The X Factor (Australia season 6)

The X Factor
Season 6
Broadcast from	13 July – 20 October 2014
Judges	Ronan Keating Natalie Bassingthwaighte Redfoo Dannii Minogue
Host(s)	Luke Jacobz (The X Factor)
Co-host(s)	Luke & Wyatt (The Fan Factor)
Broadcaster	Seven Network
Winner
Marlisa Punzalan
Origin	Glendenning, New South Wales
Song	"Stand by You"
Genre(s)	Pop[1]
Mentor	Ronan Keating
Runner-up
Dean Ray

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.^[2] The sixth season premiered on the Seven Network on 13 July 2014 and ended on 20 October 2014.^[3][4] Luke Jacobz returned as host, while Ronan Keating, Natalie Bassingthwaighte, Dannii Minogue and Redfoo returned as judges.^[5] Comedy duo Luke & Wyatt joined the sixth season as the hosts of the online spin-off show The Fan Factor.^[6] The winner was Marlisa Punzalan and her winner's single "Stand by You" was released after the final.^[4] Punzalan became the youngest winner of the show at 15 years old and was the first Under 25 Girl to do so. She was mentored by Keating, who won as mentor for the second time after previously mentoring season two winner Altiyan Childs in 2010.^[4]

Open auditions in front of the show's producers took place in 13 cities from November 2013 to January 2014. 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 April 2014. Following 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 (male soloists aged 14 to 24), Under 25 Girls (female soloists aged 14 to 24), Over 25s (soloists aged 25 and over) and Groups. After super bootcamp was the home visits round, where each judge reduced their six acts to three, with assistance from guest mentors James Blunt, John Legend, Jennifer Lopez, Jessica Mauboy and Nicole Scherzinger. The live shows began on 10 August 2014. This was the first season of The X Factor Australia to feature a wildcard in the live shows as the thirteenth finalist.^[7]

Selection process

Auditions

Open auditions in front of the show's producers took place in 13 cities^[8][9] and ran from November 2013 to January 2014.^[8] Online and DVD auditions were also held for those who could not attend the open auditions.^[10] The auditionees chosen by the producers were invited back to the last set of auditions that took place in front of the judges and a live studio audience. These auditions were filmed at the Hisense Arena in Melbourne on 4, 5 and 6 April, and at the Qantas Credit Union Arena in Sydney on 9, 10, 11 and 12 April.^[11]

Super bootcamp

The super bootcamp stage of the competition was held at The Star in Pyrmont, New South Wales.^[12] Filming began in late April 2014.^[13] The first day of bootcamp saw judges Ronan Keating, Natalie Bassingthwaighte, Redfoo and Dannii Minogue split each category into collaborations.^[12] The male and female soloists were put into ensembles of four within their category,^[14] the Over 25s were put into ensembles of three, and the acts from the Groups category were put into pairs.^[12] Each collaboration was given a list of songs which they had to choose from and only had 24 hours to rehearse.^[12] On the second day, each collaboration performed their chosen song for the judges.^[12] At the end of the day, a select group of soloists from the Boys and Girls categories were first requested by the judges to return to the stage to form a boy band (consisting of Ellis Hall, Harry Targett and Joel Watson) and a girl group (consisting of Serenity, Tahnie Cristini, Chaska Halliday and Nada Leigh Nasser).^[12][15] The judges then sent home half of the 100 acts.^[12]

On the third day, each judge found out which category they would be mentoring, and the remaining 48 acts each had a one-on-one mentoring session with their mentor.^[12] Bassingthwaighte was given the Under 25 Boys, Keating was given the Under 25 Girls, Redfoo was given the Over 25s and Minogue was given the Groups category.^[12][15] On the fourth day, each act individually performed one song to the judges and a live audience of one thousand.^[12] On the fifth and final day of bootcamp, the judges revealed which acts they put through to home visits.^[16]

The 24 successful acts were:

• Under 25 Boys: Jaymie Deboucherville, James Johnston, Adrien Nookadu, Dean Ray, Tee, Jesse Teinaki^[16]
• Under 25 Girls: Alice Bottomley, Sydnee Carter, Shanell Dargan, Chloe Papandrea, Marlisa Punzalan, Caitlyn Shadbolt^[16]
• Over 25s: Reigan Derry, Jason Heerah, Ryan Imlach, Rochelle Pitt, Stephanie Totino, Amali Ward^[16]
• Groups: Brothers3, MajikHoney, Paris Inc., Trill, XOX, Younger Than Yesterday ^[16]

Home visits and wildcards

The final round of the selection process, the home visits, saw each judge take their remaining six acts to exclusive locations around the world.^[17] Bassingthwaighte and Keating took the Under 25 Boys and Girls to New York City, Redfoo took the Over 25s to Las Vegas, and Minogue took the Groups to an exclusive location in Sydney.^[17] On the first day, each act had a one-on-one mentoring session with their mentor.^[17] Minogue was assisted by Jessica Mauboy during the mentoring sessions for the Groups.^[17] On the second day of home visits, each act performed one song to their mentor and guest mentor.^[17] Bassingthwaighte was assisted by American Idol judge Jennifer Lopez, Keating was assisted by John Legend, Redfoo was assisted by former X Factor UK judge Nicole Scherzinger, and Minogue was assisted by James Blunt.^[16][18] After the performances, the judges along with their guest mentors, narrowed down the acts to three each.^[19] On the third and final day, the judges revealed which acts they put through to the live shows.^[19]

