# X Factor (Polish TV series) season 1

The first season of X Factor premiered on 6 March 2011 at 20:00 on TVN. The auditions for this season were held in January and February. Jarosław Kuźniar hosts the show and the judges are Czesław Mozil, Maja Sablewska and Kuba Wojewódzki. The series was won by Gienek Loska who was mentored by Czesław Mozil. The second place was taken by Michał Szpak and the third finalist was Ada Szulc.
Filming of the first season began with the first audition with judges and audience on 24 January in Zabrze. The live shows began on 24 April and the finale was broadcast on 5 June.

## Selection process
### Auditions

The first stage of the show were pre-auditions, held in four major cities across Poland. The candidates sang two chosen songs a cappella in the pre-auditions, where they were judged by the show's producers only. The judges didn't take part in pre-auditions and the performances were not filmed for the show at this stage. The candidates who had got through participated in the second stage of the auditions which took place in two cities. At this stage they performed in front of the judges and a live audience. Highlights from these auditions were broadcast on television during the initial programmes of the season.
| City | Venue | Pre-audition | Audition |
| Zabrze | House of Music and Dance | 8 January 2011 | 24–25 January 2011, 8–9 February 2011 |
| Wrocław | Hotel Mercure Panorama | 9 January 2011 | |
| Warsaw | Torwar Hall (Pre-audition) Dramatic Theatre (Audition) | 14 January 2011 | 4–5 February 2011 |
| Gdańsk | Baltic Philharmonic | 16 January 2011 | |
Viewers could take part in the auditions as members of the audience, by invitation, in Zabrze and Warsaw by sending an SMS.

### Bootcamp (10 April)

The second stage took place on 13 and 14 February in Warsaw. During the first day a hundred acts performed one chosen song from a list of twelve prepared by the judges. They performed in small groups depending on the song choice. Each contestant got a part to sing. The most popular songs were: You Can Leave Your Hat On by Joe Cocker, Apologize by OneRepublic, Cicho by Ewa Farna, Mercy by Duffy, Śniadanie Do Łóżka by Andrzej Piaseczny, A Night Like This by Caro Emerald and Rihanna’s Only Girl (In the World). Then the judges chose forty acts who got through to the second day of bootcamp. Other sixty contestants had to quit the competition and go home. However three solo girls who applied as soloists were offered to stay in the competition and perform as a group. The new girlband called By Mistake was formed. Remaining forty acts spent the night in a hotel in Warsaw. There they had time to prepare their bootcamp challenge. From the list of ten songs they had to choose one and perform in front of the judges next day. The most sung were: Konstelacje by Pin, Bad Romance by Lady Gaga, Sweet About Me by Gabriella Cilmi, Czas nie będzie czekał by Blue Cafe, and Light My Fire by The Doors. Then the judges made a decision again. They chose only fifteen acts, who got through to the judges' houses stage. After announcing the names, the fifteen lucky acts were divided into three categories, five acts in each. They waited in three rooms for their mentors to come. Eventually Czesław Mozil got the Over-25s, Maja Sablewska was given the Groups and Kuba Wojewódzki was asked to look after the 16-24s.

### Judges' houses (17 April)

Maja Sablewska was joined by Sebastian Karpiel-Bułecka, who helped her to choose her final three acts. Kuba Wojewódzki invited Alicja Bachleda-Curuś and Czesław Mozil was aided by Monika Brodka.
The six eliminated acts were:
* 16-24s: Anna Kłys, Ada Styrcz
* Over-25s: Marta Podulka, Wojciech Strzelecki
* Groups: De Pe, By Mistake
Contestants' performances on the judges' houses :
| Act | Song | Result |
| Over-25s |||
| William Malcolm | "We Didn't Start the Fire" | Through |
| Małgorzata Stankiewicz | "Ostatni" | Through |
| Wojciech Strzelecki | "Angie" | Eliminated |
| Gienek Loska | "Since I've Been Loving You" | Through |
| Marta Podulka | "The Time Is Now" | Eliminated |
| Groups |||
| Avocado | "Wonderful Life" | Through |
| By Mistake | "Another Way to Die" | Eliminated |
| Dziewczyny | "It's My Party" | Through |
| De Pe | "Paparazzi | Eliminated |
| Sweet Rebels | "Angel" | Through |
| 16-24s |||
| Michał Szpak | "Szczęśliwej drogi już czas" | Through |
| Anna Kłys | "All by Myself" | Eliminated |
| Ada Szulc | "Time After Time" | Through |
| Ada Styrcz | "Roxanne" | Eliminated |
| Mats Meguenni | "Bed of Roses" | Through |

