The X Factor (U.S. season 2)

The X Factor
Season 2
Broadcast from	September 12, 2012 – December 20, 2012
Judges	Simon Cowell L.A. Reid Demi Lovato Britney Spears Louis Walsh (Kansas City auditions)
Host(s)	Khloé Kardashian Mario Lopez
Broadcaster	Fox
Winner:
Tate Stevens
Origin	Belton, Missouri
Song	"Tomorrow"
Genre(s)	Country
Runner-up
Carly Rose Sonenclar
Chronology
◀ 2012 ►

Season two of the American television music competition show The X Factor premiered on Fox on September 12, 2012, and ended on December 20, 2012.^[1][2]

Based on the UK format, the competition consists of auditions, in front of producers and then the judges with a live audience; bootcamp; judges' houses and then the live finals. Auditions for the show began in May 2012 and concluded in July 2012. The show is hosted by reality star Khloé Kardashian and Extra host Mario Lopez, replacing Steve Jones from the previous year. Simon Cowell and L.A. Reid returned as judges, while Paula Abdul and Nicole Scherzinger were replaced by Demi Lovato and Britney Spears.

Judges and hosts

On January 9, 2012, Fox announced that The X Factor would undergo some changes for its second season. On January 30, it was confirmed that host Steve Jones and judges Nicole Scherzinger^[3][4] and Paula Abdul^[5] would not be returning for the second season. Following her departure, Scherzinger joined the original UK version of the show after Kelly Rowland decided not to return to the panel. On February 6, Simon Cowell and L.A. Reid were the only confirmed judges for season 2.^[6] Prior to her death, Whitney Houston was approached as a potential replacement judge.^[7] It was also reported that Cowell was in talks with Britney Spears for her to join the show, reportedly offering her $15 million.^[8] On May 9, reports surfaced that Spears officially signed on to judge the show.^[9] It was also rumoured that Demi Lovato, and Miley Cyrus were in talks to be the second replacement judge.^[10] Lovato reportedly signed a deal to judge the show on May 13.^[11] The following day, it was officially confirmed that Spears and Lovato would join The X Factor as the two newest judges.^[12] When asked about the new judges, Cowell said:

I'm absolutely delighted Britney and Demi are joining us. Britney remains one of the biggest stars in the world, she's talented, fascinating – and I believe she knows exactly how to spot the X factor. Demi's had an amazing career in music, TV and film for someone her age. She's young, confident, and enthusiastic. I think it’s really important that she speaks to our younger audience. The new panel will be dynamic and will work really well with the changes we are making to the show."^[13]

On June 26, 2012, Cowell confirmed that in his search for a new host he had narrowed the possibilities to five candidates.^[14] On June 29, Cowell revealed that there will be one male and one female host, and neither of them will have hosted before.^[15][16] People considered for hosting slots included Stacy Keibler, Mario Lopez, Khloé Kardashian, Kelly Osbourne, Terrence J, Erin Andrews and Mike Catherwood.^[17] It was also reported that Glee star Kevin McHale was in talks for the male hosting position.^[18] According to then-recent reports, Kardashian, McHale, and Nick Jonas were the frontrunners to host the show.^[19][20][21] On October 15, 2012, it was officially confirmed by E! News that Kardashian had officially signed on as co-host for the show, with Lopez close to signing a deal and was later confirmed as co-host the next day.^[22][23]

Irish music manager and The X Factor (UK) judge Louis Walsh filled in for Cowell at the Kansas City auditions while Cowell was recovering from bronchitis.^[24] On August 27, it was reported that Nick Jonas had signed a deal to help Lovato at judges' houses.^[25] It was later reported that Justin Bieber would be helping Reid, Marc Anthony helping Cowell and will.i.am helping Spears.^[26]

This was the final season to feature L.A. Reid as a judge, after he announced that he was quitting the show in order to concentrate on other projects.^[27]

Selection process

Auditions

The producers' auditions began on March 14, 2012 at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri. More producers' auditions were held on March 22 at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas, April 20 at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, California, May 1 at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina and concluded on May 10 at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island.