Key:

     – Wildcard winner

Summary of home visits

Judge	Category	Location	Assistant(s)	Contestants eliminated	Wildcards
Bassingthwaighte	Under 25 Boys	New York City	Jennifer Lopez	Jaymie Deboucherville, James Johnston	Jesse Teinaki
Keating	Under 25 Girls		John Legend	Shanell Dargan, Chloe Papandrea	Alice Bottomley
Redfoo	Over 25s	Las Vegas	Nicole Scherzinger	Stephanie Totino, Amali Ward	Ryan Imlach
Minogue	Groups	Sydney	Jessica Mauboy James Blunt	MajikHoney, Paris Inc.	Brothers3

At the end of home visits, it was announced that each judge could bring back one eliminated act from their category, who did not make the top twelve, as their wildcard.^[19] Bassingthwaighte chose Jesse Teinaki, Keating chose Alice Bottomley, Redfoo chose Ryan Imlach, and Minogue chose Brothers3.^[19] The public then voted for which of the four wildcards would become the thirteenth finalist.^[19] Brothers3 were announced as the wildcard winners during the first live show on 10 August 2014.^[7]

Finalists and categories

Key:

     – Winner

     – Runner-up

     – Third Place

Category (Mentor)	Acts
Under 25 Boys (Bassingthwaighte)	Adrien Nookadu	Dean Ray	Tee
Under 25 Girls (Keating)	Sydnee Carter	Marlisa Punzalan	Caitlyn Shadbolt
Over 25s (Redfoo)	Reigan Derry	Jason Heerah	Rochelle Pitt
Groups (Minogue)	Brothers3	Trill	XOX	Younger Than Yesterday

Live shows

Results summary

Colour key

     – Contestant announced as safe

     – Contestant in the bottom two or three 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 52	Week 6	Week 74	Week 8	Week 9	Week 10	Week 11
Marlisa Punzalan	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	5th	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	3rd	Winner
Dean Ray	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	2nd	Safe	Safe	Safe	Bottom two	Safe	Runner-Up
Brothers3	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	1st	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	3rd
Reigan Derry	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	3rd	Safe	Safe	5th	Safe	4th	Eliminated (Week 10)
Caitlyn Shadbolt	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	6th	7th	5th/6th	Safe	Bottom two	Eliminated (Week 9)
Jason Heerah	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Bottom two	Safe	Bottom three	6th	Eliminated (Week 8)
Tee	Safe	Safe	Safe	Bottom two	7th	Safe	6th/7th	Eliminated (Week 7)
Rochelle Pitt	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	4th	8th	Eliminated (Week 6)
Sydnee Carter	Safe	Safe	10th	Safe	Bottom two	Eliminated (Week 5)
XOX	Safe	Bottom two	Safe	Bottom two	Eliminated (Week 4)
Adrien Nookadu	Bottom two	Safe	11th	Eliminated (Week 3)
Younger Than Yesterday	Safe	Bottom two	Eliminated (Week 2)
Trill	Bottom two	Eliminated (Week 1)
Final showdown	Trill	XOX	Sydnee Carter	XOX	Sydnee Carter	Caitlyn Shadbolt	Caitlyn Shadbolt	Jason Heerah	Caitlyn Shadbolt	Reigan Derry	No final showdown/judges' vote; public votes alone decide who wins
	Adrien Nookadu	Younger Than Yesterday	Adrien Nookadu	Tee	Jason Heerah	Rochelle Pitt	Jason Heerah	Reigan Derry	Dean Ray	Marlisa Punzalan
	N/A4						Tee	N/A4
Judges voted to	Eliminate									Send through
Minogue's vote	Adrien Nookadu	N/A1	Sydnee Carter	Tee	Sydnee Carter	N/A3	Caitlyn Shadbolt	Reigan Derry	Caitlyn Shadbolt	Marlisa Punzalan
Bassingthwaighte's vote	Trill	Younger Than Yesterday	Sydnee Carter	XOX	Sydnee Carter	N/A3	Caitlyn Shadbolt	Jason Heerah	Caitlyn Shadbolt	Reigan Derry
Redfoo's vote	Trill	Younger Than Yesterday	Adrien Nookadu	XOX	Sydnee Carter	Caitlyn Shadbolt	Tee	Reigan Derry	Caitlyn Shadbolt	Reigan Derry
Keating's vote	Trill	Younger Than Yesterday	Adrien Nookadu	XOX	Jason Heerah	Rochelle Pitt	Tee	Jason Heerah	Dean Ray	Marlisa Punzalan
Eliminated	Trill 3 of 4 votes Majority	Younger Than Yesterday 3 of 3 votes Majority	Adrien Nookadu 2 of 4 votes Deadlock	XOX 3 of 4 votes Majority	Sydnee Carter 3 of 4 votes Majority	Rochelle Pitt 1 of 2 votes Deadlock3	Tee 2 of 4 votes Deadlock	Jason Heerah 2 of 4 votes Deadlock	Caitlyn Shadbolt 3 of 4 votes Majority	Reigan Derry 2 of 4 votes Deadlock	Marlisa Punzalan Winner
											Dean Ray Runner-Up
											Brothers3 Third Place

