The X Factor (UK series 8)

The X Factor
Series 8
Broadcast from	20 August (2011-08-20) – 11 December 2011 (2011-12-11)
Judges	Gary Barlow Kelly Rowland Tulisa Louis Walsh Alexandra Burke (guest)
Presenter(s)	Dermot O'Leary (ITV)
Co-presenter(s)	Caroline Flack (ITV2) Olly Murs (ITV2)
Broadcaster	ITV ITV2 (The Xtra Factor)
Finals venue	The SSE Arena, Wembley
Winner
Little Mix
Little Mix on tour.
Origin	Romford, South Shields, High Wycombe
Song	"Cannonball"
Genre(s)	Pop, R&B, Hip hop
Mentor	Tulisa
Runner-up
Marcus Collins

The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. The eighth series commenced airing on ITV on 20 August 2011^[1] and ended on 11 December 2011. The winner was Little Mix, a four-piece girl group known earlier in the series as Rhythmix, consisting of members Jesy Nelson, Perrie Edwards, Leigh-Anne Pinnock, and Jade Thirlwall. They became the first act in the groups category to win in the UK show's history with new judge Tulisa emerging as their winning mentor. Dermot O'Leary presented the main show on ITV, while Caroline Flack and series 6 runner-up Olly Murs co-presented the spin-off show The Xtra Factor on ITV2, replacing Konnie Huq from the previous year. Louis Walsh returned to the judging panel and was joined by Gary Barlow, Kelly Rowland and Tulisa. Barlow, Rowland and Tulisa joined the panel as replacements for former judges, Simon Cowell, Dannii Minogue and Cheryl Cole. Series 5 winner Alexandra Burke served as a guest judge for week 4 of the live shows due to Rowland having a throat infection.

On 4 August 2011, promotional pictures of the judges surfaced across the internet. The next day, an advertisement premiered on itv.com.^[2]

The eighth series won Most Popular Talent Show at the 17th National Television Awards on 25 January 2012.^[3]

Judges, presenters and other personnel

On 5 May 2011, it was announced that Simon Cowell and Cheryl Cole would not return as judges for series 8 in order to concentrate on The X Factor USA.^[4] On 14 May 2011, Dannii Minogue announced that she would not appear as a judge on the eighth series either, due to a clash with Australia's Got Talent, another show for which she judges. Of her decision, Minogue said, "During discussions for me to return to The X Factor it became clear that unfortunately, this year, The X Factor audition dates in the UK clash with the live shows of Australia's Got Talent during June and July. For this reason I am unable to return".^[5]

After Cowell and Cole announced their departures, a number of celebrities were linked to the judging role including Frankie Sandford of The Saturdays^[6] and Alesha Dixon, a judge on the rival Strictly Come Dancing.^[7] On 9 May 2011, five days before Minogue announced she would not return, news broke that Cowell had offered a seat to Gary Barlow of Take That, though his contract was not finalised.^[8] Following Minogue's announcement, it was reported that Tulisa Contostavlos from N-Dubz had been in talks with producers to take on a judging role.^[5] It was also suggested that Kelly Rowland, formerly of Destiny's Child, was in talks to take a seat on the judging panel, which was later confirmed.^[9] On 30 May 2011, the judging line-up was confirmed as Louis Walsh, Barlow, Contostavlos and Rowland.^[10][11] Barlow said that he was "extremely excited" to work on the show, and hoped to find a global superstar. Contostavlos hoped to "bring something fresh and new to the panel", promising to speak her mind. Rowland wanted an "opportunity to hear a few diamonds in the rough" and said she would be "sternly honest". In week 4 of the live finals on 29 and 30 October, Rowland was unable to attend due to a throat infection and was replaced for these shows by Alexandra Burke, who won series 5.^[12]

In March 2011, Konnie Huq, who presented spin-off series The Xtra Factor for series 7, was told that her contract would not be renewed.^[13] Matt Edmondson, Sandford, Kimberley Walsh, and series 6 contestant Stacey Solomon were all rumoured to be in the running,^[14] but it was confirmed on 31 May 2011 that Caroline Flack would co-present The Xtra Factor with series 6 runner-up Olly Murs.^[15]

Selection process

Applications and auditions

The first appeal for applicants for series 8 was broadcast during series 7 on 11 December 2010. For the first time, contestants could upload a video to YouTube. Auditions in front of the judges for series 8 took place in Cardiff, London, Glasgow, Liverpool, Birmingham and Manchester. It is the first time auditions have taken place in Liverpool, and the city replaces Dublin, where auditions were held in 2010. A source from the show said, "There are only so many places we can go for auditions. We went to Dublin last year but we haven't been to Liverpool so we thought we should do it this year. Obviously this is a blow to the Irish contestants but it's only a short hop across the Irish Sea to Liverpool".^[16]

The auditions started in Birmingham's LG Arena on 1 and 2 June. They then took place in Glasgow's Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre on 6 June and continued in Manchester's Event City on 12, 13 and 14 June. More auditions took place at Cardiff's International Arena on 29 June, and at London's O2 on 6, 7 and 8 July, and finished in Liverpool's Echo Arena on 13 and 14 July.^[17] The Manchester auditions were postponed from 18–20 May.^[18]

London and Birmingham auditions were broadcast during the first episode on 20 August 2011.^[19] More of the London auditions, as well as the Liverpool and Manchester auditions, aired on 27 August 2011.^[20] On 3 September, the Glasgow auditions and more from London were shown.^[21] More auditions from Manchester, Birmingham and London were broadcast during the 10 September episode. More from London, plus the Manchester and Glasgow auditions were broadcast in the 11 September episode.^[22] The 17 September episode showed more auditions from Liverpool, Cardiff, London, Glasgow and Manchester. The final auditions aired on 18 September, and featured auditions from Liverpool, London and Cardiff.

