The X Factor (UK series 2)

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

Series 2 judges

Simon Cowell

Sharon Osbourne

Louis Walsh

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.

Finalists

Key:

     – Winner

     – Runner-up

     – Third place

Live shows

The live shows began on 15 October 2005, and the final was broadcast live on 17 December 2005.

Results summary

Colour key

^1 For the first and, as of series 11, 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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

Judges' votes to eliminate

• Walsh: The Conway Sisters – gave no reason, though effectively backed his own act, Nicholas Dorsett
• Cowell: Nicholas Dorsett – felt the conway sisters had more passion in their sing off performance
• Osbourne: Nicholas Dorsett – refused to give a reason.

Week 7 (26 November)

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)

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)

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]

Reception

Ratings

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