The X Factor (Australia season 4)

The X Factor
Season 4
Broadcast from	20 August – 20 November 2012
Judges	Ronan Keating Guy Sebastian Natalie Bassingthwaighte Mel B
Host(s)	Luke Jacobz (The X Factor)
Co-host(s)	Johnny Ruffo (The X Stream)
Broadcaster	Seven Network
Winner
Samantha Jade
Origin	Perth, Western Australia
Song	"What You've Done to Me"
Genre(s)	Pop
Mentor	Guy Sebastian
Runner-up
Jason Owen

The X Factor was an Australian television reality music competition, based on the original UK series, to find new singing talent; the winner of which received a Sony Music Australia recording contract and a new car.^[1] The fourth season premiered on the Seven Network on 20 August 2012^[2] and ended on 20 November 2012.^[1] The winner was Samantha Jade and her winner's single "What You've Done to Me" was released after the final. Jade was mentored throughout by Guy Sebastian, who won as mentor for the second year in a row.^[3] The main live shows was presented by Luke Jacobz,^[4] while season three finalist Johnny Ruffo presented the digital live streaming show The X Stream.^[5] Ronan Keating, Guy Sebastian, Natalie Bassingthwaighte and Mel B returned as judges.^[4]

The competition was split into several stages: auditions, super bootcamp, home visits and live shows. Auditions in front of the show's producers took place throughout February and March 2012. The successful auditionees chosen by the producers were then invited back to the last set of auditions that took place in front of the judges and a live studio audience in May 2012. After the auditions was super bootcamp, where all four judges worked together and collectively chose 24 acts, including six from each of the four categories: Under 25 Boys^[6] (male soloists aged 14 to 24), Under 25 Girls^[6] (female soloists aged 14 to 24), Over 25s (soloists aged 25 and over) and Groups. Following super bootcamp was the home visits stage, where each of the judges reduced their six acts to three, with help from guest mentors Alicia Keys, Kesha, One Direction and Usher. The live shows began on 17 September 2012.^[7]

The fourth season sparked controversy when contestant Josh Brookes was disqualified from The X Factor for behaving "in an inappropriate manner" on social media.^[8] He was later replaced by Carmelo Munzone.^[9] The grand final decider was watched by 1.92 million people, making it the highest rated television episode of the season.^[10]

Selection process

Auditions

Auditions in front of the show's producers began in February 2012 in seven cities: Hobart (Hotel Grand Chancellor, 18 February), Launceston (Hotel Grand Chancellor, 19 February), Albury (Albury Entertainment Centre, 22 February), Dubbo (RSL Club Resort, 24 February), Darwin (Crowne Plaza Hotel, 26 February), Cairns (Shangri-La Hotel, The Marina Cairns, 28 February), Brisbane (Suncorp Piazza, 3–4 March), Newcastle (Hunter Stadium, 7 March), Sydney (Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre, 10–12 March), Perth (Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre, 18 March), Adelaide (Adelaide Convention Centre, 20 March) and Melbourne (Flemington Racecourse, 24–26 March).^[11] Online auditions were also introduced into the season for the acts who missed out on auditioning in front of the producers.^[12] The successful auditionees chosen by the producers were then invited back to the last set of auditions that took place in front of the judges and a live studio audience.^[13] These auditions were held in three cities: Melbourne (Hisense Arena, 3–5 May),^[14][15][16] Gold Coast (Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre, 11–12 May)^[17][18] and Sydney (Sydney Entertainment Centre, 17–19 May).^[19]

Super bootcamp

The super bootcamp stage of the competition saw all four judges working together, unlike in previous series where they disband to manage their own categories.^[20] It was filmed on 28, 29 and 30 May 2012.^[21][22][23] The first day saw the judges split the acts into four categories: Under 25 Boys, Under 25 Girls, Over 25s and Groups.^[24] Each category was given a list of four songs which they had to choose from to perform for the judges.^[24] At the end of the day, a third of the acts were sent home.^[24] On the second day, the remaining 74 acts were put into ensembles and were each given a song which they had to learn and perform for the judges.^[24][25] Each ensemble received vocal coaching from Gary Pinto and choreography practice from Squared Division.^[24] At the end of day, the judges sent 28 acts home.^[25] On the third day, the remaining 46 acts each individually performed one song to a live audience of one thousand.^[25] On the fourth day of super bootcamp, the judges narrowed down the acts to 24.^[26] Five from the Boys and six rejected soloists from the Girls categories were asked by the judges to form two groups, The Collective (boy band) and Black Ivory (girl band).^[27][28]

