# The X Factor (British TV series) series 5

The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. The fifth series was broadcast on ITV from 16 August 2008 until 13 December 2008. Dermot O'Leary returned to present the main show on ITV, while Fearne Cotton was replaced by Holly Willoughby as presenter of spin-off show The Xtra Factor on ITV2. Simon Cowell, Louis Walsh, and Dannii Minogue returned to the judging panel. Sharon Osbourne left after four series and was replaced by Cheryl Cole. The series was won by Alexandra Burke, with Cole emerging as the winning mentor, which also made Burke the first contestant from the Girls category to come first. Auditions in front of producers were held in April and May, with callbacks in front of the judges in June. The number of applicants for series 5 reached an all-time high with a reported 182,000 contestants auditioning. A number of well-established music acts from around the world, such as Beyoncé, Mariah Carey, Britney Spears, Girls Aloud, Take That, Il Divo, and series 3 winner Leona Lewis, performed during the live stages of the show.
Burke's prize, as winner, was a £1 million recording contract with Syco Music (a subsidiary of Sony BMG). Her debut single, "Hallelujah", written by Leonard Cohen, was released for digital download on 14 December 2008, with the physical format following on 17 December. It was later announced that her single had become the fastest-selling X Factor single at that time.
It was during auditions for the fifth series of the show that viewers were introduced to two teenagers: 15-year-old Jade Thirlwall, who would form one quarter of the winning act of series eight, Little Mix, and 14-year-old Liam Payne, who would become a member of boy band One Direction, formed in the seventh series.

## Judges, Presenters and Other Personnel

In February 2008, it was reported that Sharon Osbourne would not return as a judge for the fifth series. On 6 June, six days before filming was due to begin at the London auditions, ITV announced Osbourne's departure from the show. Media speculation over the reasons for Osbourne's departure alluded to rising tensions between her and fellow judge Dannii Minogue, as well as disputes over pay. When interviewed by Chris Moyles on BBC Radio 1, Osbourne said that it was "the best four years of [her] life" but felt that it was "time to move on."
On 10 June 2008, after Osbourne's departure, ITV confirmed that Girls Aloud singer Cheryl Cole was the new judge and Osbourne's replacement for series 5. Minogue praised the new judge, saying, "She's very knowledgeable about music and I think she's going to bring a new side to the show." Cowell is reported by Minogue to feel that Cole's voiced opinions are something "which he loves".
Dermot O'Leary returned to present the main ITV show, choosing to leave other projects, including his ongoing role as the host of Big Brother's Little Brother, to concentrate on The X Factor. The Xtra Factor presenter Fearne Cotton left after series 4, having presented for only one series, to be replaced by Holly Willoughby. Brian Friedman returned as choreographer and performance coach (billed as "Creative Director"), along with Yvie Burnett as vocal coach.

## Selection process
### Auditions

A reported "record-breaking" 182,000 applied for series 5, with filming for auditions in front of judges taking place in June/July 2008. Auditions were held in the cities of London, Birmingham, Manchester, Cardiff, and Glasgow.
Due to her commitments with Australia's Got Talent, Minogue was absent from some of the auditions in Birmingham and Cardiff but was not replaced.

### Bootcamp

As in series 4, all four judges worked together at the bootcamp stage of the competition. This took place at indigO$_2$ at The O$_2$ in Greenwich, London on 4 August 2008, and was televised in two episodes on 27 and 28 September 2008. Contestants are said to have stayed in a nearby hotel in Blackheath.
During bootcamp, around 150 contestants were whittled down to 24 who advanced to the next round, six in each category. After completion of bootcamp, the judges were told the category that they were to mentor. Cowell was given the Boys, Walsh the Groups, Minogue the Over 25s, and Cole the Girls.

### Judges' houses

This round was filmed in late August and early September and was broadcast over two shows on 4 and 5 October. As in previous years, the judges welcomed the top six contestants from their selected category to their "homes". Each act had one chance to impress their mentor who, along with a guest judge, had the task of selecting which three contestants were to go through to the live shows and which three would be sent home. For her guest judge, Minogue chose former Spice Girls member and Emma Bunton, Cole chose her fellow Girls Aloud member Kimberly Walsh, Cowell chose singer Sinitta, and Walsh chose Shane Filan from Westlife.