Notes

• ¹ Minogue was not required to vote as there was already a majority.
• ² For the first time in the show's history and only for week five, the positions of the public votes were revealed in the order that the public voted based on the live performances that week.
• ³ Bassingthwaighte was absent for the week six showdown. As a result, three unanimous votes were required for an act to be eliminated. However, as Redfoo and Keating voted for different acts, Minogue was not required to vote and the public vote was counted, resulting in Pitt's elimination.
• ⁴ For the first time in the show's history and only for week seven, a bottom three was featured.

Live show details

Week 1 (10/11 August)

• Theme: Judges' choice^[20]
• Group performance: "Geronimo"^[21]
• Celebrity performers: Dami Im ("Gladiator")^[7] and Guy Sebastian ("Come Home With Me")^[7]

Contestants' performances on the first live show

Act	Order	Song[20]	Result
Jason Heerah	1	"Sing"	Safe
Tee	2	"Love Me Again"	Safe
Sydnee Carter	3	"Don't Panic"	Safe
Younger Than Yesterday	4	"Somebody to You"	Safe
Rochelle Pitt	5	"History Repeating"	Safe
Trill	6	"I Will Never Let You Down"	Bottom two
Adrien Nookadu	7	"Stupid Love"	Bottom two
Marlisa Punzalan	8	"All by Myself"	Safe
Brothers3	9	"Just the Way You Are"	Safe
Caitlyn Shadbolt	10	"Days Go By"	Safe
XOX	11	"Braveheart"	Safe
Dean Ray	12	"Sympathy for the Devil"	Safe
Reigan Derry	13	"Unconditionally"	Safe
Final showdown details
Act	Order	Song[21]	Result
Trill	1	"Leave (Get Out)"	Eliminated
Adrien Nookadu	2	"When I Was Your Man"	Safe

Judges' vote to eliminate^[21]

• Redfoo: Trill – based his decision on the live performance and final showdown performances and who really wanted it more
• Minogue: Adrien Nookadu – backed her own act, Trill
• Bassingthwaighte: Trill – backed her own act, Adrien Nookadu
• Keating: Trill – went with his gut

Notes

• On 16 August 2014, Brothers3's performance of "Just the Way You Are" debuted at number 99 on the ARIA Singles Chart.^[22] The following week, it moved up to a new peak of number 98.^[23]

Week 2 (17/18 August)

• Theme: Legends^[24]
• Group performance: "Get the Girl Back" and "MMMBop" with Hanson^[25]
• Celebrity performers: Ella Henderson ("Ghost")^[26] and G.R.L. ("Ugly Heart")^[26]

Contestants' performances on the second live show

Act	Order	Song[24]	Result
XOX	1	"Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)"	Bottom two
Adrien Nookadu	2	"Like I Love You"	Safe
Sydnee Carter	3	"Live and Let Die"	Safe
Rochelle Pitt	4	"Gimme Shelter"	Safe
Reigan Derry	5	"Toxic"	Safe
Dean Ray	6	"Janie's Got a Gun"	Safe
Younger Than Yesterday	7	"One Way or Another"	Bottom two
Marlisa Punzalan	8	"Paparazzi"	Safe
Caitlyn Shadbolt	9	"Blaze of Glory"	Safe
Tee	10	"Hey Jude"	Safe
Jason Heerah	11	"Working Day and Night"	Safe
Brothers3	12	"Always on My Mind"	Safe
Final showdown details
Act	Order	Song[25]	Result
XOX	1	"Nobody's Perfect"	Safe
Younger Than Yesterday	2	"On Top of the World"	Eliminated

Judges' vote to eliminate^[25]

• Redfoo: Younger Than Yesterday – based the decision on all performances until this week
• Keating: Younger Than Yesterday – gave no reason
• Bassingthwaighte: Younger Than Yesterday – went with her gut
• Minogue: not required to vote as there was already a majority

Notes

• On 23 August 2014, Brothers3's performance of "Always on My Mind" debuted at number 73 on the ARIA Singles Chart.^[23]

Week 3 (24/25 August)

• Theme: Decades Challenge^[27]
• Group performance: "Boom Clap"^[28]
• Celebrity performers: Jimmy Barnes featuring Diesel ("I'd Die to Be with You Tonight")^[28] and Gabrielle Aplin ("Please Don't Say You Love Me")^[28]