## Categories and contestants

The top 9 contestants was revealed on 17 April 2011.
Key:
    – Winner
    – Runner-up
    – Third Place
| Category (mentor) | Acts | Acts | Acts |
| 16-24s (Wojewódzki) | Mats Meguenni | Ada Szulc | Michał Szpak |
| Over-25s (Mozil) | Gienek Loska | William Malcolm | Małgorzata Stankiewicz |
| Groups (Sablewska) | Avocado | Dziewczyny | Sweet Rebels |

## Live shows
### Results table

Contestants' colour key:
    – Czesław Mozil's contestants (over 25s)  – Kuba Wojewódzki's contestants (16–24s)  – Maja Sablewska's contestants (groups)
| | | Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 |
| | Gienek Loska | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Winner |
| | Michał Szpak | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Bottom two | Runner-up |
| | Ada Szulc | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Third place |
| | Małgorzata Stankiewicz | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Bottom two | Bottom two | Eliminated (Week 6) |
| | Dziewczyny | Safe | Safe | Safe | Bottom two | Bottom two | Eliminated (Week 5) | Eliminated (Week 5) |
| | Mats Meguenni | Safe | Safe | Bottom two | Bottom two | Eliminated (Week 4) | Eliminated (Week 4) | Eliminated (Week 4) |
| | Sweet Rebels | Bottom two | Bottom two | Bottom two | Eliminated (Week 3) | Eliminated (Week 3) | Eliminated (Week 3) | Eliminated (Week 3) |
| | William Malcolm | Safe | Bottom two | Eliminated (Week 2) | Eliminated (Week 2) | Eliminated (Week 2) | Eliminated (Week 2) | Eliminated (Week 2) |
| | Avocado | Bottom two | Eliminated (Week 1) | Eliminated (Week 1) | Eliminated (Week 1) | Eliminated (Week 1) | Eliminated (Week 1) | Eliminated (Week 1) |
| Bottom two | Bottom two | Sweet Rebels, Avocado | Sweet Rebels, William Malcolm | Sweet Rebels, Mats Meguenni | Mats Meguenni, Dziewczyny | Dziewczyny, Małgorzata Stankiewicz | Małgorzata Stankiewicz, Michał Szpak | No final showdown or judges' vote: results are based on public votes alone |
| | Wojewódzki's vote to save | Sweet Rebels | Sweet Rebels | Mats Meguenni | Mats Meguenni | Małgorzata Stankiewicz | Michał Szpak | No final showdown or judges' vote: results are based on public votes alone |
| | Sablewska's vote to save | N/A | Sweet Rebels | Sweet Rebels | Dziewczyny | Dziewczyny | N/A | No final showdown or judges' vote: results are based on public votes alone |
| | Mozil's vote to save | Sweet Rebels | William Malcolm | Mats Meguenni | Dziewczyny | Małgorzata Stankiewicz | Michał Szpak | No final showdown or judges' vote: results are based on public votes alone |
| Eliminated | Eliminated | Avocado 0 of 2 votes | William Malcolm 1 of 3 votes Minority | Sweet Rebels 1 of 3 votes Minority | Mats Meguenni 1 of 3 votes Minority | Dziewczyny 1 of 3 votes Minority | Małgorzata Stankiewicz 0 of 2 votes | Ada Szulc 15% to win |
| Eliminated | Eliminated | Avocado 0 of 2 votes | William Malcolm 1 of 3 votes Minority | Sweet Rebels 1 of 3 votes Minority | Mats Meguenni 1 of 3 votes Minority | Dziewczyny 1 of 3 votes Minority | Małgorzata Stankiewicz 0 of 2 votes | Michał Szpak 22% to win |
| Eliminated | Eliminated | Avocado 0 of 2 votes | William Malcolm 1 of 3 votes Minority | Sweet Rebels 1 of 3 votes Minority | Mats Meguenni 1 of 3 votes Minority | Dziewczyny 1 of 3 votes Minority | Małgorzata Stankiewicz 0 of 2 votes | Gienek Loska 63% to win |
* ^1 Sablewska refused to vote as the second one as two of her acts were in bottom two, so Mozil voted instead of her and then she did not have to choose as after two judges' vote there was already a majority.
* ^2 Sablewska was not asked to vote as after other judges' vote there was already a majority.