Summary of judges' auditions

City	Date(s)	Venue	Changes to the judging line-up
Birmingham	1-2 June 2011	LG Arena	Kelly Rowland an Tulisa swap seats
Glasgow	6 June 2011	SECC	N/A
Manchester	12-14 June 2011	EventCity
Cardiff	29 June 2011	International Arena
London	6-8 July 2011	O2	Gary Barlow absent (some auditions)
Liverpool	13-14 July 2011	Echo Arena	N/A

Bootcamp

Bootcamp started on 18 August 2011.^[23] The first episode of bootcamp was broadcast on 24 September 2011. It showed 187 acts attend a pre-bootcamp party^[24] at a hotel in Croydon,^[25] while the judges reviewed their auditions to see if there were some acts they wanted to cut before bootcamp started.^[24] They cut 35 acts, leaving 152. The acts were split into 30 groups in which to perform at Wembley Arena, and each group was given one of six songs by the judges: "You've Got the Love", "Breakeven", "Price Tag", "Born This Way", "Forget You" or "Firework".^[24] The judges then went on to cut over 80 acts, but called some soloists back, who were asked if they were interested in forming groups. All agreed and were workshopped to see which singers would work well together.^[24] They formed six groups.^[26] The 61^[26] remaining acts were then given the task of learning one song, making it their own and performing it in front of a live audience,^[24] the second time bootcamp was open to an audience (the first was in 2009). The judges then chose the final 32 acts, based on these performances. However, they only chose 31 acts, and the final group was made from four members of two groups previously put together by the judges.^[26]

Judges' houses

Judges' houses, the final part of the selection process, was filmed in September.^[27] Judges were given their categories in late August. Barlow mentored the Boys, Rowland the Girls, Walsh the Over 25s, and Tulisa the Groups.^[26][28] Robbie Williams joined Barlow in Los Angeles,^[29] Jennifer Hudson assisted Rowland in Miami,^[30] Walsh was accompanied by Sinitta in Barcelona,^[31] and Tulisa received help from Jessie J in Mykonos.^[32] At judges' houses each act performed two songs for their mentor and his/her guest judge, although only one song was mentioned and shown on the main show, with the other song shown on The Xtra Factor instead.

Sian Phillips was originally selected for the judges' houses, but due to visa issues, she was unable to travel to Miami and was thus replaced by Sarah Watson in the Girls category.^[33]

Summary of judges' houses

Judge	Category	Location	Assistant	Contestants eliminated
Barlow	Boys	Los Angeles	Robbie Williams	Joe Cox, Luke Lucas, Max Vickers, John Wilding
Rowland	Girls	Miami	Jennifer Hudson	Melanie McCabe, Holly Repton, Jade Richards, Sarah Watson
Tulisa	Groups	Mykonos	Jessie J	Girl v Boy, The Estrelles, The Keys, The Lovettes
Walsh	Over 25s	Barcelona	Sinitta	Sami Brookes, Joseph Gilligan, Carolynne Poole, Terry Winstanley

Goldie Cheung was initially put through to the finals by Walsh, but pulled out of the competition at the end of the judges' houses stage, stating that she did not want to be away from her family.^[34] Sami Brookes, who had initially not made it through, took her place in the live shows.

Finalists

The final 16 finalists were confirmed as follows;

Key:

     – Winner

     – Runner-up

     – Third place

     – Ejected

Category (mentor)	Singers
Boys (Barlow)	Frankie Cocozza	Marcus Collins	Craig Colton	James Michael
Girls (Rowland)	Misha B	Janet Devlin	Sophie Habibis	Amelia Lily
Over 25s (Walsh)	Sami Brookes	Kitty Brucknell	Jonjo Kerr	Johnny Robinson
Groups (Tulisa)	2 Shoes	Little Mix1	Nu Vibe	The Risk

¹ formerly known as Rhythmix until 26 October 2011.

Live shows

The live shows began on 8 October. Each week, the contestants' performances took place on Saturday and the results were announced on Sunday. As with previous series, each live show had a different theme. The results show often featured a group performance by the remaining contestants and guest live performances.