The 24 successful acts were:

• Under 25 Boys: Josh Brookes, Matt Cenere, Matt Gresham, Adil Memon, Carmelo Munzone, Jason Owen
• Under 25 Girls: Bella Ferraro, Shiane Hawke, Bella Hunter, Morgan Sheather, Angel Tupai, Vendulka Wichta
• Over 25s: Danielle Blakey, Chris Cayzer, Samantha Jade, Justin Standley, Rob Vegas, Nathaniel Willemse
• Groups: Black Ivory, D&D, Fourtunate, Good Question, The Collective, What About Tonight

Home visits

The final round of the selection process, the home visits, saw the remaining 24 acts travel to exclusive locations around the world to find out which judge would become their mentor. The Boys, Girls and Over 25s travelled to New York City, while the Groups visited London.^[29] Each judge reduced their six acts to three, with help from celebrity guest mentors. The Boys were assigned to Mel B and mentored by Usher, the Girls were assigned to Natalie Bassingthwaighte and mentored by Kesha, the Over 25s were assigned to Guy Sebastian and mentored by Alicia Keys, and the Groups were assigned to Ronan Keating and mentored by One Direction.^[29][30] During the first day of home visits, each act was given a private mentoring session with their mentor, ahead of their solo performance in front of their mentor and guest mentor the next day.^[29] After, the judges along with their guest mentors, narrowed down the contestants to three each.^[7]

Summary of judges' houses

Judge	Category	Location	Assistant	Contestants eliminated
Mel B	Under 25 Boys[6]	New York City	Usher	Matt Cenere, Matt Gresham, Carmelo Munzone
Bassingthwaighte	Under 25 Girls[6]		Kesha	Bella Hunter, Morgan Sheather, Vendulka Wichta
Sebastian	Over 25s		Alicia Keys	Danielle Blakey, Chris Cayzer, Rob Vegas
Keating	Groups	London	One Direction	Black Ivory, D&D, Good Question

Finalists

Key:

     – Winner

     – Runner-up

     – Third place

     – Disqualified

Category (mentor)	Acts
Under 25 Boys (Mel B)	Josh Brookes	Adil Memon	Carmelo Munzone	Jason Owen
Under 25 Girls (Bassingthwaighte)	Bella Ferraro	Shiane Hawke	Angel Tupai
Over 25s (Sebastian)	Samantha Jade	Justin Standley	Nathaniel Willemse
Groups (Keating)	The Collective	Fourtunate	What About Tonight

Live shows

Results summary

Colour key

     – Contestant announced as safe (no particular order)

     – Contestant in the bottom two and had to perform 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	Week 5	Week 6	Week 7	Week 8	Week 9	Week 10
Samantha Jade	Bottom two	Safe	Safe	Safe	7th	Safe	5th	Safe	Safe	Winner
Jason Owen	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Runner-Up
The Collective	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Bottom two	3rd	3rd
Bella Ferraro	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Bottom two	Safe	Safe	4th	Eliminated (Week 9)
Shiane Hawke	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Bottom two	Eliminated (Week 8)
Nathaniel Willemse	Safe	10th	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	6th	Eliminated (Week 7)
Fourtunate	Safe	Safe	Safe	Bottom two	Safe	Bottom two	Eliminated (Week 6)
Angel Tupai	Safe	Safe	Bottom two	Safe	8th	Eliminated (Week 5)
Carmelo Munzone	N/A1	Safe	Safe	Bottom two	Eliminated (Week 4)
Justin Standley	Safe	Safe	Bottom two	Eliminated (Week 3)
What About Tonight	Safe	11th	Eliminated (Week 2)
Josh Brookes	Safe	Disqualified (Week 2)
Adil Memon	Bottom two	Eliminated (Week 1)
Final showdown	Adil Memon	What About Tonight	Justin Standley	Carmelo Munzone	Angel Tupai	Fourtunate	Samantha Jade	The Collective	Bella Ferraro	No bottom two/judges' vote; public votes alone decide who is eliminated
	Samantha Jade	Nathaniel Willemse	Angel Tupai	Fourtunate	Samantha Jade	Bella Ferraro	Nathaniel Willemse	Shiane Hawke	The Collective
Judges voted to	Eliminate								Send through
Mel B's vote	Samantha Jade	Nathaniel Willemse	Justin Standley	Fourtunate	Samantha Jade	Fourtunate	Samantha Jade	Shiane Hawke	Bella Ferraro
Bassingthwaighte's vote	Adil Memon	What About Tonight	Justin Standley	Carmelo Munzone	Samantha Jade	Fourtunate	Samantha Jade	The Collective	Bella Ferraro
Sebastian's vote	Adil Memon	What About Tonight2	Angel Tupai	Carmelo Munzone	Angel Tupai	Fourtunate	Nathaniel Willemse	Shiane Hawke	The Collective
Keating's vote	Adil Memon	Nathaniel Willemse	Justin Standley	Carmelo Munzone	Angel Tupai	Bella Ferraro	Nathaniel Willemse	Shiane Hawke	The Collective
Eliminated	Adil Memon 3 of 4 votes Majority	What About Tonight 2 of 4 votes Deadlock	Justin Standley 3 of 4 votes Majority	Carmelo Munzone 3 of 4 votes Majority	Angel Tupai 2 of 4 votes Deadlock	Fourtunate 3 of 4 votes Majority	Nathaniel Willemse 2 of 4 votes Deadlock	Shiane Hawke 3 of 4 votes Majority	Bella Ferraro 2 of 4 votes Deadlock	Samantha Jade Winner
										Jason Owen Runner-Up
										The Collective Third place