### Live show details
#### Week 1 (24 April)

* Theme: The Biggest Hits of All-Time
Contestants' performances on the first live show :
| Act | Order | Song | Result |
| William Malcolm | 1 | "Jesus He Knows Me" | Safe |
| Avocado | 2 | "Freedom" | Bottom two |
| Mats Meguenni | 3 | "Uptown Girl" | Safe |
| Małgorzata Stankiewicz | 4 | "Love Me Tender" | Safe |
| Sweet Rebels | 5 | "Venus" | Bottom two |
| Ada Szulc | 6 | "Don't Stop the Music" | Safe |
| Gienek Loska | 7 | "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" | Safe |
| Dziewczyny | 8 | "Georgia on My Mind" | Safe |
| Michał Szpak | 9 | "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" | Safe |
| Final showdown details ||||
| Sweet Rebels | 1 | "Holding Out for a Hero" | Safe |
| Avocado | 2 | "Relax" | Eliminated |

##### Judge's vote to save

* Wojewódzki: Sweet Rebels – gave no objective reason; mentioned that he had allergy to avocado
* Mozil: Sweet Rebels – thought that Sweet Rebels' performances 'mean something', unlike Avocado's performances
* Sablewska refused to vote as the second so Mozil voted instead of her and then she did not have to make a choice as after two judges' votes there was already a majority

#### Week 2 (1 May)

* Theme: Songs from films
Contestants' performances on the second live show :
| Act | Order | Song | Result |
| William Malcolm | 1 | "I'm a Believer" | Bottom two |
| Mats Meguenni | 2 | "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" | Safe |
| Sweet Rebels | 3 | "Mamma Mia" | Bottom two |
| Małgorzata Stankiewicz | 4 | "I Will Always Love You" | Safe |
| Michał Szpak | 5 | "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" | Safe |
| Dziewczyny | 6 | "All That Jazz" | Safe |
| Ada Szulc | 7 | "Love Is All Around" | Safe |
| Gienek Loska | 8 | "Layla" | Safe |
| Final showdown details ||||
| William Malcolm | 1 | "Hotel California" | Eliminated |
| Sweet Rebels | 2 | "Faith" | Safe |

##### Judge's vote to save

* Sablewska: Sweet Rebels – backed her own act
* Mozil: William Malcolm – backed his own act
* Wojewódzki: Sweet rebels – gave no reason

#### Week 3 (8 May)

* Theme: Love songs
Contestants' performances on the third live show :
| Act | Order | Song | Result |
| Mats Meguenni | 1 | "Careless Whisper" | Bottom two |
| Małgorzata Stankiewicz | 2 | "The Power of Love" | Safe |
| Sweet Rebels | 3 | "Isn't She Lovely?" | Bottom two |
| Michał Szpak | 4 | "You Are So Beautiful" | Safe |
| Gienek Loska | 5 | "When a Man Loves a Woman" | Safe |
| Dziewczyny | 6 | "Lovefool" | Safe |
| Ada Szulc | 7 | "Fields of Gold" | Safe |
| Final showdown details ||||
| Sweet Rebels | 1 | "If I Ain't Got You" | Eliminated |
| Mats Meguenni | 2 | "I'm Still Standing" | Safe |

##### Judge's vote to save

* Wojewódzki: Mats Meguenni – backed his own act
* Sablewska: Sweet rebels – backed her own act
* Mozil: Mats Meguenni - gave no reason

#### Week 4 (15 May)

* Theme: Big Band
* Group performance: "She Bangs"
Contestants' performances on the fourth live show :
| Act | Order | Song | Result |
| Małgorzata Stankiewicz | 1 | "Fly Me to the Moon" | Safe |
| Mats Meguenni | 2 | "You Know My Name" | Bottom two |
| Dziewczyny | 3 | "Sway" | Bottom two |
| Michał Szpak | 4 | "Fever" | Safe |
| Ada Szulc | 5 | "Feeling Good" | Safe |
| Gienek Loska | 6 | "My Way" | Safe |
| Final showdown details ||||
| Mats Meguenni | 1 | "It's My Life" | Eliminated |
| Dziewczyny | 2 | "Papaya" | Safe |

##### Judge's vote to save

* Wojewódzki: Mats Meguenni – backed his own act
* Sablewska: Dziewczyny – backed her own act
* Mozil: Dziewczyny – based on final showdown performances

#### Week 5 (22 May)

* Theme: Number-one hits; Polish songs
Contestants' performances on the fifth live show :
| Act | Order | First song | Order | Second song | Result |
| Dziewczyny | 1 | "Empire State of Mind" | 6 | "Szare miraże" | Bottom two |
| Małgorzata Stankiewicz | 2 | "Un-Break My Heart" | 7 | "Aleja gwiazd" | Bottom two |
| Ada Szulc | 3 | "Rolling in the Deep" | 8 | "Pod Papugami" | Safe |
| Michał Szpak | 4 | "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" | 9 | "Czas nas uczy pogody" | Safe |
| Gienek Loska | 5 | "One" | 10 | "Niepokonani" | Safe |
| Final showdown details ||||||
| Dziewczyny | 1 | "Brotha" | "Brotha" | "Brotha" | Eliminated |
| Małgorzata Stankiewicz | 2 | "Im więcej Ciebie, tym mniej" | "Im więcej Ciebie, tym mniej" | "Im więcej Ciebie, tym mniej" | Safe |