The judges' auditions took place between May and July. The auditions went without a host as they had yet to hire new hosts by the time auditions started.

Summary of judges' auditions

City	Date	Venue	Date aired	Guest judge	Permanent judges
Austin, Texas	May 24–25, 2012	Frank Erwin Center	September 12 & 19, 2012	None	Simon Cowell Britney Spears Demi Lovato L.A. Reid
Kansas City, Missouri	June 8–9, 2012	Sprint Center	September 19, 2012	Louis Walsh	Britney Spears Demi Lovato L.A. Reid
San Francisco, California	June 16–18, 2012	Cow Palace	September 12, 13, 19, 26 & 27 2012	None	Simon Cowell Britney Spears Demi Lovato L.A. Reid
Providence, Rhode Island	June 27–29, 2012	Dunkin' Donuts Center	September 12, 13 & 26, 2012
Greensboro, North Carolina	July 8–10, 2012	Greensboro Coliseum	September 20, 26, & 27 2012

Bootcamp

Filming for bootcamp was held on July 25–27, 2012 in Miami, Florida.^[28] As with the auditions, there were no hosts at bootcamp.

120 contestants made it to the Bootcamp stage. At bootcamp the contestants had to perform two tasks. Task 1 involved the contestants had to sing solo, after which the judges eliminated half of the acts, bringing the total down to 60. In Task 2 the contestants were paired up to perform together. After Task 2 the judges narrowed down the acts to the 24 who progress onto the Judges's homes round.

The groups Fifth Harmony, Playback, and LYRIC 145 were formed from eliminated contestants from the Teens, Young Adults and Groups categories in bootcamp. Fifth Harmony was known as LYLAS at this stage; their name was changed after they made the top 16 when a group consisting of four of Bruno Mars' sisters, called "The Lylas," claimed the show stole their name.^[29] Their name changed again for the Top 13 performances, as their mentor Simon Cowell was not in favor of the name 1432 and felt that the show's viewers could make a better name for the group.^[30]

Judges' houses

The judges' houses was filmed September 14 & 15, 2012. The judges received news of their categories from the producers by telephone, seen during the third bootcamp episode on October 10. Reid mentored the over 25s in Beverly Hills, California, assisted by Justin Bieber, accompanied by his manager Scooter Braun; Cowell took the groups to Miami Beach, Florida with Latin singer Marc Anthony, Spears had the teens in Malibu, California with The Black Eyed Peas member and The Voice UK coach will.i.am, and Lovato had the young adults in Los Angeles, California, with Jonas Brothers member Nick Jonas.

Summary of judges' houses

Judge	Category	Location	Assistant(s)	Contestants eliminated
Cowell	Groups	Miami Beach, Florida	Marc Anthony	Dope Crisis, Playback
Lovato	Young Adults	Los Angeles, California	Nick Jonas	Jillian Jensen, Nick Youngerman
Reid	Over 25s	Beverly Hills, California	Justin Bieber & Scooter Braun	Daryl Black, Tara Simon
Spears	Teens	Malibu, California	will.i.am	Reed Deming, James Tanner

Finalists

The final 16 finalists were confirmed as follows;

Key:

     – Winner

     – Runner-up

     – Third place

Category (mentor)	Acts
Teens (Spears)	Beatrice Miller	Arin Ray	Carly Rose Sonenclar	Diamond White
Young Adults (Lovato)	CeCe Frey	Jennel Garcia	Willie Jones	Paige Thomas
Over 25s (Reid)	Vino Alan	Jason Brock	David Correy	Tate Stevens
Groups (Cowell)	Emblem3	Fifth Harmony	LYRIC 145	Sister C