Contestants' performances on the third live show

Act	Order	Song[27]	Decade	Result
Brothers3	1	"Happy Birthday Helen"	90s	Safe
Caitlyn Shadbolt	2	"Is She Really Going Out with Him?"	70s	Safe
Rochelle Pitt	3	"Nothing's Real but Love"	Now	Safe
Tee	4	"I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)"	80s	Safe
Sydnee Carter	5	"Video Killed the Radio Star"	70s	Bottom two
Adrien Nookadu	6	"I Just Can't Stop Loving You"	80s	Bottom two
XOX	7	"Groove Is in the Heart"	90s	Safe
Dean Ray	8	"Reckless"	80s	Safe
Reigan Derry	9	"Chandelier"	Now	Safe
Marlisa Punzalan	10	"Hopelessly Devoted to You"	70s	Safe
Jason Heerah	11	"Runaway Baby"	Now	Safe
Final showdown details
Act	Order	Song[28]		Result
Sydnee Carter	1	"Hey Ya!"		Safe
Adrien Nookadu	2	"I Can't Make You Love Me"		Eliminated

Judges' vote to eliminate^[28]

• Keating: Adrien Nookadu – backed his own act, Sydnee Carter
• Bassingthwaighte: Sydnee Carter – backed her own act, Adrien Nookadu
• Redfoo: Adrien Nookadu – saw a growth in Carter and wanted to see what else she can do
• Minogue: Sydnee Carter – gave no reason

With the acts in the bottom two receiving two votes each, the result was deadlock and reverted to the earlier public vote. Nookadu received the fewest votes and was eliminated.^[28]

Notes

• Each mentor was given a different decade to choose their remaining acts songs from, including the 70s, 80s, 90s and now.^[27]
• On 30 August 2014, the performances of four acts entered the ARIA Singles Chart. Dean Ray's performance of "Reckless" debuted at number 50, Sydnee Carter's performance of "Video Killed the Radio Star" debuted at number 63, Reigan Derry's performance of "Chandelier" debuted at number 81, and Brothers3's performance of "Happy Birthday Helen" debuted at number 86.^[29]

Week 4 (31 August/1 September)

• Theme: Top 10 Hits^[30]
• Group performance: "Army of Two"^[31]
• Celebrity performers: Redfoo ("New Thang")^[32] and Paloma Faith ("Only Love Can Hurt Like This")^[32]

Contestants' performances on the fourth live show

Act	Order	Song[30]	Result
Tee	1	"Dedication to My Ex (Miss That)"	Bottom two
Rochelle Pitt	2	"Proud Mary"	Safe
Marlisa Punzalan	3	"It's Oh So Quiet"	Safe
Reigan Derry	4	"Stay with Me"	Safe
Brothers3	5	"Hey Brother"	Safe
Dean Ray	6	"Mr. Brightside"	Safe
Sydnee Carter	7	"Say Something"	Safe
Jason Heerah	8	"Higher Ground"	Safe
XOX	9	"Problem"	Bottom two
Caitlyn Shadbolt	10	"Shake It Off"	Safe
Final showdown details
Act	Order	Song[31]	Result
XOX	1	"Suit & Tie"	Eliminated
Tee	2	"When a Man Loves a Woman"	Safe

Judges' vote to eliminate^[31]

• Keating: XOX – gave no reason
• Bassingthwaighte: XOX – stated that Tee did not deserve to be in the bottom two; backing her own act, Tee
• Minogue: Tee – backed her own act, XOX
• Redfoo: XOX – gave no reason

Notes

• The songs for the remaining acts were chosen by the public.^[33]
• With XOX eliminated, Minogue had only one act (Brothers3) left in the competition. Minogue lost her third act within four weeks of the live shows, all of which were chosen as her top three for the live shows. Her remaining act Brothers3 were voted into the live shows as the wildcard.
• On 6 September 2014, the performances of four acts entered the ARIA Singles Chart. Reigan Derry's performance of "Stay with Me" debuted at number 20, Brothers3's performance of "Hey Brother" debuted at number 58, Sydnee Carter's performance of "Say Something" debuted at number 73, and Jason Heerah's performance of "Higher Ground" debuted at number 98.^[34] On 19 September 2014, Derry's performance debuted at number 28 on the New Zealand Singles Chart.^[35]

Week 5 (7/8 September)

• Theme: Latest and Greatest^[36]
• Group performance: "Jump (for My Love)"^[37]
• Celebrity performers: Hilary Duff ("All About You")^[37] and Ariana Grande ("Problem", "Bang Bang" and "Break Free")^[37]

Contestants' performances on the fifth live show

Act	Order	Song[36]	Result
Marlisa Punzalan	1	"Let It Go"	Safe (5th)
Brothers3	2	"Pompeii"	Safe (1st)
Tee	3	"Hold On, We're Going Home"	Safe (7th)
Sydnee Carter	4	"Strong"	Bottom two
Rochelle Pitt	5	"Rolling in the Deep"	Safe (4th)
Jason Heerah	6	"She Came to Give It to You"	Bottom two
Dean Ray	7	"Budapest"	Safe (2nd)
Caitlyn Shadbolt	8	"You and I"	Safe (6th)
Reigan Derry	9	"Bang Bang"	Safe (3rd)
Final showdown details
Act	Order	Song[37]	Result
Sydnee Carter	1	"Little Talks"	Eliminated
Jason Heerah	2	"Let's Get It On"	Safe

Judges' vote to eliminate^[37]

