X Factor (Romania season 4)

X Factor
Series 4
Broadcast from September 19, 2014 – December 26, 2014
Judges Delia Matache
Horia Brenciu
Ștefan Bănică, Jr.
Cristian Minculescu (guest)
Presenter(s) Răzvan Simion
Dani Oțil (A1)
Broadcaster Antena 1
Winner:
Adina Răducan
Origin Buzău
Song "One Moment In Time"
Runner-up
Alexandra Crișan
Chronology
2014

X Factor is a Romanian television music competition that aims to find a new music talent to become a star. The fourth season began airing on 19 September 2014 on Antena 1.[1]

The hosts are the same as in the first three seasons: Răzvan Simion and Dani Oțil, who are also known for hosting a well known morning show on Antena 1. Singer Delia Matache returned to the judging panel, while Horia Brenciu and Ștefan Bănică, Jr. joined the panel as replacements for the departing judges.

On December 26, 2014, the season concluded with Adina Răducan winning the Final, she was mentored by Brenciu. Alexandra Crișan, mentored by Bănică finished in second place.

Auditions

Cities that auditions and/or pre-auditions were held in.

Audition process was based on the British and American version. First up were "The Producer's Audition", where the producers chose singers to proceed to the second faze which was "The Audition before the Judging panel". The first auditions took place at Craiova, on 24 May. They then took place in Sibiu, on 26 May, in Arad, on May 28 in Cluj Napoca on May 30, 2014, on June 2 in Iași, on June 5 in Galați[2] and concluded on June 7, 2013 in Bucharest.[3]

Summary of auditions
City Auditions date Venue
Craiova May 24, 2014 Craiova University
Sibiu May 26, 2014
Arad May 28, 2014 Hotel Parc
Cluj Napoca May 30, 2013 Iulius Mall
Iași June 2, 2014 Palas Mall
Galați June 5, 2014 Hotel Faleza By Vega
Bucharest June 7, 2014 Children's Palace

Judges

On February 2014, rumours began circulating that Cheloo would not be returning for the fourth series, because of his aggressive behavior. When it was announced that The X Factor would be returning for a fourth season, Dan Bittman was linked to the role. On May 2014, it was confirmed that Delia Matache would return. Before the auditions began, Cheloo and Bittman were replaced by pop singer Horia Brenciu and rock star Ștefan Bănică, Jr. [4][5]

Bootcamp

Complete Teams

Color key
     – Eliminated in Six-chair challenge
     – Eliminated in Duels
     – Finalist
     – Wildcard
Category (mentor) Top 38 acts
Under 20s (Brenciu)
Adina Răducanu Cristian Goaie Monica Sannino Denis Borovină Diana Căldăraru Nicholas Sealey Sabrina Stroe
Sorina Rostaș Rafaelo Varga Melisa Tolea Sergiu Vonvea Octavian Broșteanu Miruna Buză Teodora Ciocănea
Groups
(Matache)
Contrast R-Twins Trupa 69 Adelina Damian & Victor Sas Afina & Daniel
Black & White Studio 7 Divas Diana & Andrei Liță Envi
Over 20s
(Bănică)
Alexandra Crișan Alexandru Florea Nicoleta Nucă Sergiu Braga Pavel Denisiuc Iuliana Dobre Alessio Paddeu
Helena Abegaz Maria Cojocaru Ovidiu Anton Dorina Vasilashkco Stela Boțan Florin Șchiopu Mihaela Belous

Six-chair challenge

For this season of The X Factor, the producers confirmed that the boot camp and judges' houses sections of the competition, which traditionally followed the audition rounds, had been dropped and replaced with a brand new stage called "The Six-Chair challenge".[6]

This season, the categories follow the age-based format from season three. Brenciu mentored the Under 20s, Bănică the Over 20s and for the second time, Matache mentored the Groups.