Live shows

The live shows began on October 31, 2012. This was the debut episode for Lopez and Kardashian as hosts on the show. Each week, the contestants performed on Wednesday, with the voting lines opening after the performances. As with previous season, each live show has a different theme. The live final took place on December 19 and 20. A recording of "Live and Let Die" by The X Factor (UK) series five winner Alexandra Burke featured on the second week of live shows.^[31]

Each results show featured musical performances from at least two artists. There was no guest performer on the first result show. The second results show featured two performances from The X Factor (UK) series seven second runner-up One Direction,^[32] while Taylor Swift performed on the third result show.^[33]The X Factor (UK) series seven third runner-up Cher Lloyd and Becky G performed on the fourth results show.^[34][35] The fifth week included the premiering of a music video by will.i.am featuring judge Spears and performances from season one runner-up Josh Krajcik and Alicia Keys.^[36][37] Season one winner Melanie Amaro and Kesha performed on the sixth week.^[38] The semi-final results show featured performances from Bruno Mars and Bridgit Mendler.^[39] One Direction performed again in the final, and Pitbull also performed. This was the only season to feature the leaderboard which reveals which act has the most votes.

Results summary

Color key

–	Contestant was chosen as the bottom two by their mentor and had to sing again in the sing-off (no public vote)
–	Contestant was in the bottom two/three and had to sing again in the final showdown
–	Contestant was in the bottom three but received the fewest votes and was immediately eliminated
–	Contestant received the fewest public votes and was immediately eliminated (no final showdown)
–	Contestant received the most public votes

Weekly results per contestant

Contestant	colspan="2" style="scope="col" | Week 11	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	Week 5	Week 6	Week 7	Week 8
Tate Stevens	Saved		1st	1st	2nd	2nd	1st	Safe	Winner
Carly Rose Sonenclar	Saved		2nd	2nd	1st	1st	2nd	Safe	Runner-up
Fifth Harmony	Bottom two		5th	6th	7th	4th	Bottom three	Safe	3rd
Emblem3	Saved		6th	4th	4th	3rd	3rd	4th	Eliminated (week 7)
Diamond White	Bottom two		4th	7th	5th	Bottom three	Bottom three	Eliminated (week 6)
CeCe Frey	Bottom two		12th	5th	Bottom three	5th	6th	Eliminated (week 6)
Vino Alan	Saved		3rd	3rd	3rd	Bottom three	Eliminated (week 5)
Paige Thomas	Saved		8th	Bottom three	6th	8th	Eliminated (week 5)
Beatrice Miller	Saved		10th	8th	Bottom three	Eliminated (week 4)
Arin Ray	Bottom two		11th	9th	10th	Eliminated (week 4)
Jennel Garcia	Saved		7th	Bottom three	Eliminated (week 3)
LYRIC 145	Saved		9th	12th	Eliminated (week 3)
Jason Brock	Bottom two		13th	Eliminated (week 2)
Sister C	Bottom two		Eliminated (week 1)
David Correy	Bottom two		Eliminated (week 1)
Willie Jones	Bottom two		Eliminated (week 1)
Sing-off / Final showdown	Frey, Jones		Brock, Frey	Garcia, Thomas	Frey, Miller	Alan, White	Fifth Harmony, White	No final showdown or judges' votes; results were based on public votes alone
	Brock, Correy
	Ray, White
	1432, Sister C
Judges voted to	Save	Eliminate
Reid's vote	Alan, Stevens	Correy	Frey	Garcia	Miller	White	White
Spears' vote	Miller, Sonenclar	White	Frey	Garcia	Frey	Alan	Fifth Harmony
Lovato's vote	Garcia, Thomas	Jones	Brock	Thomas	Miller	Alan	White
Cowell's vote	Emblem3, LYRIC 145	Sister C	Brock	Garcia	Miller	Alan	White
Eliminated	Willie Jones by Lovato		Jason Brock 2 of 4 votes Deadlock	LYRIC 145 Public vote to save	Arin Ray Public vote to save	Paige Thomas Public vote to save	CeCe Frey Public vote to save	Emblem3 Public vote to save	Fifth Harmony Public vote to win
	David Correy by Reid
	Diamond White2 by Spears			Jennel Garcia 3 of 4 votes Majority	Beatrice Miller 3 of 4 votes Majority	Vino Alan 3 of 4 votes Majority	Diamond White 3 of 4 votes Majority		Carly Rose Sonenclar Public vote to win
	Sister C by Cowell
Reference(s)	[40]		[41]	[42]	[43]	[44]	[45]