Notes

• ^1 – Josh Brookes was disqualified from the show due to rule violations. Carmelo Munzone replaced him on the second live show.
• ^2 – Sebastian was not present for this results show. As one of his acts (Nathaniel Willemse) was in the bottom two, a vote for What About Tonight was cast on Sebastian's behalf.

Live show details

Week 1 (17/18 September)

• Theme: Judges' Choice^[31]
• Celebrity performers: Ronan Keating ("Fires")^[32] and Guy Sebastian featuring Lupe Fiasco ("Battle Scars")^[32]
• Group performance: "Call Me Maybe"^[33]

Contestants' performances on the first live show

Act	Order	Song[31]	Result
What About Tonight	1	"Glad You Came"	Safe
Josh Brookes	2	"Don't Wanna Go Home"	Safe
Angel Tupai	3	"Happy"	Safe
Justin Standley	4	"Father and Son"	Safe
Fourtunate	5	"Payphone"	Safe
Jason Owen	6	"Heaven"	Safe
Samantha Jade	7	"Wide Awake"	Bottom two
Adil Memon	8	"Fast Car"	Bottom two
The Collective	9	"Domino"	Safe
Bella Ferraro	10	"Brother"	Safe
Nathaniel Willemse	11	"Love on Top"	Safe
Shiane Hawke	12	"Crazy"	Safe
Final showdown details
Act	Order	Song[33]	Result
Adil Memon	1	"Just the Way You Are"	Eliminated
Samantha Jade	2	"Without You"	Safe

Judges' vote to eliminate^[33]

• Sebastian: Adil Memon – backed his own act, Samantha Jade
• Mel B: Samantha Jade – backed her own act, Adil Memon
• Bassingthwaighte: Adil Memon – gave no reason
• Keating: Adil Memon – based on the final showdown performance

Notes

• The Collective's performance of "Domino" debuted on the ARIA Singles Chart at number 35 on 24 September 2012.^[34]

Week 2 (25/26 September)

• Theme: Party All Night^[35]
• Celebrity performers: James Morrison ("I Won't Let You Go")^[36] and The Script ("Hall of Fame")^[36]
• Group performance: "R.I.P."/"How We Do (Party)" with Rita Ora^[36]

Contestants' performances on the second live show

Act	Order	Song[35]	Result
Angel Tupai	1	"Young Hearts Run Free"	Safe
Jason Owen	2	"Dancing in the Moonlight"	Safe
Fourtunate	3	"Blame It on the Boogie"	Safe
Nathaniel Willemse	4	"Canned Heat"	Bottom two
Bella Ferraro	5	"What Makes You Beautiful"	Safe
What About Tonight	6	"Year 3000"	Bottom two
Justin Standley	7	"Bohemian Rhapsody"	Safe
Carmelo Munzone	8	"Everlasting Love"	Safe
Samantha Jade	9	"Freefallin"	Safe
Shiane Hawke	10	"I Heard It Through the Grapevine"	Safe
The Collective	11	"Footloose"	Safe
Final showdown details
Act	Order	Song[37]	Result
What About Tonight	1	"The Way You Make Me Feel"	Eliminated
Nathaniel Willemse	2	"It Will Rain"	Safe