Before the Six-chair challenge began, Vlad Simon left the competition because of health problems. Simon was replaced by Florin Șchiopu.[7]

Color key
     – Contestant was immediately eliminated after performance without switch
     – Contestant was switched out later in the competition and eventually eliminated
     – Contestant was not switched out and made the final six of their own category
Contestants performances on the six-chair challenge
Episode Category (mentor) Act Order Song Mentor's decision Switched with
Episode 10
(November 21)
Under 20s (Brenciu) Cristian Goaie 1 "Feeling Good" Put in chair 1
Diana Căldăraru 2 "Yesterday" Put in chair 2
Teodora Ciocănea 3 "Believe" Eliminated
Sergiu Vonvea 4 "I Can't Stop Loving You" Put in chair 3
Sorina Rostaş 5 "You Raise Me Up" Put in chair 4
Nicholas Sealey 6 "Unchained Melody" Put in chair 5
Miruna Buză 7 "Skinny Love" Eliminated
Octavian Broşteanu 8 "Cât De Frumoasă Ești" Eliminated
Monica Sannino 9 "In Assenza Di Te" Put in chair 6
Sabrina Stroe 10 "Ain't No Sunshine" Put in chair 3 Sergiu Vonvea
Episode 11
(November 28)
Melisa Tolea 11 "L-O-V-E" Eliminated
Rafaelo Varga 12 "O Fată Ca Ea" Eliminated
Adina Răducan 13 "I Can't Make You Love Me" Put in chair 4 Sorina Rostaş
Denis Borovină 14 "Set Fire to the Rain" Put in chair 3 Sabrina Stroe
Groups (Matache) Adelina Damian & Victor Sas 15 "Apologize" Put in chair 1
Studio 7 16 "Fell in Love with an Alien" Put in chair 2
Envi 17 "I Will Always Love You" Eliminated
Black & White 18 "Just the Way You Are"/"Marry You" Put in chair 3
Trupa 69 19 "Taxi" Put in chair 4
Divas 20 "Survivor" Put in chair 5
Diana & Andrei Liță 21 "Let Her Go" Eliminated
Afina & Daniel 1 22 "New York, New York" Put in chair 6
Contrast 23 "Stand by Me" Put in chair 5 Divas
R-Twins 24 "With You" Put in chair 2 Studio 7
Over 20s (Bănică) Mihaela Belous 25 "Stop!" Eliminated
Iuliana Dobre 26 "I'll Stand By You" Put in chair 3
Dorina Vasilashkco 27 "Amado Mio" Put in chair 1
Ovidiu Anton 28 "All by Myself" Put in chair 2
Florin Şchiopu 29 "Boyfriend" Eliminated
Alexandra Crișan 30 "Angel" Put in chair 4
Pavel Denesiuc 31 "My Heart Is Refusing Me" Put in chair 5
Stela Boțan 32 "Someone like You" Eliminated
Alexandru Florea 33 "Here Without You" Put in chair 6
Nicoleta Nucă 34 "Say Something" Put in chair 1 Dorina Vasilashkco
Episode 12
(November 29)
Maria Cojocaru 35 "One" Eliminated
Alessio Paddeu 36 "When You Say Nothing at All" Put in chair 2 Ovidiu Anton
Helena Abegaz 37 "Run" Eliminated
Sergiu Braga 38 "O Sole Mio" Put in chair 2 Alessio Paddeu

The Duels

After the Six-chair challenge, each mentor had six contestants for the Duels. The contestants were not told who they were up against until the day of the Duels. Each contestant sang a song of their own choice, back to back, and each duel concluded with the respective mentor eliminating one of the two contestants; the three winners for each mentor advanced to the Live shows.