• ^1 There was no public vote in the first week. Each mentor selected two finalists from their own category as the bottom two. The bottom two acts performed another song of their choice in the sing-off and their mentor was required to eliminate one of them based on the performance.^[46]
• ^2 White returned to the competition in week 2 because the judges felt that she shouldn't have been eliminated in the previous week.

Live show details

Week 1 (October 31/November 1)

• Theme: Songs by American artists (billed as "Made in America")^[47]

Contestants' performances on the first live show

Act	Order	Song[47]	Result[40]
Paige Thomas	1	"What Is Love"	Safe
Arin Ray	2	"You Keep Me Hangin' On"	Bottom two
David Correy	3	"My Love Is Your Love"	Bottom two
Sister C	4	"Hell on Heels"	Bottom two
Jennel Garcia	5	"Home Sweet Home"	Safe
Diamond White	6	"Hey, Soul Sister"	Bottom two
Vino Alan	7	"Gotta Be Somebody"	Safe
LYRIC 145	8	"Boom! Shake the Room" / "Gangnam Style"	Safe
CeCe Frey	9	"Because the Night"	Bottom two
Tate Stevens	10	"Tough"	Safe
Beatrice Miller	11	"I Won't Give Up"	Safe
Jason Brock	12	"Dance Again"	Bottom two
1432	13	"We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together"	Bottom two
Willie Jones	14	"Here for the Party"	Bottom two
Carly Rose Sonenclar	15	"Something's Got a Hold on Me" / "Good Feeling"	Safe
Emblem3	16	"One Day"	Safe
Sing-off details[40]
CeCe Frey	1	"Out Here on My Own"	Safe
Willie Jones	2	"You Don't Know Me"	Eliminated
David Correy	3	"Since U Been Gone"	Eliminated
Jason Brock	4	"One Moment in Time"	Safe
Arin Ray	5	"I Look to You"	Safe
Diamond White	6	"Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word"	Eliminated
Sister C	7	"When I Look at You"	Eliminated
1432	8	"Skyscraper"	Safe

• There was no public vote in the first week. Each mentor selected two finalists from their own category as the bottom two. The bottom two acts performed another song of their choice in a sing-off and their mentor was required to eliminate one of them based on the performance.

Judges' decisions to eliminate^[40]

• Lovato: Willie Jones – gave no reason
• Reid: David Correy – gave no reason
• Spears: Diamond White – gave no reason
• Cowell: Sister C – gave no reason

Week 2 (November 7/8)

• Theme: Songs from movies^[48]
• Musical guest: One Direction ("Live While We're Young" and "Little Things")^[32]

One of the four acts that did not face the public vote in week 1 and was eliminated by mentor was reinstated to the show as the judges felt that the act shouldn't have been eliminated in the previous week. The reinstated act was announced as Diamond White at the start of the season second live show.^[49] 1432 will now known as Fifth Harmony, took effect from week 2.^[50]