The first live results show included live performances from series 7 winner Matt Cardle and Cee Lo Green,^[35] while Katy Perry and The Wanted performed on the second results show.^[36] On the third results show, Bruno Mars, Professor Green featuring Emeli Sandé and Kelly Clarkson performed.^[37] Series 7 contestant Cher Lloyd and The X Factor USA judge Nicole Scherzinger performed on the fourth live result show.^[38] Series 5 runners up JLS and Florence and the Machine performed on the fifth live results show,^[39] while Lady Gaga and series 7 contestants One Direction performed on the sixth. The seventh live show featured performances from Rihanna and series 7 runner-up Rebecca Ferguson,.^[40] The eighth live results show included performances from former contestant and The Xtra Factor host Olly Murs featuring The Muppets, and Jessie J.^[41][42] JLS and One Direction also appeared alongside the 16 finalists to perform this year's charity single, "Wishing on a Star".^[41][42] The semi-final live result show featured performances from Justin Bieber and The X Factor judge Rowland.^[43] The live final featured performances from Coldplay, JLS, Leona Lewis, Michael Bublé and One Direction^[44]

For the live finals, The X Factor received new graphics and theme music similar to those already introduced on The X Factor USA. Voting by text message, which had been absent since 2007, was reintroduced for this series in addition to the premium rate telephone vote,^[45] but was not available during the final.^[46]

During the fourth week of the live shows, it was announced that Rowland was unable to travel back from Los Angeles due to a throat infection. During the week, it was announced that Burke would replace her as a judge on the show.^[12] After Burke accepted the role as guest judge, she became the first X Factor contestant to return to the show as a judge.^[12] It was reported on 28 June 2011 that the final would take place on 10 and 11 December 2011 at Wembley Arena instead of the usual Fountain Studios.^[47] ITV later confirmed this on 15 August.^[48]

On 26 October 2011, Rhythmix announced that they would change their name due to pressure from a children's music charity of the same name, after the programme tried to trademark "Rhythmix" in Europe. It was reported that the group decided to make the change, despite no legal reason to do so, to avoid any difficulties for the charity.^[49] The name was subsequently changed to Little Mix.^[50]

On 28 October 2011, Ashley Baptiste decided to leave The Risk. In an interview on the official website, he explained "I don't believe my future lies in a boyband and it's not fair on [the other members] Charlie, Derry and Andy to remain in the band when I am not truly committed to it for the long term. I believe The Risk can win The X Factor and I'm backing them all the way. I count them as my friends so I know we'll stay in touch." He was replaced by Ashford Campbell, who was a member of Nu Vibe, another manufactured boyband who had already previously been eliminated.^[51]

On 8 November 2011, Frankie Cocozza withdrew from the competition, saying he "no longer [deserved his] place in the show", having broken competition rules.^[52] As a result, it was announced that the four contestants eliminated by their mentors in week 1; 2 Shoes, Amelia Lily, James Michael and Jonjo Kerr; would be given the chance to face a public vote, with the winner of the vote being reinstated in the competition.^[53] Amelia Lily won the public vote with 48% of the overall total and replaced Cocozza in the competition.

Results summary

Colour key

–	Contestant did not face the public vote
–	Contestant did not face the public vote but was eliminated by their mentor
–	Contestant was in the bottom two 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^[54]

Contestant	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	Week 5	Week 6		Week 7	Week 8	Week 9	Week 10
						Return vote4	Results				Saturday	Sunday
Little Mix	Saved	4th 8.7%	6th 6.0%	2nd 13.7%	4th 11.9%	N/A	3rd 15.3%	1st 26.1%	2nd 22.4%	1st 34.4%	1st 39.0%	Winner 48.2%5
Marcus Collins	Saved	7th 6.8%	4th 11.2%	6th 10.1%	2nd 16.0%	N/A	4th 12.9%	4th 14.4%	3rd 21.0%	2nd 24.0%	2nd 34.5%	Runner-up 42.8%5
Amelia Lily	Not saved	Eliminated (week 1)				1st 48.8%	1st 27.4%	5th 11.3%	1st 23.8%	3rd 21.4%	3rd 26.5%	Eliminated (week 10)
Misha B	Saved	5th 7.8%	3rd 11.8%	10th 5.1%	3rd 12.2%	N/A	7th 8.0%	2nd 22.5%	5th 14.5%	4th 20.2%	Eliminated (week 9)
Janet Devlin	Saved	1st 23.6%	1st 17.2%	1st 14.7%	1st 18.0%	N/A	2nd 17.4%	3rd 14.8%	4th 18.3%	Eliminated (week 8)
Craig Colton	Saved	6th 6.9%	8th 6.0%	3rd 13.0%	5th 10.1%	N/A	5th 10.6%	6th 10.9%	Eliminated (week 7)
Kitty Brucknell	Saved	10th 5.9%	11th 5.0%	4th 12.9%	8th 7.6%	N/A	6th 8.4%	Eliminated (week 6)
Frankie Cocozza	Saved	11th 5.2%	7th 6.0%	8th 5.7%	6th 8.7%	Ejected (week 5)
Johnny Robinson	Saved	8th 6.5%	2nd 17.1%	5th 12.2%	7th 8.3%	Eliminated (week 5)
The Risk	Saved	2nd 10.9%	5th 8.3%	7th 7.2%	9th 7.2%	Eliminated (week 5)
Sophie Habibis	Saved	3rd 8.9%	9th 5.8%	9th 5.4%	Eliminated (week 4)
Sami Brookes	Saved	9th 6.2%	10th 5.6%	Eliminated (week 3)
Nu Vibe	Saved	12th 2.6%	Eliminated (week 2)
2 Shoes	Not saved	Eliminated (week 1)				4th 11.3%	Not returned (week 6)
James Michael	Not saved	Eliminated (week 1)				2nd 26.7%	Not returned (week 6)
Jonjo Kerr	Not saved	Eliminated (week 1)				3rd 13.2%	Not returned (week 6)
Final showdown	None1	Cocozza, Nu Vibe	Brookes, Brucknell	Misha B, Habibis	Brucknell, Robinson	None4	Misha B, Brucknell	Colton, Lily	Misha B, Devlin	No final showdown or judges' votes: results were based on public votes alone
Judges voted to	Save	Eliminate					Eliminate
Walsh's vote	Brookes, Brucknell, Robinson	Nu Vibe	Brookes	Habibis	Robinson		Misha B	Colton	Devlin
Tulisa's vote	Rhythmix, The Risk, Nu Vibe	Cocozza	Brucknell	Habibis	Robinson		Brucknell	Lily	Devlin
Rowland's vote	Devlin, Misha B, Habibis	Nu Vibe	Brookes	Habibis2	Robinson		Brucknell	Colton	None (refused)
Barlow's vote	Collins, Colton, Cocozza	Nu Vibe	Brookes	N/A3	N/A3		Brucknell	Lily	N/A3
Eliminated	Jonjo Kerr by Walsh	Nu Vibe 3 of 4 votes Majority	Sami Brookes 3 of 4 votes Majority	Sophie Habibis 3 of 3 votes Majority	The Risk 7.2% to save		Kitty Brucknell 3 of 4 votes Majority	Craig Colton 2 of 4 votes Deadlock	Janet Devlin 2 of 2 votes Majority	Misha B 20.2% to save	Amelia Lily 26.5% to win	Marcus Collins 42.8% to win
	James Michael by Barlow
	2 Shoes by Tulisa				Johnny Robinson 3 of 3 votes Majority
	Amelia Lily by Rowland
Reference(s)	[55]	[56]	[57]	[58]	[59]	[60]	[61]	[62]	[63]	[64]