Judges' vote to eliminate^[37]

• Sebastian: What About Tonight – Sebastian was absent from the results show and his vote was automatically backing his own act, Nathaniel Willemse
• Keating: Nathaniel Willemse – backed his own act, What About Tonight
• Bassingthwaighte: What About Tonight – stated she wasn't voting strategically
• Mel B: Nathaniel Williemse – decided to take it to deadlock and let the public vote reveal their decision

With the acts in the bottom two receiving two votes each, the result was deadlock and reverted to the earlier public vote. What About Tonight received the fewest votes and were eliminated.^[37]

Notes

• This week's live shows aired on Tuesday and Wednesday nights due to the Seven Network's coverage of the 2012 Brownlow Medal.^[38]
• Sebastian was absent from the results show due to him traveling to New York to perform "Battle Scars" on the Late Show with David Letterman.^[39]
• On 30 September 2012, the performances of three finalists entered the ARIA Singles Chart. The Collective's performance of "Footloose" debuted at number 41, Bella Ferraro's performance of "What Makes You Beautiful" debuted at number 62, and What About Tonight's performance of "Year 3000" debuted at number 97.^[40]
• Josh Brookes was disqualified from the show and was replaced by Carmelo Munzone.

Week 3 (1/2 October)

• Theme: Top 10 Hits^[41]
• Celebrity performers: Lady Antebellum ("Need You Now")^[42] and Pink ("Try")^[42]
• Group performance: "Lolita"/"Untouched"/"4ever" with The Veronicas^[42]

Contestants' performances on the third live show

Act	Order	Song[41]	Result
Justin Standley	1	"Some Nights"	Bottom two
The Collective	2	"You Got It (The Right Stuff)"/"Billie Jean"	Safe
Angel Tupai	3	"Next to Me"	Bottom two
Carmelo Munzone	4	"Whataya Want from Me"	Safe
Samantha Jade	5	"Everytime"	Safe
Bella Ferraro	6	"Big Yellow Taxi"	Safe
Jason Owen	7	"I Don't Want to Miss a Thing"	Safe
Nathaniel Willemse	8	"Try a Little Tenderness"	Safe
Shiane Hawke	9	"Beautiful"	Safe
Fourtunate	10	"Dedication to My Ex (Miss That)"	Safe
Final showdown details
Act	Order	Song[43]	Result
Justin Standley	1	"The Reason"	Eliminated
Angel Tupai	2	"Open Arms"	Safe

Judges' vote to eliminate^[43]

• Bassingthwaighte: Justin Standley – backed her own act, Angel Tupai
• Mel B: Justin Standley - gave no reason
• Sebastian: Angel Tupai – backed his own act, Justin Standley
• Keating: Justin Standley – stated that Tupai is his biggest threat in the competition but chose not to vote strategically

Notes

• On 7 October 2012, the performances of two finalists entered the ARIA Singles Chart. The Collective's performance of "You Got It (The Right Stuff)" debuted at number 78, and Bella Ferraro's performance of "Big Yellow Taxi" debuted at number 84.^[44]
• When Justin Standley was announced in the bottom two, he became the third Over 25 to land in the bottom two in three consecutive weeks, as the other two acts from that category already fell in the bottom two in their respective weeks (Samantha Jade in Week 1 and Nathaniel Willemse in Week 2).

Week 4 (8/9 October)

• Theme: Legends^[45]
• Celebrity performers: Labrinth ("Earthquake")^[46] and Birdy ("Skinny Love")^[46]
• Group performance: "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)"/"What a Man"/"Land of a Thousand Dances" with Jessica Mauboy^[46]

Contestants' performances on the fourth live show

Act	Order	Song[45]	Result
Fourtunate	1	"Easy Lover"	Bottom two
Carmelo Munzone	2	"Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic"	Bottom two
Shiane Hawke	3	"Piece of My Heart"	Safe
Samantha Jade	4	"Run to You"	Safe
Jason Owen	5	"Dancing in the Dark"	Safe
The Collective	6	"A Hard Day's Night"	Safe
Bella Ferraro	7	"Ray of Light"	Safe
Nathaniel Willemse	8	"The Scientist"	Safe
Angel Tupai	9	"Dirty Diana"	Safe
Final showdown details
Act	Order	Song[47]	Result
Carmelo Munzone	1	"Feeling Good"	Eliminated
Fourtunate	2	"Without You"	Safe