Colour key:

     - Artist won the Duel and advanced to the Live shows

     - Artist lost the Duel and was eliminated

Contestants performances on the duels challenge
Episode Category (mentor) Duel Act Order Song Result
Episode 12
(November 29)
Over 20s (Bănică) Duel 1 Alexandra Crișan 1 "One and Only" Finalist
Iuliana Dobre 2 "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" Eliminated
Duel 4 Alexandru Florea 7 "You Give Love a Bad Name" Finalist
Pavel Denesiuc 8 "All of Me" Eliminated
Duel 6 Sergiu Braga 11 "Con Te Partirò" Eliminated
Nicoleta Nucă 12 "Hallelujah" Finalist
Groups (Matache) Duel 2 Black & White 3 "We Are Young" Eliminated
R-Twins 4 "The Lazy Song" Finalist
Duel 5 Afina & Daniel 9 "Halo" Eliminated
Trupa 69 10 "Dark Horse" Finalist
Duel 8 Contrast 15 "My Kind of Love" Finalist
Adelina Damian & Victor Sas 16 "This Love" Eliminated
Under 20s (Brenciu) Duel 3 Nicholas Sealey 5 "Blurred Lines" Eliminated
Cristian Goaie 6 "Love Me Again" Finalist
Duel 7 2 Monica Sannino 13 "Hit the Road Jack" Finalist
Adina Răducan 14 "Trurli" Finalist
Duel 9 2 Diana Căldăraru 17 "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" Eliminated
Denis Borovină 18 "La La La" Eliminated

Notes

^ 1. Daniel was not present in the "Six-Chair Challenge", due to a personal problem.
^ 2. After the performances of Monica and Adina from the Under 20s category, their mentor, Brenciu couldn't decide between both of them, so the producers decided that Brenciu's decision will be taken after all his acts perform.

Wildcard

It was announced on 3 December 2014 that there would be a wildcard twist on the live shows. The judges selected the wildcard acts from other categories. The wildcard acts were announced in the first live show with Sergiu Braga chosen by Brenciu for the Under 20s category, Alessio Paddeu chosen by Matache for the Groups and Miruna Buză chosen by Bănică for the Over 20s category.

Finalists

The final 12 finalists were confirmed as follows:[6]

Color Key
     – Winner
     – Runner-up
     – Third place
Category (mentor) Acts
Under 20s (Brenciu) Sergiu Braga Cristian Goaie Adina Răducan Monica Sannino
Over 20s (Bănică) Miruna Buză Alexandra Crișan Alexandru Florea Nicoleta Nucă
Groups (Matache) Contrast Alessio Paddeu R-Twins Trupa 69

Live shows

The live shows will have a change in this season. Only four live shows will take place. In the first two live shows, each category will have its own final showdown, the result of which is decided solely by its mentor. The outcome of the third show will only rely on the public vote and will have two eliminations (one of which will happen halfway through of the show, when the voting will have been frozen). The final will have four contestants. Two of the finalists will be eliminated halfway through the final show, when the voting will have been frozen. The winner is still determined by the public vote.

Results summary

Color key
     Winner
     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)
Weekly results per contestant
Contestant Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4
Wildcard Elimination Round 1 Round 2 Round 1 Round 2
Adina Răducan N/A Safe Bottom two Safe Safe Safe Winner
Alexandra Crișan N/A Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Runner-Up
Trupa 69 N/A Safe Safe Safe Safe 3rd Eliminated (Week 4)
Alessio Paddeu Returned Week 1 Safe Bottom two Safe Safe 4th
Nicoleta Nucă N/A Safe Bottom two Safe 5th Eliminated (Week 3)
Sergiu Braga Returned Week 1 Safe Safe 6th Eliminated (Week 3)
Alexandru Florea N/A Bottom two Bottom two Eliminated (Week 2)
Contrast N/A Bottom two Bottom two
Cristian Goaie N/A Bottom two Bottom two
Miruna Buză Returned Week 1 Bottom two Eliminated (Week 1)
R-Twins N/A Bottom two
Monica Sannino N/A Bottom two
Final showdown None Cristian Goaie, Monica Sannino Cristian Goaie,
Adina Răducan
No judges' vote or final showdown:
public votes alone decide
who is eliminated
R-Twins,
Contrast
Contrast,
Alessio Paddeu
Alexandru Florea,
Miruna Buză
Alexandru Florea,
Nicoleta Nucă
Brenciu's vote to eliminate Monica Sannino Cristian Goaie
Matache's vote to eliminate R-Twins Contrast
Bănică's vote to eliminate Miruna Buză Alexandru Florea
Eliminated Monica Sannino
by Brenciu
Cristian Goaie
by Brenciu
Sergiu Braga
Public vote
Nicoleta Nucă
Public vote
Alessio Paddeu
Public vote
Alexandra Crișan
Public vote
to win
R-Twins
by Matache
Contrast
by Matache
Trupa 69
Public vote
Adina Răducan
Public vote
to win
Miruna Buză
by Bănică
Alexandru Florea
by Bănică
Reference(s) [8][9][10][11] [12][13][14] [15][16][17] [18] [19] [20] [21][22]