Contestants' performances on the second live show

Act	Order	Song[50]	Movie	Result[41]
Arin Ray	1	"American Boy"	Obsessed	Safe
Paige Thomas	2	"Take My Breath Away"	Top Gun	Safe
Vino Alan	3	"When a Man Loves a Woman"	When a Man Loves a Woman	Safe
Emblem3	4	"My Girl" / "California Gurls" / "What Makes You Beautiful"	My Girl / Katy Perry: Part of Me	Safe
Beatrice Miller	5	"Iris"	City of Angels	Safe
Jennel Garcia	6	"I Love Rock 'n' Roll"	Crossroads	Safe
Tate Stevens	7	"Wanted Dead or Alive"	Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man	Safe
LYRIC 145	8	"Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious"	Mary Poppins	Safe
Diamond White	9	"I Have Nothing"	The Bodyguard	Safe
CeCe Frey	10	"Eye of the Tiger"	Rocky III	Bottom two
Carly Rose Sonenclar	11	"It Will Rain"	The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1	Safe
Jason Brock	12	"I Believe I Can Fly"	Space Jam	Bottom two
Fifth Harmony	13	"A Thousand Years"	The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1	Safe
Final showdown details[41]
CeCe Frey	1	"You Haven't Seen the Last of Me"		Safe
Jason Brock	2	"Total Eclipse of the Heart"		Eliminated

Judges' votes to eliminate^[41]

• Lovato: Jason Brock – gave no reason, though effectively backed her own act, CeCe Frey
• Reid: Cece Frey – gave no reason, though effectively backed his own act, Jason Brock
• Spears: CeCe Frey – gave no reason
• Cowell: Jason Brock – gave no reason

With the acts in the bottom two receiving two votes each, the result was deadlocked and reverted to the earlier public vote. Brock was eliminated as the act with the fewest public votes.^[41]

Week 3 (November 14/15)

• Theme: Divas^[51]
• Musical guest: Taylor Swift ("State of Grace")^[33]

Starting from week three, two acts were eliminated from each results show until week six. The three acts with the fewest public votes were announced and then the act with the fewest votes was automatically eliminated. The remaining two acts then performed in the final showdown and face the judges' votes.^[52]

Contestants' performances on the third live show

Act	Order	Song[53]	Result[42]
Jennel Garcia	1	"Proud Mary"	Bottom three
Tate Stevens	2	"From This Moment On"	Safe
Diamond White	3	"Halo"	Safe
Beatrice Miller	4	"Time After Time"	Safe
LYRIC 145	5	"We Will Rock You" / "E.T."	Eliminated
Arin Ray	6	"Crazy for You"	Safe
Paige Thomas	7	"Last Dance"	Bottom three
Fifth Harmony	8	"Hero"	Safe
Carly Rose Sonenclar	9	"My Heart Will Go On"	Safe
Vino Alan	10	"Let's Stay Together"	Safe
Emblem3	11	"No One"	Safe
CeCe Frey	12	"All by Myself"	Safe
Final showdown details[42]
Jennel Garcia	1	"The Reason"	Eliminated
Paige Thomas	2	"Paradise"	Safe

Judges' votes to eliminate^[42]

• Reid: Jennel Garcia – gave no reason
• Spears: Jennel Garcia – gave no reason
• Lovato: Paige Thomas – gave no reason
• Cowell: Jennel Garcia – stated it was an easy decision and felt that Thomas has star potential after watching her final showdown performance

Week 4 (November 21/22)

• Theme: Giving Thanks^[54]
• Group performance: "Fix You" (with Bancroft Middle School choir)
• Musical guests: Cher Lloyd featuring Becky G ("Oath")^[34][35]

Contestants' performances on the fourth live show

Act	Order	Song[55]	Result[43]
Tate Stevens	1	"I'm Already There"	Safe
Diamond White	2	"Because You Loved Me"	Safe
Emblem3	3	"Secrets"	Safe
Arin Ray	4	"Hero"	Eliminated
CeCe Frey	5	"Wind Beneath My Wings"	Bottom three
Fifth Harmony	6	"I'll Stand by You"	Safe
Beatrice Miller	7	"Chasing Cars"	Bottom three
Vino Alan	8	"God Bless the USA"	Safe
Paige Thomas	9	"Everytime"	Safe
Carly Rose Sonenclar	10	"Over the Rainbow"	Safe
Final showdown details[43]
CeCe Frey	1	"Because of You"	Safe
Beatrice Miller	2	"White Flag"	Eliminated