Judges' vote to eliminate^[47]

• Keating: Carmelo Munzone – backed his own act, Fourtunate
• Bassingthwaighte: Carmelo Munzone – gave no reason
• Mel B: Fourtunate – backed her own act, Carmelo Munzone
• Sebastian: Carmelo Munzone – based his decision on who he thinks needs more work

Notes

• Nathaniel Willemse's performance of "The Scientist" debuted on the ARIA Singles Chart at number 75 on 14 October 2012.^[48]

Week 5 (15/16 October)

• Theme: '80s^[49]
• Celebrity performers: Reece Mastin ("Rock Star")^[50] and Psy ("Gangnam Style")^[50]
• Group performance: "Do You Remember"/"So High"/"Down" with Jay Sean^[50]

Contestants' performances on the fifth live show

Act	Order	Song[49]	Result
Jason Owen	1	"I'm Still Standing"	Safe
Angel Tupai	2	"I Want to Know What Love Is"	Bottom two
Nathaniel Willemse	3	"What's Love Got to Do with It"	Safe
Fourtunate	4	"How Will I Know"	Safe
Bella Ferraro	5	"99 Red Balloons"	Safe
Samantha Jade	6	"You Can't Hurry Love"	Bottom two
Shiane Hawke	7	"True Colors"	Safe
The Collective	8	"Like a Prayer"	Safe
Final showdown details
Act	Order	Song[51]	Result
Angel Tupai	1	"Family Portrait"	Eliminated
Samantha Jade	2	"I Will Be"	Safe

Judges' vote to eliminate^[51]

• Sebastian: Angel Tupai – backed his own act, Samantha Jade
• Bassingthwaighte: Samantha Jade – backed her own act, Angel Tupai
• Keating: Angel Tupai – based on the final showdown performance
• Mel B: Samantha Jade – based on the performances throughout the competition

With the acts in the bottom two receiving two votes each, the result was deadlock and reverted to the earlier public vote. Angel Tupai received the fewest votes and was eliminated.^[51]

Notes

• On Monday night, viewers were able to vote for the judge they would have liked to see perform the "Gangnam Style" dance routine on Tuesday night. Mel B won the vote, therefore she joined Psy to perform the "Gangnam Style" routine.^[51]
• The Collective's performance of "Like a Prayer" debuted on the ARIA Singles Chart at number 65 on 21 October 2012.^[52]

Week 6 (22/23 October)

• Theme: Latest and Greatest^[53]
• Celebrity performers: Cher Lloyd ("Want U Back")^[54] and Matchbox Twenty ("She's So Mean")^[54]
• Group performance: "Part of Me"^[54]

Contestants' performances on the sixth live show

Act	Order	Song[53]	Result
Fourtunate	1	"You Make Me Feel..."	Bottom two
Jason Owen	2	"You Belong with Me"	Safe
Shiane Hawke	3	"Hometown Glory"	Safe
Nathaniel Willemse	4	"Let Me Love You (Until You Learn to Love Yourself)"	Safe
The Collective	5	"Lego House"	Safe
Bella Ferraro	6	"Shake It Out"	Bottom two
Samantha Jade	7	"Scream"	Safe
Final showdown details
Act	Order	Song[54]	Result
Fourtunate	1	"Man in the Mirror"	Eliminated
Bella Ferraro	2	"Tonight"	Safe

Judges' vote to eliminate^[54]

• Sebastian: Fourtunate – said that Ferraro had more potential and wanted to see her improve
• Bassingthwaighte: Fourtunate – backed her own act, Bella Ferraro
• Keating: Bella Ferraro – backed his own act, Fourtunate
• Mel B: Fourtunate – said Ferraro had more potential and wanted to see her journey throughout the competiiton

Notes

• The Collective's performance of "Lego House" debuted on the ARIA Singles Chart at number 70 on 28 October 2012.^[55]

Week 7 (29/30 October)

• Theme: Made in Australia^[56]
• Celebrity performers: Little Mix ("Wings")^[57] and Ellie Goulding ("Anything Could Happen")^[57]
• Group performance: "Touch" with Silver Sneakerz^[57]

Contestants' performances on the seventh live show

Act	Order	Song[56]	Result
Samantha Jade	1	"UFO"	Bottom two
Shiane Hawke	2	"Shine"	Safe
The Collective	3	"Incredible"	Safe
Nathaniel Willemse	4	"Red"	Bottom two
Bella Ferraro	5	"Sweet Disposition"	Safe
Jason Owen	6	"What's My Scene?"	Safe
Final showdown details
Act	Order	Song[58]	Result
Samantha Jade	1	"At Last"	Safe
Nathaniel Willemse	2	"Sexual Healing"	Eliminated