• Redfoo: Sydnee Carter – backed his own act, Jason Heerah
• Keating: Jason Heerah – backed his own act, Sydnee Carter
• Bassingthwaighte: Sydnee Carter – felt that she had not seen the best of Carter and said that her performances each week had not been consistent
• Minogue: Sydnee Carter – gave no reason

Notes

• During the live decider on Monday night, for the first time in the show's history, and only for one week, the safe contestants' names were called in descending order of the amount of public votes they received.^[38]
• On 13 September 2014, the performances of three acts entered the ARIA Singles Chart. Dean Ray's performance of "Budapest" debuted at number 15, Reigan Derry's performance of "Bang Bang" debuted at number 53, and Brothers3's performance of "Pompeii" debuted at number 91.^[39] On 26 September 2014, Ray's performance debuted at number 29 on the New Zealand Singles Chart.^[40]

Week 6 (14/15 September)

• Theme: Rock^[41]
• Group performance: "Maps"^[42]
• Celebrity performers: Nathaniel Willemse ("Live Louder")^[43] and Meghan Trainor ("All About That Bass")^[43]

Contestants' performances on the sixth live show

Act	Order	Song[41]	Result
Dean Ray	1	"New Sensation"	Safe
Rochelle Pitt	2	"Heavy Cross"	Bottom two
Tee	3	"Don't Stop Me Now"	Safe
Marlisa Punzalan	4	"Nothing Else Matters"	Safe
Reigan Derry	5	"Boys in Town"	Safe
Caitlyn Shadbolt	6	"Closer to the Edge"	Bottom two
Jason Heerah	7	"Seven Nation Army"	Safe
Brothers3	8	"Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall"	Safe
Final showdown details
Act	Order	Song[42]	Result
Caitlyn Shadbolt	1	"Before the Worst"	Safe
Rochelle Pitt	2	"Respect"	Eliminated

Judges' vote to eliminate^[42]

• Redfoo: Caitlyn Shadbolt – backed his own act, Rochelle Pitt
• Keating: Rochelle Pitt – backed his own act, Caitlyn Shadbolt
• Minogue: Due to Bassingthwaighte's absence, three unanimous votes were required for an act to be eliminated. However, as Redfoo and Keating backed their own acts, Minogue was not required to vote and the result was deadlock.

With the acts in the bottom two receiving one vote each, the result was reverted to the earlier public vote. Pitt received the fewest votes and was eliminated.^[42]

Notes

• Bassingthwaighte was absent for the live decider because she had attended the funeral of her manager Mark Byrne earlier that day.^[44]
• On 20 September 2014, the performances of two acts entered the ARIA Singles Chart. Marlisa Punzalan's performance of "Nothing Else Matters" debuted at number 87 and Dean Ray's performance of "New Sensation" debuted at number 90.^[45]

Week 7 (21/23 September)

• Theme: Judges' Challenge^[46]
• Group performance: "Best Day of My Life" with American Authors^[47]
• Celebrity performers: Ricki-Lee Coulter ("Happy Ever After")^[48] and American Authors ("Believer")^[47]

Contestants' performances on the seventh live show

Act	Order	Song[46]	Chosen by[46]	Result
Brothers3	1	"I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)"	Ronan Keating	Safe
Marlisa Punzalan	2	"Try"	Redfoo	Safe
Reigan Derry	3	"Dog Days Are Over"	Natalie Bassingthwaighte	Safe
Tee	4	"When Doves Cry"	Ronan Keating	Bottom three
Caitlyn Shadbolt	5	"Still Into You"	Natalie Bassingthwaighte	Bottom three
Dean Ray	6	"Stolen Dance"	Redfoo	Safe
Jason Heerah	7	"Latch"	Dannii Minogue	Bottom three
Final showdown details
Act	Order	Song[47]		Result
Caitlyn Shadbolt	1	"Temporary Home"		Safe
Jason Heerah	2	"We Can Work It Out"		Safe
Tee	3	"You Are So Beautiful"		Eliminated

Judges' vote to eliminate^[47]

• Keating: Tee – Backed his own act, Caitlyn Shadbolt. Based on the performances from previous weeks, he chose to send home Tee.
• Bassingthwaighte: Caitlyn Shadbolt – Backed her own act, Tee. She chose to send home Shadbolt because she felt that Jason Heerah had handled the different genres in each week better and had been more consistent.
• Minogue: Caitlyn Shadbolt – felt she was not as strong as Tee and Heerah
• Redfoo: Tee – Backed his own act, Jason Heerah. Redfoo chose to send home Tee because he felt that Tee had not found himself as an artist yet.

With Shadbolt and Tee both receiving two votes each, Heerah was announced safe automatically and the result was deadlock. The vote was reverted to the earlier public vote. Tee received the fewest votes and was eliminated.