• ^1 There was no public vote in the first week and therefore no final showdown. Each judge was required to eliminate one of their own acts instead.^[65]
• ^2 Rowland was not present due to illness but voted via telephone link from Los Angeles.
• ^3 Barlow was not required to vote as there was already a majority. However, he stated that he would have voted against Sophie Habibis in week 4, Johnny Robinson in week 5 and Janet Devlin in week 8.
• ^4 Following Frankie Cocozza's ejection^[66][67] from the competition, one of the four acts who were eliminated in the first week of the competition by the judges (2 Shoes, Amelia Lily, James Michael, or Jonjo Kerr) returned to the competition following a public vote.^[68] The winner of the vote was announced as Amelia Lily with 48%.^[60]
• ^5 The voting percentages in week 10 for Sunday round do not add up to 100%, owing to the freezing of votes. Amelia Lily received 8.9% of the final vote.^[69]

Live show details

Week 1 (8/9 October)

• Theme: Songs by British and American artists (billed as "Britain vs. America")^[35]
• Musical guests: Matt Cardle ("Run for Your Life") and Cee Lo Green ("Satisfied/Forget You")^[35]

Contestants' performances on the first live show

Act	Order	Song[70]	Result[55]
Amelia Lily	1	"Billie Jean"	Eliminated
Johnny Robinson	2	"Believe"	Saved
Rhythmix	3	"Super Bass"	Saved
Frankie Cocozza	4	"The A Team"	Saved
Sophie Habibis	5	"Teenage Dream"	Saved
Jonjo Kerr	6	"You Really Got Me"	Eliminated
2 Shoes	7	"Something Kinda Ooooh"	Eliminated
James Michael	8	"Ticket to Ride"	Eliminated
Misha B	9	"Rolling in the Deep"	Saved
Nu Vibe	10	"Beautiful People"	Saved
Marcus Collins	11	"Moves Like Jagger"	Saved
Sami Brookes	12	"Free"	Saved
The Risk	13	"She Said"	Saved
Craig Colton	14	"Jar of Hearts"	Saved
Kitty Brucknell	15	"Who Wants to Live Forever"	Saved
Janet Devlin	16	"Fix You"	Saved

• There was no public vote in the first week. Instead, each of the judges selected one of their own acts to eliminate.^[65]

Judges' decisions to eliminate^[55]

• Walsh: Jonjo Kerr – said he was the weakest performer in his category
• Barlow: James Michael – thought the other three boys had more star quality than Michael
• Tulisa: 2 Shoes – the decision came down to 2 Shoes and Nu Vibe, and Tulisa decided that Nu Vibe had more potential to improve
• Rowland: Amelia Lily – the decision came down to Amelia Lily and Sophie Habibis; while Rowland felt that Lily had more of a star quality, she conceded that Habibis had given the better performance

Week 2 (15/16 October)

• Theme: "Love and heartbreak"^[71]
• Group performance: "Hello"^[56]
• Musical guests: The Wanted ("Lightning") and Katy Perry ("The One That Got Away")^[72]