Judges' vote to eliminate^[58]

• Bassingthwaighte: Samantha Jade – gave no reason
• Keating: Nathaniel Willemse – based on the final showdown performance
• Mel B: Samantha Jade – based on the final showdown performance; though stated that she was not impressed with either performance
• Sebastian: Nathaniel Willemse – decided to take it to deadlock because he could not send his own act home

With the acts in the bottom two receiving two votes each, the result was deadlock and reverted to the earlier public vote. Nathaniel Willemse received the fewest votes and was eliminated.^[58]

Notes

• On 4 November 2012, the performances of two finalists entered the ARIA Singles Chart. Bella Ferraro's performance of "Sweet Disposition" debuted at number 59, and Nathaniel Willemse's performance of "Red" debuted at number 91.^[59]

Week 8 (5/6 November)

• Theme: Judges' Challenge^[60]
• Celebrity performers: Johnny Ruffo ("Take It Home")^[61] and Kesha ("Die Young")^[61]
• Group performance: "Turn Up the Love"^[62]

Contestants' performances on the eighth live show

Act	Order	Song[60]	Chosen by[63]	Result
Shiane Hawke	1	"A Thousand Years"	Guy Sebastian	Bottom two
The Collective	2	"Beauty and a Beat"	Melanie Brown	Bottom two
Samantha Jade	3	"Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)"	Natalie Bassingthwaighte	Safe
Jason Owen	4	"If Tomorrow Never Comes"	Ronan Keating	Safe
Bella Ferraro	5	"Dreams"	Melanie Brown	Safe
Final showdown details
Act	Order	Song[62]		Result
The Collective	1	"As Long as You Love Me"		Safe
Shiane Hawke	2	"Wherever You Will Go"		Eliminated

Judges' vote to eliminate^[62]

• Bassingthwaighte: The Collective – backed her own act, Shiane Hawke
• Keating: Shiane Hawke – backed his own act, The Collective
• Mel B: Shiane Hawke – gave no reason
• Sebastian: Shiane Hawke – gave no reason

Notes

• On 11 November 2012, the performances of two finalists entered the ARIA Singles Chart. Bella Ferraro's performance of "Dreams" debuted at number 82, and The Collective's performance of "Beauty and a Beat" debuted at number 94.^[64] Samantha Jade's performance of "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)" debuted at number 96 on 18 November 2012.^[65]

Week 9: Semi-final (12/13 November)

• Theme: Power and Passion^[66]
• Celebrity performers: Sam and the Womp ("Bom Bom")^[67] and Elton John vs. Pnau ("Sad" and "Good Morning to the Night")^[67]

Contestants' performances on the ninth live show

Act	Order	First song[66]	Order	Second song[66]	Result
Jason Owen	1	"Life Is a Highway"	5	"How Do I Live"	Safe
Samantha Jade	2	"Heartless"	6	"Where Have You Been"	Safe
Bella Ferraro	3	"Bulletproof"	7	"The Last Day on Earth"	Bottom two
The Collective	4	"Apologize"	8	"Yeah 3x"	Bottom two
Final showdown details[67]
Bella Ferraro	1	"Angel"			Eliminated
The Collective	2	"Use Somebody"			Safe

Judges' votes to send through to the grand final^[67]

• Keating: The Collective – backed his own act
• Bassingthwaighte: Bella Ferraro – backed her own act
• Mel B: Bella Ferraro – gave no reason
• Sebastian: The Collective – decided to take it to deadlock and let the public vote reveal the decision

With the acts in the bottom two receiving two votes each, the result was deadlock and reverted to the earlier public vote. The Collective received the most votes and were saved.^[67]

Notes

• For the first time this season, each act performed two songs.^[66]
• Also for the first time, the judges chose which act in the bottom two they wanted to see progress to the grand final.^[67]
• On 18 November 2012, the performances of three finalists entered the ARIA Singles Chart. Samantha Jade's performances of "Heartless" and "Where Have You Been" debuted at numbers 12 and 51, respectively. The Collective's performance of "Apologize" debuted at number 47 and their performance of "Yeah 3x" debuted at number 72. Bella Ferraro's performance of "The Last Day On Earth" debuted at number 90.^[65]