Notes

• This week's live decider aired on Tuesday night due to the Seven Network's coverage of the 2014 Brownlow Medal.^[49]
• For the first time in the show's history, and only for this week, the final showdown in the live decider consisted of a bottom three.^[47]
• On 27 September 2014, the performances of four acts entered the ARIA Singles Chart. Jason Heerah's performance of "Latch" debuted at number 38, Dean Ray's performance of "Stolen Dance" debuted at number 40, Reigan Derry's performance of "Dog Days Are Over" debuted at number 61, and Brothers3's performance of "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" debuted at number 75.^[50]

Week 8 (28/29 September)

• Theme: Aussie Week^[51]
• Group performance: "I'm Ready" with AJR^[52]
• Celebrity performers: The Veronicas ("You Ruin Me")^[52] and Ed Sheeran ("Thinking Out Loud" and "Don't")^[52]

Contestants' performances on the eighth live show

Act	Order	Song[51]	Result
Jason Heerah	1	"Like It Like That"	Bottom two
Caitlyn Shadbolt	2	"Bow River"	Safe
Reigan Derry	3	"Burn for You"	Bottom two
Marlisa Punzalan	4	"Super Love"	Safe
Brothers3	5	"Amnesia"	Safe
Dean Ray	6	"Into My Arms"	Safe
Final showdown details
Act	Order	Song[52]	Result
Jason Heerah	1	"Never Tear Us Apart"	Eliminated
Reigan Derry	2	"Stay"	Safe

Judges' vote to eliminate^[52]

• Keating: Jason Heerah – stated that it was a very tough decision
• Bassingthwaighte: Jason Heerah – based on whose performances were downloaded on iTunes more
• Minogue: Reigan Derry – based on whose final showdown performance had the most connection and moved her the most
• Redfoo: Reigan Derry – decided to take it to deadlock because he could not send his own act home

With both acts receiving two votes each, the result was deadlock and reverted to the earlier public vote. Heerah received the fewest votes and was eliminated.^[52]

Notes

• Brothers3 became the first group to not land in the bottom two in week eight. All other groups since season two have passed week eight after surviving the bottom two.
• On 4 October 2014, the performances of two acts entered the ARIA Singles Chart. Dean Ray's performance of "Into My Arms" debuted at number 36, and Reigan Derry's performance of "Burn for You" debuted at number 78.^[53]

Week 9 (5/6 October)

• Theme: Killer Tracks and Curveballs^[54]
• Group performance: "Am I Wrong" with Nico & Vinz^[55]
• Celebrity performers: Taylor Henderson ("Host of Angels")^[55] and Nico & Vinz ("In Your Arms")^[55]

Contestants' performances on the ninth live show

Act	Order	Killer Track[54]	Order	Curveball[54]	Result
Dean Ray	1	"Lonely Boy"	9	"Crying"	Bottom two
Marlisa Punzalan	2	"Titanium"	6	"Somewhere Over the Rainbow"	Safe
Reigan Derry	10	"Only Girl (In the World)"	3	"Creep"	Safe
Brothers3	4	"The Sound of Silence"	7	"Que Sera"	Safe
Caitlyn Shadbolt	5	"Before He Cheats"	8	"Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow"	Bottom two
Final showdown details
Act	Order	Song[55]			Result
Caitlyn Shadbolt	1	"If I Die Young"			Eliminated
Dean Ray	2	"Hurt"			Safe

Judges' vote to eliminate^[55]

• Keating: Dean Ray – backed his own act, Caitlyn Shadbolt
• Redfoo: Caitlyn Shadbolt – went with his gut and based on whose performances were more consistent
• Bassingthwaighte: Caitlyn Shadbolt – backed her own act, Dean Ray
• Minogue: Caitlyn Shadbolt – based her decision on the amount of standing ovations Ray had received

Notes

• On 11 October 2014, the performances of three acts entered the ARIA Singles Chart. Dean Ray's performances of "Crying" and "Lonely Boy" debuted at numbers 26 and 99 respectively, Brothers3's performances of "Que Sera" and "The Sound of Silence" debuted at numbers 42 and 48 respectively, and Marlisa Punzalan's performances of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and "Titanium" debuted at numbers 93 and 96 respectively.^[56]

Week 10: Semi-Final (12/13 October)

• Theme: Power and Passion^[57]
• Group performance: "Reach Out I'll Be There" / "You Can't Hurry Love" with Boyzone^[58]
• Celebrity performers: The Script ("Superheroes")^[59] and 5 Seconds of Summer ("Amnesia" and "Good Girls")^[59]

Contestants' performances on the tenth live show

Act	Order	Power song[57]	Order	Passion song[57]	Result
Brothers3	1	"Best Song Ever"	5	"Massachusetts"	Safe
Marlisa Punzalan	2	"Girl on Fire"	6	"Impossible"	Bottom two
Dean Ray	8	"Folsom Prison Blues" / "That's All Right (Mama)"	3	"The Power of Love"	Safe
Reigan Derry	4	"Can't Remember to Forget You"	7	"Only Love Can Hurt Like This"	Bottom two
Final showdown details
Act	Order	Song[58]			Result
Reigan Derry	1	"Hallelujah"			Eliminated
Marlisa Punzalan	2	"Help!"			Safe

Judges' vote to send through to the Grand Final^[58]

