Brenda Edwards | 3 | "Respect" | 7 | "Without You" | Eliminated |
| Shayne Ward | 4 | "If Tomorrow Never Comes" | 8 | "Unchained Melody" | 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 "Respect" as her exit song.
Week 10: Final (17 December)
- Themes: No theme; Christmas songs; song of the series; winner's single
- Musical guest: The X Factor rejex ("My Way")[4]
| 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" | 4 | "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" | 7 | "Let It Be" | N/A | N/A (already eliminated) | Eliminated |
| Andy Abraham | 2 | "When a Man Loves a Woman" | 5 | "O Holy Night" | 8 | "Me and Mrs. Jones" | 10 | "That's My Goal" | Runner-up |
| Shayne Ward | 3 | "If You're Not the One" | 6 | "When a Child Is Born" | 9 | "Over the Rainbow" | 11 | "That's My Goal" | Winner |
Reception
Ratings
| Episode | Air date | Official ITV1 rating[5] | Weekly rank[5] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Auditions 1 | 20 August | 6.72 | 13 |
| Auditions 2 | 27 August | 7.48 | 10 |
| Auditions 3 | 3 September | 7.75 | 9 |
| Auditions 4 | 10 September | 7.29 | 12 |
| Auditions 5 | 17 September | 9.79 | 5 |
| Auditions 6 | 24 September | 10.04 | 8 |
| Bootcamp 1 | 1 October | 8.93 | 9 |
| Bootcamp 2 | 8.96 | 8 | |
| Judges' houses 1 | 8 October | 9.09 | 10 |
| Judges' houses 2 | 9.96 | 7 | |
| Live show 1 | 15 October | 7.87 | 14 |
| Live results 1 | 8.96 | 11 | |
| Live show 2 | 22 October | 8.47 | 12 |
| Live results 2 | 9.02 | 8 | |
| Live show 3 | 29 October | 8.60 | 9 |
| Live results 3 | 9.52 | 6 | |
| Live show 4 | 5 November | 7.76 | 13 |
| Live results 4 | 7.51 | 14 | |
| Live show 5 | 12 November | 9.09 | 10 |
| Live results 5 | 8.99 | 12 | |
| Live show 6 | 19 November | 8.95 | 12 |
| Live results 6 | 8.76 | 13 | |
| Live show 7 | 26 November | 8.45 | 21 |
| Live results 7 | 9.13 | 14 | |
| Live show 8 | 3 December | 10.00 | 9 |
| Live results 8 | 8.95 | 18 | |
| Live show 9 | 10 December | 7.80 | 16 |
| Live results 9 | 8.48 | 14 | |
| Live final | 17 December | 9.65 | 7 |
| Live final results | 9.90 | 6 |
Controversy and criticism
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.[6] The controversy heightened when it was revealed that Walsh had also worked with The Conway Sisters personally prior to them auditioning for The X Factor.[7] 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.[8]
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".[9] On 23 November, Walsh told The Sun: "I've been totally humiliated and undermined by both of them. This has caused me nothing but stress. The final straw was Sharon with the water and being booed by the audience and then Cowell saying I was an idiot and stupid... I've had enough. I'm going back to Dublin. I'm not putting up with it any more."[10] 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.[11]
References
- ^ Neil Wilkes (9 August 2005). "'X Factor' to return on August 20". Digital Spy. Retrieved 12 August 2011.
- ^ Cheryl Cole moved to tears as former X Factor hopeful returns as favourite
- ^ X Factor flops blast 'cruel' Walsh
- ^ Iggulden, Caroline (21 October 2005). "Sun song for TV rejeX". The Sun. News UK. Retrieved 20 October 2013.
- ^ a b "Weekly Viewing Summary (see relevant week)". BARB. Archived from the original on 1 July 2014.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ Gordon, Naomi (19 November 2012). "Aiden Grimshaw, Ella Henderson, Maria Lawson: 'X Factor's shock exits". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 20 October 2013.
- ^ Nathan, Sara (21 November 2005). "X-Factor Maria's agony". The Sun. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
- ^ Welsh, James (9 January 2006). "Ofcom clears Sharon's "Irish Mafia" remark". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 20 October 2013.
- ^ Wilkes, Neil (23 November 2005). "Louis Walsh quits 'The X Factor'?". Digital Spy. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
- ^ Sara Nathan and Richard White (23 November 2005). "X Factor Louis walks". The Sun. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
- ^ West, Dave (24 November 2005). "Walsh "agrees 'X Factor' come-back deal"". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 10 December 2012.