Judges' votes to eliminate^[43]

• Lovato: Beatrice Miller – gave no reason, though effectively backed her own act, CeCe Frey
• Spears: CeCe Frey – gave no reason, though effectively backed her own act, Beatrice Miller
• Reid: Beatrice Miller – gave no reason
• Cowell: Beatrice Miller – thought the competition was too much for Miller and that it wasn't her time

Week 5 (November 28/29)

• Theme: Number-ones^[56]
• Musical guests: Josh Krajcik ("One Thing She’ll Never Know") and Alicia Keys ("Girl on Fire")^[36]
• Music video premiere: will.i.am featuring Britney Spears ("Scream & Shout")^[37]

Contestants' performances on the fifth live show

Act	Order	Song[57]	Result[44]
Diamond White	1	"I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)"	Bottom three
Vino Alan	2	"You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'"	Bottom three
Paige Thomas	3	"Never Gonna Give You Up"	Eliminated
Fifth Harmony	4	"Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)"	Safe
Carly Rose Sonenclar	5	"Rolling in the Deep"	Safe
Tate Stevens	6	"Somebody Like You"	Safe
CeCe Frey	7	"Lady Marmalade"	Safe
Emblem3	8	"I'm a Believer"	Safe
Final showdown details[44]
Diamond White	1	"I Was Here"	Safe
Vino Alan	2	"Trouble"	Eliminated

Judges' votes to eliminate^[44]

• Reid: Diamond White – gave no reason, though effectively backed his own act, Vino Alan
• Spears: Vino Alan – gave no reason, though effectively backed her own act, Diamond White
• Lovato: Vino Alan – gave no reason
• Cowell: Vino Alan – gave no reason

Week 6 (December 5/6)

• Themes: Unplugged songs; Pepsi Challenge songs^[58]
• Musical guests: Melanie Amaro ("Long Distance")^[59] and Kesha ("C'Mon")^[38]

For the first time this season, each contestant will perform two songs. The list of song choices for the Pepsi Challenge was released via Twitter on December 1, 2012.^[58]

Choices for Pepsi Challenge

Act	Song choices[60]	Result
Carly Rose Sonenclar	"If I Were a Boy"	Chosen
	"I Just Can't Stop Loving You"	Not chosen
	"Your Song"	Not chosen
CeCe Frey	"Die Young"	Not chosen
	"Part of Me"	Chosen
	"So What"	Not chosen
Diamond White	"Diamonds"	Chosen
	"Kiss from a Rose"	Not chosen
	"Mercy"	Not chosen
Emblem3	"I Gotta Feeling"	Not chosen
	"Forever Young"	Chosen
	"Marry You"	Not chosen
Fifth Harmony	"What Makes You Beautiful"	Not chosen
	"Anything Could Happen"	Not chosen
	"Give Your Heart a Break"	Chosen
Tate Stevens	"The Dance"	Not chosen
	"She's Country"	Not chosen
	"If Tomorrow Never Comes"	Chosen

Contestants' performances on the sixth live show

Act	Order	First song	Order	Second song[58]	Result[45]
CeCe Frey	1	"The Edge of Glory"	7	"Part of Me"	Eliminated
Emblem3	2	"Just the Way You Are"	8	"Forever Young"	Safe
Carly Rose Sonenclar	3	"As Long as You Love Me"	9	"If I Were a Boy"	Safe
Fifth Harmony	4	"Set Fire to the Rain"	10	"Give Your Heart a Break"	Bottom three
Diamond White	5	"It's a Man's Man's Man's World"	11	"Diamonds"	Bottom three
Tate Stevens	6	"Livin' on a Prayer"	12	"If Tomorrow Never Comes"	Safe
Final showdown details[45]
Fifth Harmony	1	"Anytime You Need a Friend"			Safe
Diamond White	2	"I Hope You Dance"			Eliminated