• Minogue: Marlisa Punzalan – gave no reason
• Keating: Marlisa Punzalan – backed his own act
• Redfoo: Reigan Derry – backed his own act
• Bassingthwaighte: Reigan Derry – went with her gut

With the acts in the bottom two receiving two votes each, the result was deadlock and reverted to the earlier public vote. Punzalan received the most public votes and was saved.^[58]

Notes

• During the semi-final week, each judge had one act left in the competition. After Derry's elimination, Redfoo became the only judge with no act in the grand final.
• On 18 October 2014, the performances of three acts entered the ARIA Singles Chart. Dean Ray's performances of "Folsom Prison Blues" / "That's All Right (Mama)" and "The Power of Love" debuted at numbers 49 and 65 respectively, Derry's performance of "Only Love Can Hurt Like This" debuted at number 63, and Brothers3's performance of "Massachusetts" debuted at number 87.^[60]

Week 11: Grand Final (19/20 October)

19 October

• Group performance: "Lovers on the Sun" (performed by top three finalists)^[1]

Contestants' performances on the Grand Final live show

Act	Order	Audition song[1]	Order	Duet[1]	Order	Winner's single[1]
Marlisa Punzalan	1	"Yesterday"	8	"Never Be the Same" with Jessica Mauboy	5	"Stand by You"
Brothers3	4	"Safe & Sound"	2	"Like a Drum" with Guy Sebastian	7	"The Lucky Ones"
Dean Ray	9	"Bette Davis Eyes"	6	"Dear Darlin'" with Olly Murs	3	"Coming Back"

20 October

• Group performances:
  • "Dark Horse" (performed by top thirteen finalists)^[4]
  • "Beneath Your Beautiful" (performed by top two finalists)^[4]
• Celebrity performers: Olly Murs ("Wrapped Up"),^[4] Jessica Mauboy ("Can I Get a Moment?"),^[4] Guy Sebastian ("Mama Ain't Proud")^[4] and Taylor Swift ("Shake It Off")^[4]

Contestants' performances on the Grand Final decider

Act	Order	Best Moment[4]	Result
Brothers3	N/A	N/A (already eliminated)	Third place
Marlisa Punzalan	1	"Titanium"	Winner
Dean Ray	2	"Budapest"	Runner-up

Notes

• For the first time in season six, there was no theme for the grand final.
• On 25 October 2014, performances from the top three finalists entered the ARIA Singles Chart. Dean Ray's performance of "Bette Davis Eyes" debuted at number 33, Marlisa Punzalan's performance of "Yesterday" debuted at number 67, and Brothers3's performance of "Safe & Sound" debuted at number 82.^[61]

Charity single

In September 2014, the top six finalists and Australian pop group Justice Crew recorded a cover of Pharrell Williams' song "Happy" for the Sony Foundation's youth cancer program, You Can.^[62] Their version was released on the iTunes Store on 29 September 2014, as a charity single to help raise funds for You Can to establish specialised youth cancer centres across Australia.^[63][64]

Reception

Controversy and criticism

XOX were criticised by Keating and Redfoo after their performance of Deee-Lite's "Groove Is in the Heart" during the third live show.^[65] Redfoo said they look "like a pop act but it's not sounding like a pop act", while Keating said their performance was lacking and "just didn't feel it fired, it just didn't happen. You've got to get it right."^[66] However, Bassingthwaighte disagreed with their comments and said she loved the performance.^[65] The criticism divided the judging panel as "it quickly became a battle of the sexes".^[66][67] XOX's mentor Minogue told Keating that she was personally offended by his comments because she felt it was hypocritical as he did not like her criticising his acts.^[68] She then went on to say, "We took on board the feedback [from last week] so we took this song and did a club remix of it. If you're not used to that and you don't go to clubs anymore because you're too old then I'm sorry."^[65]

Following XOX's elimination in week four of the live shows, Minogue stated that she believed the group were the victim of unwarranted criticism, saying that "Other acts have faltered but have not had the same criticism. I feel really strongly about that."^[69] In an interview with TV Week, group member Nada-Leigh Nasser believed that Keating's consistently negative comments could have played a part in their elimination: "Ronan is very influential and his opinion does matter. We accept any criticism we get because we know it's all constructive in the end. But we do acknowledge that it would affect a lot of people's opinions."^[70]

More controversy occurred after Reigan Derry's performance of Radiohead's "Creep" during the ninth live show, when Minogue criticised Derry's outfit for being too oversexualised.^[71] Derry, who used to be a member of the girl band Scarlett Belle, had stated in her audition for The X Factor that she felt people did not get to see the real her because of how oversexualised the band was.^[72] Minogue told her: "I watched again your first audition and I listened to every word you said. You know, oversexualised and you just wanted to sing the song and you just wanted everybody to listen to your voice. In the close-ups of this outfit, if you don't want to be oversexualised...I'm getting mixed messages."^[71] Derry's mentor Redfoo defended her outfit by saying that it was not oversexualised, before taking aim at Minogue's outfit.^[71] He said, "Look what you're wearing! You want to talk about oversexualised, look what you're wearing! Let's get real. Let's get really real. This is see through!"^[73] During the ninth live decider show the following night, Redfoo apologised to Minogue for the comments he made about her outfit.^[74] Minogue accepted his apology and said "I've had a chat with Reigan and we've sorted it out. We are all moving on."^[74]