Live show details

Week 1 (December 5)

Contestants' performances on the first live show[23]
Act, Order Song Result
Monica Sannino 1 "Acasă" Bottom two
Cristian Goaie 2 "Mă-ntorc La Tine Mare Albastră" Bottom two
Adina Răducan 3 "Iartă" Safe
Sergiu Braga 4 "Eminescu" Safe
R-Twins 5 "Dana" Bottom two
Contrast 6 "Îți Arăt Că Pot" Bottom two
Trupa 69 7 "Vreau Sărutarea Ta" Safe
Alessio Paddeu 8 "Caruso" Safe
Alexandra Crișan 9 "Ochii Tăi" Safe
Alexandru Florea 10 "Numai Una" Bottom two
Nicoleta Nucă 11 "România" Safe
Miruna Buză 12 "Cântă Cucu" Bottom two
Final showdown details
Under 20s
Cristian Goaie 1 "Sărutări Criminale" Safe
Monica Sannino 2 "Beautiful" Eliminated
Groups
R-Twins 1 "Rude" Eliminated
Contrast 2 "The Monster" Safe
Over 20s
Alexandru Florea 1 "Bed of Roses" Safe
Miruna Buză 2 "Ploaie În Luna Lui Martie" Eliminated
Judges' votes to eliminate

Week 2 (December 12)

Contestants' performances on the second live show
Act Order Song Result
Adina Răducan 1 "Clown" Bottom two
Cristian Goaie 2 "Jelem, Jelem" Bottom two
Sergiu Braga 3 "Ploaia" Safe
Contrast 4 "Noi Simţim La Fel" Bottom two
Alessio Paddeu 5 "I'm Not the Only One" Bottom two
Trupa 69 6 "Locul Potrivit" Safe
Nicoleta Nucă 7 "Chandelier" Bottom two
Alexandru Florea 8 "Let Me Entertain You" Bottom two
Alexandra Crișan 9 "Say You Love Me" Safe
Final showdown details
Under 20s
Cristian Goaie 1 "Billionaire" Eliminated
Adina Răducan 2 "All by Myself" Safe
Groups
Alessio Paddeu 1 "Love of My Life" Safe
Contrast 2 "Wrecking Ball" Eliminated
Over 20s
Alexandru Florea 1 "One" Eliminated
Nicoleta Nucă 2 "The Edge of Glory" Safe
Judges' votes to eliminate

Week 3 (December 19)

First Round

Contestants' performances on the third live show
Act Order Song Result
Alexandra Crişan 1 "Empire State of Mind" (with CRBL) Safe
Trupa 69 2 "Ipotecat" (with Dragoş Udilă) Safe
Adina Răducan 3 "Colaj De Sâmbătă Seara" (with Daniel Buzdugan) Safe
Nicoleta Nucă 4 "One Sweet Day" (with Florin Ristei) Safe
Sergiu Braga 5 "Zaraza" (with Nelu Ploieşteanu) Eliminated
Alessio Paddeu 6 "Say Something" (with Lora) Safe

Second Round

Contestants' performances on the third live show
Act Order Song Result
Alexandra Crişan 1 "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" Safe
Trupa 69 2 "Price Tag" Safe
Adina Răducan 3 "Bună Seara, Iubite" Safe
Nicoleta Nucă 4 "Something's Got a Hold on Me" Eliminated
Alessio Paddeu 5 "When I Was Your Man" Safe

Week 4: Final (December 26)