Judges' votes to eliminate^[45]

• Cowell: Diamond White – gave no reason, though effectively backed his own act, Fifth Harmony
• Spears: Fifth Harmony – gave no reason, though effectively backed her own act, Diamond White
• Reid: Diamond White – gave no reason
• Lovato: Diamond White – gave no reason

Week 7: Semi-final (December 12/13)

• Themes: Contestant's choice; "songs to get you to the final" (no theme)^[61][62]
• Group performance: "Coming Home" / "Coming Home, Pt. II"
• Musical guests: Bridgit Mendler ("Ready or Not")^[63] and Bruno Mars ("Locked Out of Heaven")^[39]

Contestants' performances on the seventh live show

Act	Order	First song[64]	Order	Second song[64]	Result
Tate Stevens	1	"Bonfire"	5	"Fall"	Safe
Carly Rose Sonenclar	2	"Your Song"	6	"Imagine"	Safe
Emblem3	3	"Baby, I Love Your Way"	7	"Hey Jude"	Eliminated
Fifth Harmony	4	"Anything Could Happen"	8	"Impossible"	Safe

The semi-final did not feature a final showdown nor a leaderboard. Instead the act with the fewest public votes, Emblem3, were automatically eliminated.^[62]

Week 8: Final (December 19/20)

The final consisted of two two-hour episodes on December 19 and 20.

December 19

• Themes: Favorite performance (billed as "song of the season"); celebrity duets; winner's song (billed as "$5 million song")^[65]
• Group performance: "You Are Not Alone" (all top 13 finalists; in dedication to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims)

Contestants' performances on the eighth live show

Act	Order	First song[65]	Order	Second song (duet)[65]	Order	Third song[66]
Carly Rose Sonenclar	1	"Feeling Good"	4	"How Do I Live" (with LeAnn Rimes)	7	"Hallelujah"
Tate Stevens	2	"Anything Goes"	5	"Pontoon" (with Little Big Town)	8	"Tomorrow"
Fifth Harmony	3	"Anything Could Happen"	6	"Give Your Heart a Break" (with Demi Lovato)	9	"Let It Be"

December 20

• Theme: Christmas songs^[66]
• Group performances: "All You Need Is Love" and "The Climb" (performed by Carly Rose Sonenclar and Tate Stevens)
• Musical guests: Pitbull ("Don't Stop the Party" / "Feel This Moment") and One Direction ("Kiss You")

Contestants' performances on the final live show

Act	Order	Song[66]	Result[67]
Tate Stevens	1	"Please Come Home for Christmas"	Winner
Fifth Harmony	2	"Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)"	Third place
Carly Rose Sonenclar	3	"All I Want for Christmas Is You"	Runner-up