Week 10: Grand Final (19/20 November)

19 November

• Celebrity performer: Guy Sebastian ("Get Along")^[68]
• Group performance: "On the Floor" (performed by top 11 finalists)^[69]

Contestants' performances on the tenth live show

Act	Order	Audition song[70]	Order	Winner's single[69]	Order	Last shot song[70]
The Collective	1	"We Found Love"	4	"Surrender"	9	"Brokenhearted"
Jason Owen	6	"Annie's Song"	2	"Make It Last"	8	"Lonely Boy"
Samantha Jade	3	"Breakeven"	7	"What You've Done to Me"	5	"Take a Bow"

20 November

• Celebrity performers: One Direction ("Little Things")^[68]
• Group performances:
  • "I Can Only Imagine" (performed by top three finalists)^[71]
  • "Good Time" with Owl City (performed with top 11 finalists)^[71]
  • "End of the Road" with Boyz II Men (performed with top three finalists)^[71]

Contestants' performances on the final live show

Act	Order	Song of the series[71]	Result
The Collective	N/A	N/A (already eliminated)	Third place
Samantha Jade	1	"Scream"	Winner
Jason Owen	2	"Dancing in the Dark"	Runner-up

Notes

• For the first time this season there was no theme.^[70]

Charity single

The finalists recorded a cover of Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe" as a charity single in aid of Sony Foundation's You Can program which aims "to build specialised and age-appropriate youth cancer centres across Australia."^[72] The single was made available for download via the iTunes Store on 18 September 2012,^[73] after all twelve finalists performed the song on the first live results show that same day.^[72] It is the first time on X Factor Australia that finalists have released a charity single.^[72]

Winner's single

On 16 November 2012, the Herald Sun reported that the winner's singles for the top three finalists, Samantha Jade, The Collective and Jason Owen, were written by Australian songwriting and production duo DNA Songs.^[74] Jade's single was "What You've Done to Me", The Collective's single was "Surrender", and Owen's single was "Make It Last". Each finalist performed their song during the grand final performance show on 19 November.^[69] After Jade was announced as the winner, "What You've Done to Me" was released.^[75] It entered the ARIA Singles Chart at number one on 26 November.^[76] Two days after The X Factor ended, it was announced that The Collective and Owen both signed recording contracts with Sony Music Australia and would release "Surrender" and "Make It Last" as their debut singles.^[77]

The X Factor: One Direction to Superstardom

The X Factor: One Direction to Superstardom was a television special that aired on the Seven Network on 27 September 2012.^[78] The special followed the rise of One Direction, from their journey during the seventh series of The X Factor UK to becoming global superstars of today. It also featured One Direction's interview with X Factor Australia host Luke Jacobz.^[79] Aside from One Direction, the special included success stories of X Factor UK series three winner Leona Lewis, X Factor Australia season three winner Reece Mastin and finalist Johnny Ruffo, as well as the judges' opinions about the show and its "capacity to create global singing sensations."^[79][80] One Direction to Superstardom was watched by 691,000 viewers and was ranked fifteenth overall for the night.^[81]

Reception

Contestants

On 20 September 2012, the Seven Network issued a statement saying that contestant Josh Brookes was disqualified from The X Factor because he "behaved in an inappropriate manner" on social media.^[8] A Twitcam video that was later uploaded to YouTube displays Brookes and contestant Adil Memon asking teenage girls for "sneaky banana pics", a phrase used by teenagers that means naked images.^[8][82] The Seven Network stated, "After a careful review of the incident, FremantleMedia Australia, producers of the program, together with Channel Seven, made a joint decision to remove him from the competition".^[8] During the second live performance show on 25 September, Mel B announced that Carmelo Munzone, who was eliminated during the "home visits" stage, was Brookes' replacement in the show.^[9]

Ratings

The premiere episode of The X Factor, which was broadcast on 20 August 2012, topped the night's overall ratings with 1,598,000 viewers.^[83] The next five episodes of auditions also ranked first on their respective nights.^{[84][85][86][87][88]} The first live performance show on 17 September 2012 gained 1,588,000 viewers and topped the night's overall ratings.^[89] The announcement of the winner during the grand final decider show on 20 November 2012 was watched by 1,921,000 viewers, making it the highest rated episode of the fourth season.^[10]

Colour key:

     – Highest rating during the season

     – Lowest rating during the season

Episode		Original airdate	Timeslot	Viewers (millions)	Nightly rank	Ref.
1	Auditions	2012-08-20 !20 August 2012	Monday 7:30 pm–9:00 pm	1.598	#1	[83]
2		2012-08-20 !21 August 2012	Tuesday 7:30 pm–8:30 pm	1.526	#1	[84]
3		2012-08-22 !22 August 2012	Wednesday 7:30 pm–8:30 pm	1.478	#1	[85]
4		2012-08-27 !27 August 2012	Monday 7:30 pm–8:30 pm	1.385	#1	[86]
5		2012-08-28 !28 August 2012	Tuesday 7:30 pm–8:30 pm	1.578	#1	[87]
6		2012-08-29 !29 August 2012	Wednesday 7:30 pm–8:30 pm	1.435	#1	[88]
7	Super Bootcamp	2012-09-03 !3 September 2012	Monday 7:30 pm–8:30 pm	1.469	#1	[90]
8		2012-09-04 !4 September 2012	Tuesday 7:30 pm–8:30 pm	1.573	#1	[91]
9		2012-09-05 !5 September 2012	Wednesday 7:30 pm–8:30 pm	1.542	#1	[92]
10	Home Visits	2012-09-10 !10 September 2012	Monday 7:30 pm–8:30 pm	1.384	#1	[93]
11		2012-09-11 !11 September 2012	Tuesday 7:30 pm–8:30 pm	1.662	#1	[94]
12		2012-09-12 !12 September 2012	Wednesday 7:30 pm–8:30 pm	1.502	#1	[95]
13	Live show 1	2012-09-17 !17 September 2012	Monday 7:30 pm–9:30 pm	1.588	#1	[89]
14	Live decider 1	2012-09-18 !18 September 2012	Tuesday 7:30 pm–8:30 pm	1.562	#1	[96]
15	Live show 2	2012-09-25 !25 September 2012	Tuesday 7:30 pm–9:30 pm	1.643	#1	[97]
16	Live decider 2	2012-09-26 !26 September 2012	Wednesday 7:30 pm–8:30 pm	1.415	#1	[98]
17	One Direction to Superstardom	2012-09-27 !27 September 2012	Thursday 7:30 pm–8:30 pm	0.691	#15	[81]
18	Live show 3	2012-10-01 !1 October 2012	Monday 7:30 pm–9:30 pm	1.432	#1	[99]
19	Live decider 3	2012-10-02 !2 October 2012	Tuesday 7:30 pm–8:30 pm	1.471	#1	[100]
20	Live show 4	2012-10-08 !8 October 2012	Monday 7:30 pm–9:30 pm	1.422	#1	[101]
21	Live decider 4	2012-10-09 !9 October 2012	Tuesday 7:30 pm–8:30 pm	1.488	#1	[102]
22	Live show 5	2012-10-15 !15 October 2012	Monday 7:30 pm–9:00 pm	1.485	#1	[103]
23	Live decider 5	2012-10-16 !16 October 2012	Tuesday 7:30 pm–8:30 pm	1.665	#1	[104]
24	Live show 6	2012-10-22 !22 October 2012	Monday 7:30 pm–9:00 pm	1.462	#1	[105]
25	Live decider 6	2012-10-23 !23 October 2012	Tuesday 7:30 pm–8:30 pm	1.441	#1	[106]
26	Live show 7	2012-10-29 !29 October 2012	Monday 7:30 pm–9:00 pm	1.417	#1	[107]
27	Live decider 7	2012-10-30 !30 October 2012	Tuesday 7:30 pm–8:30 pm	1.430	#1	[108]
28	Live show 8	2012-11-05 !5 November 2012	Monday 7:30 pm–8:30 pm	1.301	#1	[109]
29	Live decider 8	2012-11-06 !6 November 2012	Tuesday 7:30 pm–8:30 pm	1.537	#4	[110]
30	Live show 9	2012-11-12 !12 November 2012	Monday 7:30 pm–9:00 pm	1.536	#1	[111]
31	Live decider 9	2012-11-13 !13 November 2012	Tuesday 7:30 pm–8:45 pm	1.498	#1	[112]
32	Live Grand Final show	2012-11-19 !19 November 2012	Monday 7:30 pm–9:30 pm	1.667	#1	[113]
33	Live Grand Final decider	2012-11-20 !20 November 2012	Tuesday 7:30 pm–9:30 pm	1.881	#2	[10]
	Winner Announced			1.921	#1	[10]

References

External links

• The X Factor at Yahoo!7