Round 1
Contestants' performances on the fourth live show
Act Order Song Order Song Result
Alessio Paddeu 1 "Meravigliosa Creatura" (with Delia Matache) 6 "Oameni" Eliminated
Alexandra Crişan 2 "Mai Frumoasă" 5 "Strânge-mă În Brațe" (with Ștefan Bănică, Jr.) Safe
Adina Răducan 3 "Mi-e Dor De Tine" (with Horia Brenciu) 8 "Galbenă Gutuie" Safe
Trupa 69 4 "Te Pup, Pa Pa!" 7 "Prietena Ta" (with Delia Matache) Eliminated
Round 2
Contestants' performances on the final live show
Act Order Song Result
Adina Răducan 1 "One Moment In Time" Winner
Alexandra Crişan 2 "Someone Like You"/"Too Much Love Will Kill You" Runner-Up

Ratings

Ep Title Date National Urban 18-49 Source
Average
(thousands)
Rating
(%)
Average
(thousands)
Rating
(%)
Average
(thousands)
Rating
(%)
1 Auditions 1 19 September 2014 1 413 7.6 927 9.2 480 9.6 [24]
2 Auditions 2 26 September 2014 1 490 8 944 9.4 490 9.7
3 Auditions 3 3 October 2014 1 398 7.6 843 8.4 483 9.6
4 Auditions 4 10 October 2014 1 424 7.7 930 9.2 498 9.9
5 Auditions 5 17 October 2014 1 424 7.7 881 8.8 476 9.4
6 Auditions 6 24 October 2014 1 392 7.5 912 9.1 480 9.6
7 Auditions 7 31 October 2014 1 180 6.4 697 6.9 416 8.2
8 Auditions 8 7 November 2014 1 187 6.4 757 7.5 407 8.1
9 Auditions 9 14 November 2014 1 120 6 704 7 353 7
10 Auditions 10/Six-chair challenge 1 21 November 2014 1 072 5.8 654 6.5 360 7.2
11 Six-chair challenge 2 28 November 2014 862 4.7 538 5.3 310 6.2
12 Six-chair challenge 3 /The Duels 29 November 2014 1 233 6.7 753 7.5 378 7.5
13 First Live Show 5 December 2014 888 4.8 607 6.0 310 6.2
14 Second Live Show 12 December 2014 895 4.8 542 5.4 302 6
15 Third Live Show 19 December 2014 892 4.8 538 5.3 292 5.8
16 Final Live Show 26 December 2014 1 016 5.5 735 7 374 7.5

Controversy

In the "Six-chair challenge", Brenciu shocks everyone, even the presenters, by eliminating Miruna Buză, a girl with "excellent vocal technique". Despite getting great reviews from the other mentors, the girl received unexpected criticism from her mentor : "I thought you will suprise us today with something else...Miruna, you have to go home".[25]