Ratings

Colour key:

     – Highest rating during the season

     – Lowest rating during the season

Week	Episode		Original airdate	Timeslot	Viewers (millions)	Nightly rank	Ref.
1	1	"Auditions"	2014-07-13 !13 July 2014	Sunday 6:32 pm–8:18 pm	1.226	#2	[75]
	2		2014-07-14 !14 July 2014	Monday 7:31 pm–9:10 pm	0.970	#8	[76]
	3		2014-07-15 !15 July 2014	Tuesday 7:32 pm–9:15 pm	1.245	#2	[77]
2	4		2014-07-20 !20 July 2014	Sunday 6:33 pm–8:20 pm	1.274	#4	[78]
	5		2014-07-22 !22 July 2014	Tuesday 7:32 pm–9:17 pm	1.166	#3	[79]
	6		2014-07-23 !23 July 2014	Wednesday 7:32 pm–9:16 pm	1.079	#4	[80]
3	7	"Super Bootcamp"	2014-07-27 !27 July 2014	Sunday 6:32 pm–8:16 pm	1.114	#5	[81]
	8		2014-07-29 !29 July 2014	Tuesday 7:35 pm–8:56 pm	1.107	#2	[82]
	9		2014-07-30 !30 July 2014	Wednesday 7:31 pm–9:05 pm	0.914	#6	[83]
4	10	"Home Visits"	2014-08-03 !3 August 2014	Sunday 6:32 pm–8:22 pm	1.035	#5	[84]
	11		2014-08-04 !4 August 2014	Monday 7:29 pm–9:07 pm	1.055	#6	[85]
	12		2014-08-05 !5 August 2014	Tuesday 7:32 pm–9:07 pm	1.088	#4	[86]
5	13	"Live show 1"	2014-08-10 !10 August 2014	Sunday 6:32 pm–9:14 pm	1.152	#4	[87]
	14	"Live decider 1"	2014-08-11 !11 August 2014	Monday 7:33 pm–8:47 pm	1.107	#4	[88]
6	15	"Live show 2"	2014-08-17 !17 August 2014	Sunday 6:32 pm–8:53 pm	1.129	#4	[89]
	16	"Live decider 2"	2014-08-18 !18 August 2014	Monday 7:31 pm–8:45 pm	1.078	#5	[90]
7	17	"Live show 3"	2014-08-24 !24 August 2014	Sunday 6:32 pm–8:52 pm	1.115	#5	[91]
	18	"Live decider 3"	2014-08-25 !25 August 2014	Monday 7:32 pm–8:47 pm	1.057	#5	[92]
8	19	"Live show 4"	2014-08-31 !31 August 2014	Sunday 6:32 pm–8:34 pm	1.115	#5	[93]
	20	"Live decider 4"	2014-09-01 !1 September 2014	Monday 7:31 pm–8:44 pm	1.167	#3	[94]
9	21	"Live show 5"	2014-09-07 !7 September 2014	Sunday 6:32 pm–8:31 pm	1.180	#4	[95]
	22	"Live decider 5"	2014-09-08 !8 September 2014	Monday 7:33 pm–8:57 pm	1.174	#6	[96]
10	23	"Live show 6"	2014-09-14 !14 September 2014	Sunday 6:32 pm–8:19 pm	1.202	#4	[97]
	24	"Live decider 6"	2014-09-15 !15 September 2014	Monday 7:37 pm–8:51 pm	1.142	#4	[98]
11	25	"Live show 7"	2014-09-21 !21 September 2014	Sunday 6:35 pm–8:08 pm	1.131	#5	[99]
	26	"Live decider 7"	2014-09-23 !23 September 2014	Tuesday 7:37 pm–8:59 pm	1.094	#4	[100]
12	27	"Live show 8"	2014-09-28 !28 September 2014	Sunday 6:35 pm–7:54 pm	1.113	#4	[101]
	28	"Live decider 8"	2014-09-29 !29 September 2014	Monday 7:33 pm–8:57 pm	1.161	#3	[102]
13	29	"Live show 9"	2014-10-05 !5 October 2014	Sunday 6:35 pm–8:50 pm	0.874	#7	[103]
	30	"Live decider 9"	2014-10-06 !6 October 2014	Monday 7:35 pm–8:50 pm	1.062	#6	[104]
14	31	"Live show 10"	2014-10-12 !12 October 2014	Sunday 6:35 pm–8:21 pm	1.187	#9	[105]
	32	"Live decider 10"	2014-10-13 !13 October 2014	Monday 7:32 pm–8:58 pm	1.302	#2	[106]
15	33	"Live Grand Final show"	2014-10-19 !19 October 2014	Sunday 8:01 pm–10:20 pm	1.316	#1	[107]
	34	"Live Grand Final decider"	2014-10-20 !20 October 2014	Monday 7:33 pm–9:49 pm	1.378	#2	[108]
		"Winner announced"			1.428	#1	[108]

References

External links

• The X Factor at Yahoo!7