Contestants' performances on the second live show

Act	Order	Song[73]	Result[56]
Nu Vibe	1	"With or Without You"	Bottom two
Sami Brookes	2	"I Will Always Love You"	Safe
Craig Colton	3	"Best Thing I Never Had"	Safe
Janet Devlin	4	"Can't Help Falling in Love"	Safe
Frankie Cocozza	5	"The Scientist"	Bottom two
Johnny Robinson	6	"Can't Get You Out of My Head"	Safe
Marcus Collins	7	"Russian Roulette"	Safe
Rhythmix	8	"I'm Like a Bird"	Safe
Misha B	9	"Would I Lie to You?"	Safe
The Risk	10	"Just the Way You Are"	Safe
Sophie Habibis	11	"Wherever You Will Go"	Safe
Kitty Brucknell	12	"It's Oh So Quiet"	Safe
Final showdown details[74]
Nu Vibe	1	"Promise This"	Eliminated
Frankie Cocozza	2	"Red"	Safe

Judges' votes to eliminate^[56]

• Barlow: Nu Vibe – gave no reason, though effectively backed his own act, Frankie Cocozza
• Rowland: Nu Vibe – gave no reason
• Tulisa: Frankie– gave no reason, though effectively backed her own act, Nu Vibe
• Walsh: Nu Vibe – backed the act he believed had more potential

Week 3 (22/23 October)

• Theme: Rock^[75]
• Musical guests: Kelly Clarkson ("Mr. Know It All"), Professor Green featuring Emeli Sandé ("Read All About It") and Bruno Mars ("Runaway Baby")^[76]

Contestants' performances on the third live show

Act	Order	Song	Result[57]
Marcus Collins	1	"Are You Gonna Go My Way"	Safe
Janet Devlin	2	"Sweet Child o' Mine"	Safe
Sami Brookes	3	"If I Could Turn Back Time"	Bottom two
Rhythmix	4	"Tik Tok" / "Push It"	Safe
Sophie Habibis	5	"Livin' on a Prayer"	Safe
Craig Colton	6	"Stop Crying Your Heart Out"	Safe
Kitty Brucknell	7	"Live and Let Die"	Bottom two
Frankie Cocozza	8	"Rocks"	Safe
The Risk	9	"Crazy"	Safe
Johnny Robinson	10	"I Believe in a Thing Called Love"	Safe
Misha B	11	"Purple Rain"	Safe
Final showdown details[57]
Sami Brookes	1	"(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman"	Eliminated
Kitty Brucknell	2	"The Edge of Glory"	Safe

Judges' votes to eliminate^[57]

• Barlow: Sami Brookes – said that both acts were very good, but felt that Brucknell was "more exciting" and Brookes was "dated"
• Rowland: Sami Brookes – gave no reason
• Tulisa: Kitty Brucknell – thought Brookes had a better connection with the viewing audience
• Walsh: Sami Brookes – refused to take the vote to deadlock and chose to go with his heart

Week 4 (29/30 October)

• Theme: Fright Night date=October 2011}}
• Group performance: "Bright Lights Bigger City"
• Musical guests: Cher Lloyd ("With Ur Love") and Nicole Scherzinger ("Try with Me")^[77]

Rowland did not appear on the judging panel for week 4 due to illness,^[78] so series 5 winner Alexandra Burke took her place on the panel.^[79] However, Burke did not vote on the results show; instead, Rowland voted via telephone link from Los Angeles. Rhythmix's new name 'Little Mix' took effect from Week 4.^[58] Ashley Baptiste from The Risk quit the group and Ashford Campbell who was originally in Nu Vibe (eliminated Week 2) joined The Risk.

Contestants' performances on the fourth live show

Act	Order	Song[80]	Result[58]
The Risk	1	"Thriller"	Safe
Johnny Robinson	2	"That Ole Devil Called Love"	Safe
Sophie Habibis	3	"Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)"	Bottom two
Marcus Collins	4	"Superstition"/"Need You Tonight"	Safe
Misha B	5	"Tainted Love"	Bottom two
Janet Devlin	6	"Every Breath You Take"	Safe
Frankie Cocozza	7	"Should I Stay or Should I Go"	Safe
Kitty Brucknell	8	"Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)"	Safe
Little Mix	9	"E.T."	Safe
Craig Colton	10	"Set Fire to the Rain"	Safe
Final showdown details[58]
Sophie Habibis	1	"Shelter"	Eliminated
Misha B	2	"Use Somebody"	Safe

Judges' votes to eliminate^[58]

• Walsh: Sophie Habibis – said that Misha B was a better performer
• Tulisa: Sophie Habibis – said she related more to Misha B as an artist
• Rowland: Sophie Habibis – felt that Misha B wanted it more
• Barlow was not required to vote since there was already a majority, but confirmed he would have eliminated Sophie Habibis

Week 5 (5/6 November)

• Theme: Club classics^[81]
• Group performance: "Price Tag"
• Musical guests : JLS ("Take a Chance on Me")^[82] and Florence and the Machine ("Shake It Out")^[83]
• Two acts were eliminated from the series fifth results show. The three acts with the fewest public votes were announced as the bottom three and then the act with the fewest votes was automatically eliminated. The remaining two acts then performed in the final showdown and faced the judges' votes.^[84]