References

  1. http://www.infoziare.ro/stire/638716/Gata!+%C3%8Encepe+X+Factor!+Horia+Brenciu:+%E2%80%9CDe+mult+visez+s%C4%83+fiu+coleg+de+banc%C4%83+cu+B%C4%83nic%C4%83+%C3%AEnc%C4%83+de+pe+vremea+melodiei+%E2%80%9CAni+de+liceu%E2%80%9D%E2%80%9D.
  2. http://xfactor.a1.ro/stiri/sezonul-4-x-factor-se-apropie-cu-pasi-repezi-vino-la-auditii-daca-simti-ca-ai-factorul-x-id1841.html.
  3. http://xfactor.a1.ro/stiri/ara-tara-vrem-x-factorrr-incep-preselectiile-pentru-un-nou-sezon-id1804.html.
  4. http://xfactor.a1.ro/stiri/exploziv-stralucitor-inegalabil-noul-juriu-x-factor-in-formula-completa-pentru-prima-data-la-observator-id1843.html
  5. http://xfactor.a1.ro/stiri/asteptarea-a-luat-sfarsit-delia-horia-brenciu-si-stefan-banica-jr-sunt-juratii-x-factor-2014-id1845.html.
  6. 6.0 6.1 http://xfactor.a1.ro/stiri/modificare-drastica-de-regulament-la-x-factor-se-anunta-macel-id2670.html
  7. http://www.exclusivnews.ro/mass-media/vlad-simon-s-a-retras-de-la-x-factor-din-motive-de-sanatate.html.
  8. "Producătorii X Factor UK și-au dat acordul! Echipele juraților se vor MĂRI cu un CONCURENT SURPRIZĂ" (in Romanian). http://xfactor.a1.ro/. Retrieved 2014-12-03.
  9. "Sergiu Braga este CONCURENTUL SURPRIZĂ ales de Horia Brenciu! Nu l-ai mai auzit niciodată cântând aşa" (in Romanian). http://xfactor.a1.ro/. Retrieved 2014-12-05.
  10. "Alessio Paddeu este concurentul surpriză al Deliei! Interpretarea sa îţi taie respiraţia" (in Romanian). http://xfactor.a1.ro/. Retrieved 2014-12-05.
  11. "Miruna Buză este concurenta surpriză a lui Ştefan Bănică! Glasul ei de privighetoare îţi dă fiori" (in Romanian). http://xfactor.a1.ro/. Retrieved 2014-12-06.
  12. "Monica Sannino, eliminată de la X Factor!" (in Romanian). http://xfactor.a1.ro/. Retrieved 2014-12-05.
  13. "Trupa R-Twins, eliminată de la X Factor!" (in Romanian). http://xfactor.a1.ro/. Retrieved 2014-12-05.
  14. "Miruna Buză, eliminată de la X Factor!" (in Romanian). http://xfactor.a1.ro/. Retrieved 2014-12-06.
  15. "Cristian Goaie, eliminat de la X Factor!" (in Romanian). http://xfactor.a1.ro/. Retrieved 2014-12-12.
  16. "Trupa Contrast, eliminată de la X Factor!" (in Romanian). http://xfactor.a1.ro/. Retrieved 2014-12-13.
  17. "Doi frați eliminați într-o seară: Alex Florea s-a luptat în microfoane cu Nicoleta Nucă și... a pierdut!" (in Romanian). http://xfactor.a1.ro/. Retrieved 2014-12-13.
  18. "Sergiu Braga, eliminat de la X Factor!" (in Romanian). http://xfactor.a1.ro/. Retrieved 2014-12-19.
  19. "Mulţi o vedeau câştigătoare, dar publicul a schimbat balanţa! Nicoleta Nucă, eliminată din competiţia X Factor" (in Romanian). http://xfactor.a1.ro/. Retrieved 2014-12-20.
  20. "Nu mai e cale de întoarcere! Publicul a DECIS! Alexandra și Adina se luptă pentru titlul de CÂȘTIGĂTOARE X FACTOR 2014" (in Romanian). http://xfactor.a1.ro/. Retrieved 2014-12-26.
  21. "X FACTOR LIVE: Cine este CASTIGATOR X FACTOR 2014! Surpriză uriaşă" (in Romanian). www.romaniatv.net. Retrieved 2014-12-27.
  22. "La doar 16 ani, ADINA RĂDUCAN CÂȘTIGĂ AL PATRULEA SEZON X FACTOR! Horia Brenciu, MENTORUL NOROCOS!" (in Romanian). www.romaniatv.net. Retrieved 2014-12-27.
  23. "De Moş Nicolae, publicul urban s-a uitat la Antena 1! X Factor, lider de audienţă" (in Romanian). http://xfactor.a1.ro/. Retrieved 2014-12-06.
  24. "Concurenta lui Horia Brenciu, marea câștigătoare X Factor. Audiența show-ului ediție cu ediție". Pagina de Media. 27 December 2014.
  25. "NIMENI nu se aștepta la asta! Brenciu trimite acasă o fată de nota 10, Delia și Bănică nu îi înțeleg alegerea! Merita să primească un scaun?". http://xfactor.a1.ro/. 2014-11-21. Retrieved 2014-11-21.