Reception

U.S. Nielsen ratings

Ep. #	Episode	Airdate	Rating	Share	Rating/share (18-49)	Viewers (millions)	Rank (timeslot)	Rank (night)
1	Auditions 1	September 12	5.2	8[68]	3.4/10	8.73[69]	#2	#3
2	Auditions 2	September 13	5.2	9[70]	3.2/10	8.28[71]	#2	#2
3	Auditions 3	September 19	5.5	9[72]	3.6/11	9.54[73]	#2	#2
4	Auditions 4	September 20	5.9	10[74]	3.5/11	10.15[75]	#1	#1
5	Auditions 5	September 26	5.7	9[76]	3.4/10	9.63[77]	#2	#5
6	Auditions 6	September 27	5.9	10[78]	3.2/10	9.39[79]	#2	#6
7	Bootcamp 1	October 3	5.5	9[80]	3.5/11	9.71[81]	#2	#2
8	Bootcamp 2	October 4	5.7	9[82]	3.2/10	9.25[83]	#2	#6
9	Bootcamp 3/Judges' houses 1	October 10	5.6	9[84]	3.5/10	9.56[85]	#2	#6
10	Judges' houses 2	October 11	5.0	8[86]	2.9/8	8.43[87]	#2	#3
11	Judges' houses 3 – Part 1	October 17[Note 1]	4.1	6[88]	2.3/6	6.34[89]	#3	#6
12	Judges' houses 3 – Part 2	October 23[Note 1]	3.7	6[90]	2.3/6	5.71[91]	#1	#7
13	Live show 1	October 31[92][Note 2][93]	4.7	7[94]	2.7/8	7.60[95]	#2	#5
14	Live results 1	November 1[92][Note 2]			2.3/6	6.24[96]	#3	#6
15	Live show 2	November 7			2.6/7	7.03[97]	#4	#8
16	Live results 2	November 8			2.3/6	6.33[98]	#3	#7
17	Live show 3	November 14	6.0	9	2.9/8	8.15[99]	#3	#6
18	Live results 3	November 15			2.4/7	7.47[100]	#2	#6
19	Live show 4	November 21		7	2.2/7	7.28[101]	#3	#5
20	Live results 4	November 22		8	2.8/9	9.04[102]	#1	#2
21	Live show 5	November 28			2.9/8	8.20[103]	#1	#2
22	Live results 5	November 29			2.7/8	8.32[104]	#2	#5
23	Live show 6	December 5			2.8/8	8.25[105]	#1	#2
24	Live results 6	December 6			2.5/7	7.84[106]	#2	#6
25	Live semi-final	December 12			2.7/8	7.79[107]	#2	#4
26	Live semi-final results	December 13			2.4/7	7.66[108]	#2	#6
27	Live final	December 19			2.7/8	8.35[109]	#1	#1
28	Live final results	December 20			3.1/9	9.66[110]	#1	#1

Notes

Controversy

Broadcast interruption of judges' houses

During the airing of the judges' houses episode on October 17, the show was stopped abruptly in the middle of Lovato's selection for the top 16 and cut immediately to a game of the National League Championship Series. This was due to the fact that the game was halted and rescheduled later in the day due to a rain delay, to be played concurrently with The X Factor.^[111] Between the two, Fox decided to air the game instead of the rest of the episode. Many viewers took to the internet and called Fox to complain about the interruption. Cowell even took to his Twitter to comment that: "It's what's known as a total f up." The show instead aired the following week in its entirety. During the fifth live show in November, many voters reported of having their votes "rejected" and their calls cut off when attempting to vote for Paige Thomas; Thomas was eliminated the following night. Fox and The X Factor affiliates have not confirmed or denied whether this had anything to do with Thomas' subsequent elimination the following night.

References

External links

• Official website

The X Factor (U.S.) Discography Seasons 1 2 3 Hosts Steve Jones Khloé Kardashian Mario Lopez Judges Regular Simon Cowell Paula Abdul Cheryl Cole L.A. Reid Nicole Scherzinger Demi Lovato Britney Spears Kelly Rowland Paulina Rubio Guest Louis Walsh Winners Melanie Amaro Tate Stevens Alex & Sierra Finalists Season 1 2 3 Winners' songs "Listen" "Tomorrow" "Say Something" Related articles Fox X Factor Around the World

Notable contestants of The X Factor (U.S.) Season 1 Melanie Amaro Josh Krajcik Chris Rene Marcus Canty Rachel Crow Astro LeRoy Bell Hayley Orrantia Stacy Francis Ellona Santiago Simone Battle Christa Collins Season 2 Tate Stevens Carly Rose Sonenclar Fifth Harmony Emblem3 Diamond White Beatrice Miller Season 3 Alex & Sierra Jeff Gutt Carlito Olivero Ellona Santiago Lillie McCloud Rachel Potter Jamie Pineda