Contestants' performances on the fifth live show

Act	Order	Song	Result[59]
Johnny Robinson	1	"Hung Up" / "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)"	Bottom three
Janet Devlin	2	"I Want You Back"	Safe
Craig Colton	3	"Heaven"	Safe
The Risk	4	"A Night to Remember"	Eliminated
Marcus Collins	5	"Reet Petite"	Safe
Kitty Brucknell	6	"Like a Prayer"	Bottom three
Frankie Cocozza	7	"I Gotta Feeling"	Safe
Misha B	8	"Proud Mary"	Safe
Little Mix	9	"Don't Stop the Music"	Safe
Final showdown details[59]
Johnny Robinson	1	"Unchained Melody"	Eliminated
Kitty Brucknell	2	"Beautiful Disaster"	Safe

Judges' votes to eliminate^[59]

• Walsh: Johnny Robinson – said that Brucknell was more likely to succeed in the music industry
• Tulisa: Johnny Robinson – agreed with Walsh
• Rowland: Johnny Robinson – also agreed with Walsh, and added that she felt Brucknell had more of an "excitement factor"
• Barlow was not required to vote since there was already a majority, but confirmed he would have eliminated Robinson

Week 6 (12/13 November)

• Theme: Songs by Lady Gaga or Queen (billed as "Lady Gaga vs. Queen")^[85]
• Group performance: "Walking on Sunshine"
• Musical guests: One Direction ("Gotta Be You")^[86] and Lady Gaga ("Marry the Night")^[87]

On 8 November 2011, Frankie Cocozza was ejected from the competition.^[66][67] The four acts that did not face the public vote in week 1 and were eliminated by their mentors—Amelia Lily, James Michael, Jonjo Kerr, and 2 Shoes—faced the public vote and the act with the most votes would replace Cocozza.^[68] The winner of the vote was announced as Amelia Lily with 48% of the public vote.^[60] The show was also delayed by fifteen minutes due to a power fault at the BT Tower, the show's main relay device, so footage from the auditions stage was shown instead.^[88]

Contestants' performances on the sixth live show

Act	Order	Song[89]	Result[61]
Kitty Brucknell	1	"Don't Stop Me Now"	Bottom two
Craig Colton	2	"Paparazzi"	Safe
Little Mix	3	"Radio Ga Ga"/"Telephone"	Safe
Janet Devlin	4	"Somebody to Love"	Safe
Marcus Collins	5	"Another One Bites the Dust"	Safe
Misha B	6	"Born This Way"	Bottom two
Amelia Lily	7	"The Show Must Go On"	Safe
Final showdown details[61]
Kitty Brucknell	1	"Over the Rainbow"	Eliminated
Misha B	2	"Who You Are"	Safe

Judges' votes to eliminate^[61]

• Walsh: Misha Bryan – backed his own act, Kitty Brucknell
• Tulisa: Kitty Brucknell – said that after the show she would've bought Misha B's album
• Rowland: Kitty Brucknell – backed her own act, Misha B, who she felt had more potential in the competition
• Barlow: Kitty Brucknell – said that Misha B had more potential and he thought that Kitty was not connecting with the audience since this was her third time in the bottom two

Week 7 (19/20 November)

• Theme: Songs from films (billed as "movie week")^[90]
• Group performance: "When You're Gone" (with Bryan Adams)^[91]
• Musical guests: Rebecca Ferguson ("Nothing's Real but Love") and Rihanna ("We Found Love")^[40]

Contestants' performances on the seventh live show

Act	Order	Song[92]	Film[92]	Result[62]
Craig Colton	1	"Licence to Kill"	Licence to Kill	Bottom two
Janet Devlin	2	"Kiss Me"	How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days	Safe
Amelia Lily	3	"Think"	Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason	Bottom two
Misha B	4	"I Have Nothing"	The Bodyguard	Safe
Little Mix	5	"Don't Let Go (Love)"	Set It Off	Safe
Marcus Collins	6	"(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher"	Ghostbusters II	Safe
Final showdown details[62]
Craig Colton	1	"Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow"		Eliminated
Amelia Lily	2	"You and I"		Safe

Judges' votes to eliminate^[62]

• Barlow: Amelia Lily – backed his own act, Craig Colton, and said that Amelia Lily had "shouted her way" through the final showdown
• Rowland: Craig Colton – backed her own act, Amelia Lily
• Tulisa: Amelia Lily – said that Colton sang better in the sing off
• Walsh: Craig Colton – said Amelia was a ready made pop star

With the judges deadlocked, Craig Colton was eliminated as the act with the fewest public votes.^[62]

Week 8 (26/27 November)

• Themes: Guilty pleasures; musical heroes^[93]
• Group performance: "Wishing on a Star" (all finalists except Frankie Cocozza, along with JLS and One Direction)^[94]
• Musical guests: Olly Murs and The Muppets ("Dance with Me Tonight") and Jessie J ("Who You Are")^[41][42]

Starting in week 8, each act performed two songs with voting lines opening after the first round of performances.^[94]

Contestants' performances on the eighth live show

Act	Order	First song[95]	Order	Second song[95]	Result[63]
Little Mix	1	"Baby"/"Where Did Our Love Go"	6	"Beautiful"	Safe
Janet Devlin	2	"MMMBop"	7	"Under the Bridge"	Bottom two
Misha B	3	"Girls Just Want to Have Fun"	8	"Killing Me Softly with His Song"	Bottom two
Marcus Collins	4	"I'm Your Man"	9	"Lately"	Safe
Amelia Lily	5	"China in Your Hand"	10	"Since U Been Gone"	Safe
Final showdown details[63]
Janet Devlin	1	"Chasing Cars"			Eliminated
Misha B	2	"Out Here on My Own"			Safe