##### Judge's vote to save

* Mozil: Małgorzata Stankiewicz – backed his own act
* Sablewska: Dziewczyny – backed her own act
* Wojewódzki: Małgorzata Stankiewicz – stated that he believed Małgorzata Stankiewicz would make the stage bubble

#### Week 6: Semi-final (29 May)

* Theme: Biggest Pop music songs
Contestants' performances on the sixth live show :
| Act | Order | First song | Order | Second song | Result |
| Małgorzata Stankiewicz | 1 | "Moon River" | 5 | "Co mi Panie dasz?" | Bottom two |
| Ada Szulc | 2 | "The Sound of Silence" | 6 | "Ironic" | Safe |
| Michał Szpak | 3 | "Californication" | 7 | "Wspomnienie" | Bottom two |
| Gienek Loska | 4 | "Hello" | 8 | "Wymyśliłem Ciebie" | Safe |
| Final showdown details ||||||
| Małgorzata Stankiewicz | 1 | "Dmuchawce, latawce, wiatr" | "Dmuchawce, latawce, wiatr" | "Dmuchawce, latawce, wiatr" | Eliminated |
| Michał Szpak | 2 | "Imagine" | "Imagine" | "Imagine" | Safe |

##### Judge's vote to save

* Wojewódzki: Michał Szpak – backed his own act
* Mozil: Michał Szpak – based on the final showdown performance
* Sablewska was not asked to vote as after other judges' votes there was already a majority

#### Week 7: Final (5 June)

* Theme: No theme (songs the mentor and contestants believe will get them through the final); celebrity duets
* Celebrity duet performers:
** Basia Trzetrzelewska with Ada Szulc
** Maciej Maleńczuk with Gienek Loska
** Alexandra Burke with Michał Szpak
* Group performance: "Billionaire" (performed by all top 9 contestants)
* Celebrity performers: Alexandra Burke ("Bad Boys")
Contestants' performances on the final live show :
| Act | Order | First song | Order | Second song (duet) | Result |
| Ada Szulc | 1 | "Fields of Gold" | 4 | "A Gift" duet with Basia Trzetrzelewska | Eliminated |
| Gienek Loska | 2 | "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" | 5 | "You Can't Judge a Book by the Cover" duet with Maciej Maleńczuk | Winner |
| Michał Szpak | 3 | "You Are So Beautiful" | 6 | "Hallelujah" duet with Alexandra Burke | Runner-up |

## Ratings

| Episode | Date | Official rating 4+ | Share 4+ (%) | Official rating 16-49 | Share 16-49 (%) |
| Auditions 1 | 6 March | 4 302 923 | 24,10% | 2 495 031 | 31,43% |
| Auditions 2 | 13 March | 4 975 529 | 28,24% | 2 720 970 | 35,64% |
| Auditions 3 | 20 March | 4 741 172 | 26,50% | 2 565 091 | 32,06% |
| Auditions 4 | 27 March | 4 729 813 | 26,88% | 2 585 977 | 34,56% |
| Auditions 5 | 3 April | 4 554 344 | 26,81% | 2 498 301 | 34,33% |
| Bootcamp | 10 April | 5 514 716 | 32,73% | 3 033 737 | 40,14% |
| Judges' houses | 17 April | 4 391 736 | 26,47% | 2 435 742 | 34,84% |
| Live show 1 | 24 April | 3 863 978 | 24,67% | 2 010 928 | 30,56% |
| Live show 2 | 1 May | 3 785 429 | 22,62% | 2 224 629 | 30,50% |
| Live show 3 | 8 May | 4 382 362 | 27,30% | 2 445 186 | 34,78% |
| Live show 4 | 15 May | 4 309 266 | 26,67% | 2 363 216 | 33,49% |
| Live show 5 | 22 May | 4 221 245 | 28,83% | 2 261 164 | 35,52% |
| Live show 6 | 29 May | 4 457 276 | 29,59% | 2 373 473 | 36,74% |
| Live show 7 | 5 June | 4 694 085 | 31,68% | 2 658 075 | 41,73% |
| Average | 2011 | 4 476 818 | 27,35% | 2 465 433 | 34,71% |