Judges' votes to eliminate^[63]

• Walsh: Janet Devlin – based on the performances across both of this week's shows
• Tulisa: Janet Devlin – based on the performances across both of this week's shows, and thought Misha had more long-term potential
• Rowland: Abstained from voting as both her acts were in the bottom two, O'Leary warned Rowland this would mean Devlin would be eliminated as two judges voted against her, but Rowland still declined to vote
• Barlow was not required to vote since there was already a majority, but confirmed he would have eliminated Devlin

Week 9: Semi-final (3/4 December)

• Themes: Motown; "songs to get you to the final" (no theme)^[96]
• Group performance: "Hold On"
• Musical guests: Justin Bieber ("Mistletoe") and Kelly Rowland ("When Love Takes Over" / "Down for Whatever" / "Commander")^[43]

Contestants' performances on the ninth live show

Act	Order	First song[97]	Order	Second song[97]	Result[64]
Misha B	1	"Dancing in the Street"	5	"Perfect"	Eliminated
Amelia Lily	2	"Ain't No Mountain High Enough"	6	"I'm with You"	Safe
Little Mix	3	"You Keep Me Hangin' On"	8	"If I Were a Boy"	Safe
Marcus Collins	4	"My Girl"	7	"Can You Feel It"	Safe

The semi-final did not feature a final showdown and instead the act with the fewest public votes, Misha B, was automatically eliminated.^[98] After her elimination, Misha B reprised her week 6 final showdown performance of "Who You Are" as her exit song.

Week 10: Final (10/11 December)

The final was held at Wembley Arena and lasted for over four hours, split over Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 December 2011.^[99]

10 December

• Themes: No theme; mentor duets^[100]
• Group performance: "Greatest Day"^[101]
• Musical guests: JLS and One Direction ("She Makes Me Wanna" / "What Makes You Beautiful"),^[102] Michael Bublé ("Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)")^[103] and Leona Lewis ("Hurt") ^[104]

Contestants' performances on the tenth live show

Act	Order	First song[105]	Order	Second song (duet)[105]	Result
Marcus Collins	1	"Hey Ya!"	4	"She's Always a Woman" (with Gary Barlow)	Safe
Little Mix	2	"You Got the Love"	5	"If I Ain't Got You"/"Empire State of Mind" (with Tulisa)	Safe
Amelia Lily	3	"Ain't No Other Man"	6	"River Deep – Mountain High" (with Kelly Rowland)	Eliminated

If Amelia Lily had made the final two, her favourite performance would have been, "The Show Must Go On" from week six, and would have sung "All I Want For Christmas Is You" for her Christmas song, as well as performing "Cannonball".

11 December

• Themes: Favourite performance ("song of the series"); Christmas songs; winner's single
• Group performance: "We Found Love" / "Party Rock Anthem" / "On the Floor" / "Moves Like Jagger" / "The Edge of Glory" (all finalists except Frankie Cocozza who was replaced by Goldie Cheung and David Wilder)^[106]
• Musical guests: Westlife ("What About Now")^[107] and Coldplay ("Charlie Brown" and "Paradise")^[108]

Contestants' performances on the final live show

Act	Order	First song[109]	Order	Second song[109]	Order	Third song	Result[109]
Marcus Collins	1	"(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher"	3	"Last Christmas"	5	"Cannonball"	Runner-up
Little Mix	2	"Don't Let Go (Love)"	4	"Silent Night"	6	"Cannonball"	Winner

Charity single

It was announced on 12 October 2011, that the 16 finalists would record a cover version of "Wishing on a Star", released on 20 November in aid of Together for Short Lives, a charity which Cowell said do "amazing work". It is the fourth time finalists have released a charity single.^[110] Series 5 contestants JLS and series 7 contestants One Direction also feature on the single.^[86]

Winner's single

The winner's single was Damien Rice's "Cannonball". It was previously announced that Barlow would write the debut single for the eventual winner of the competition.^[111] It would have been the second original winner's song, the first being Shayne Ward's "That's My Goal". For the first time since series 1, the winner's single was not released in the week of the coveted Christmas number one chart battle. The Official Charts Company announced that the 2011 Christmas number-one would be announced on Christmas Day,^[112] meaning releases on 18 December would be new entries in the chart that week. Little Mix's winner's single was released on 14 December,^[113] which meant it would have to maintain significant sales numbers in its second week to achieve the Christmas number one. It was announced on 17 November that N-Dubz rapper Fazer would be producing the single.^[114]

Marks & Spencer deal

In September 2011, it was announced that Marks & Spencer would be The X Factor's official fashion partner. On 2 October 2011, it was revealed that the 16 finalists would star in the retailer's 2011 Christmas advertisement. It is a one-minute advertisement that premiered during week 5 of the live shows. The finalists recorded a cover of the song "When You Wish upon a Star" to feature in the advert and modelled clothes from the company. The finalists will be paid for the advertisement.^[115] After his ejection from the competition, M&S announced that Frankie Cocozza's face would be edited out of the advert, as it wasn't possible to edit his voice from the advert.^[116][117] On 17 November 2011, M&S posted the latest edit of the advert to their official YouTube account, with Cocozza's vocals completely erased.^[118]

Reception

Ratings

Initial viewing figures for the first episode were placed at 11.3 million for ITV1, however, the peak audience was 12.6 million, a match for the highest viewing figures for an X Factor series opener, and almost 5 million more than Doctor Who on BBC One, the second-highest rated programme that night.^[119][120]

Despite an apparent drop in ratings from the previous series, it was the third most watched series in the show's eight-year history and the most watched show of 2011, beating the Royal Wedding which aired during the spring.^[121]

Episode	Air date	Official ITV1 rating (millions)[122]	Weekly rank[122]	Share (%)	Official ITV1 HD rating (millions)[123]	Official ITV1+1 rating (millions)[123]	Total ITV1 viewers (millions)
Auditions 1	20 August	11.05	1	45.7[124]	1.13	0.52	12.70
Auditions 2	27 August	10.63	1	42.8[125]	1.02	0.47	12.12
Auditions 3	3 September	10.96	1	43.4[126]	1.00	0.60	12.56
Auditions 4	10 September	10.98	1	43.6[127]	1.04	0.52	12.56
Auditions 5	11 September	10.52	2	37.8[128]	1.10	0.52	12.14
Auditions 6	17 September	11.16	2	44.5[129]	1.17	0.33	12.66
Auditions 7	18 September	11.23	1	42.2[130]	1.17	0.34	12.74
Bootcamp 1	24 September	10.64	2	43.0[131]	1.05	0.38	12.07
Bootcamp 2	25 September	11.11	1	38.7[132]	1.06	0.57	12.74
Judges' houses 1	1 October	10.13	2	42.0[133]	1.11	0.66	11.90
Judges' houses 2	2 October	11.74	1	42.5[134]	1.18	0.45	13.37
Live show 1	8 October	10.89	2	40.3[135]	1.16	0.53	12.58
Live results 1	9 October	11.34	1	41.1[136]	1.27	0.33	12.94
Live show 2	15 October	9.90	3	39.1[137]	1.24	0.47	11.61
Live results 2	16 October	10.84	1	40.5[138]	1.26	0.30	12.40
Live show 3	22 October	9.73	3	38.0[139]	1.33	0.38	11.44
Live results 3	23 October	10.68	1	39.8[140]	1.21	Unknown ^1	Unknown ^1
Live show 4	29 October	9.74	3	38.8[141]	1.32	0.33	11.39
Live results 4	30 October	11.44	1	42.0[142]	1.31	0.27	13.02
Live show 5	5 November	9.63	3	40.3[143]	1.38	0.44	11.45
Live results 5	6 November	11.58	1	41.8[144]	1.22	0.24	13.04
Live show 6	12 November	11.23	2	40.9[145]	1.05	0.30	12.68
Live results 6	13 November	11.85	1	41.9[146]	1.40	Unknown ^2	Unknown ^2
Live show 7	19 November	10.48	2	39.0[147]	1.22	0.30	12.00
Live results 7	20 November	11.27	1	39.1[148]	1.30	0.24	12.81
Live show 8	26 November	10.05	2	38.4[149]	1.25	0.24	11.54
Live results 8	27 November	11.30	1	41.8[150]	1.48	0.22	13.00
Live show 9	3 December	10.23	2	39.9[151]	1.20	0.37	11.80
Live results 9	4 December	11.08	1	40.2[152]	1.38	0.34	12.80
Live final	10 December	10.35	2	40.1[153]	1.36	0.34	12.05
Live final results	11 December	12.09	1	44.3[154]	1.37	0.23	13.69
Series average	2011	10.81	N/A	42.3	1.23	0.38	12.40

^1 The ITV+1 rating for the Live Results show that was broadcast on 23 October 2011 is unavailable as it is outside the Top 10 ratings recorded on the BARB website. It had fewer than 0.20 million viewers.

^2 The ITV+1 rating for the Live Results show that was broadcast on 13 November 2011 is unavailable as it is outside the Top 10 ratings recorded on the BARB website. It had fewer than 0.19 million viewers.

Controversies

Allegation of bullying

Misha B was involved in a controversy during the third live show when Tulisa accused her of making "mean comments" and Walsh accused her of being a "bully" backstage. Both later apologised. The other two judges, Barlow and Rowland, and several contestants defended Misha B during and after the show. Barlow later said he believed the wrongful allegations had ended her chances of winning the competition."^[155][156]

Frankie Cocozza's ejection

On 8 November, Frankie Cocozza was ejected from the competition.^[66][67] He released a statement saying "I'd like to apologise to Gary, my fellow contestants and everyone who has voted for me, but, as of today, I will no longer be in The X Factor. My life during the show has gone out of control and my behaviour off stage has overstepped the rules of the competition."^[52][157]

The Sun newspaper claimed Cocozza had been overheard boasting about using cocaine.^[158][159] The rules of the series strictly prohibit drug use during the show. Cocozza's mentor, Barlow, said that he was "hugely disappointed" by Cocozza's behaviour, but wished him luck with his future.^[157][158]

Cocozza's behaviour earlier in the series has led to two Ofcom investigations – he swore during a live show and was also shown drinking heavily with some friends.^[159]

References

External links

• The X Factor