#### Judges Houses Performances

* Contestant in bold advanced
Boys:
* Eoghan: "Father and Son"
* Liam: "A Million Love Songs"
* Mali: "All in Love Is Fair"
* Austin: "She's Out of My Life"
* Scott: "I Can't Make You Love Me"
* Alan: "All or Nothing"
Over 25s:
* Daniel: "Against All Odds"
* Ruth: "True Colors"
* Louise: "I Say a Little Prayer"
* James: "Mr. Bojangles"
* Suzie: "One Day I'll Fly Away"
* Rachel: "Beautiful"
Groups:
* 4Instinct: "Rockin' Robin"
* Girlband: "Valerie"
* JLS: "No Air"
* Priority: "Umbrella"
* Bad Lashes: "Wonderwall"
* Desire: "Shine"
Girls:
* Diana: "Nothing Compares 2 U"
* Amy: "Sweet About Me"
* Hannah: "Piece of My Heart"
* Laura: "Cry Me a River"
* Annastasia: "Oh Baby I..."
* Alexandra: "Listen"
Summary of judges' houses :
| Judge | Category | Location | Assistant | Contestants Eliminated |
| Cole | Girls | Cannes | Kimberley Walsh | Annastasia Baker, Hannah Bradbeer, Amy Connelly |
| Cowell | Boys | Barbados | Sinitta | Mali-Michael McCalla, Liam Payne, Alan Turner |
| Minogue | Over 25s | Saint-Tropez | Emma Bunton | Suzie Furlonger, Louise Heatly, James Williams |
| Walsh | Groups | Castle Leslie, Ireland | Shane Filan | 4Instinct, Desire, Priority |

## Contestants

Key:
    – Winner
    – Runner-Up
| Contestant | Age(s) | Hometown | Category (mentor) | Result |
| Alexandra Burke | 20 | London | Girls (Cole) | Winner |
| JLS | 20–23 | London and Peterborough | Groups (Walsh) | Runner-up |
| Eoghan Quigg | 16 | Dungiven, Northern Ireland | Boys (Cowell) | 3rd place |
| Diana Vickers | 17 | Accrington | Girls (Cole) | 4th place |
| Ruth Lorenzo | 26 | Murcia, Spain | Over 25s (Minogue) | 5th place |
| Rachel Hylton | 27 | London | Over 25s (Minogue) | 6th place |
| Daniel Evans | 39 | Leyton | Over 25s (Minogue) | 7th place |
| Laura White | 21 | Atherton, Greater Manchester | Girls (Cole) | 8th place |
| Austin Drage | 22 | Grays, Essex | Boys (Cowell) | 9th place |
| Scott Bruton | 19 | Manchester | Boys (Cowell) | 10th place |
| Girlband | 18–22 | Various | Groups (Walsh) | 11th place |
| Bad Lashes | 19–24 | Various | Groups (Walsh) | 12th place |

## Live shows

The live shows began on 11 October 2008 and continued through to the finale on 13 December 2008. An added twist for this series, confirmed on the first live show, was that contestants in the bottom-two showdown sang a new song of their own choosing, rather than repeating the song they performed in the first part of the show.

### Musical guests

Leon Jackson performed on the first live show, promoting his second single "Don't Call This Love". Girls Aloud performed their new single "The Promise" on the second show on 18 October. Will Young performed his new song "Grace" on 1 November. Mariah Carey appeared on 8 November and performed her new single "I Stay in Love", plus a special version of "Hero" with 11 of the finalists (Diana Vickers was ill with laryngitis so could not perform). Leona Lewis appeared the week after and performed her new single "Run". Take That performed on 22 November show, as did series 4 last eliminated contestant Same Difference, who performed their debut single, and series 4 runner-up Rhydian Roberts, who sang a track from his debut album. On 29 November show, in the main programme Miley Cyrus performed her single "7 Things", whereas Britney Spears performed her new single "Womanizer" during the result show. On 6 December show, Il Divo sung their latest single "Amazing Grace" from their new album.
Boyzone, Westlife, and Beyoncé were guests on the final show where they duetted with the finalists, with Knowles performing "Listen" with Alexandra Burke. Beyoncé also performed "If I Were a Boy" in the final result show.

### Results summary
#### Colour key

Contestant in Boys
Contestant in Girls
Contestant in Over 25s
Contestant in Groups
| – | Contestant was in the bottom two and had to sing again in the final showdown |
| – | Contestant received the fewest public votes and was immediately eliminated (no final showdown) |
| – | Contestant received the most public votes |
| – | Contestant was given a bye and automatically advanced to the following week |
Weekly results per act :
| Act | Act | Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Quarter-Final | Semi-Final | Final | Final |
| Act | Act | Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Quarter-Final | Semi-Final | First Vote | Second Vote |
| | Alexandra Burke | 6th 7.20% | 7th 7.15% | 6th 8.83% | 6th 8.82% | 2nd 18.35% | 4th 13.31% | 4th 14.97% | 1st 24.53% | 2nd 31.04% | 1st 44.02% | Winner 58.34% |
| | JLS | 7th 5.03% | 3rd 9.21% | 4th 10.81% | 2nd 17.00% | 4th 13.26% | 5th 9.91% | 5th 11.75% | 2nd 24.34% | 1st 35.03% | 2nd 30.65% | Runner-Up 41.66% |
| | Eoghan Quigg | 1st 21.19% | 1st 26.77% | 1st 20.73% | 1st 19.81% | 1st 27.39% | 2nd 19.56% | 1st 31.79% | 3rd 19.58% | 3rd 21.14% | 3rd 19.58% | Eliminated (final) |
| | Diana Vickers | 4th 7.35% | 2nd 16.24% | 2nd 15.13% | 3rd 15.24% | Given bye | 1st 31.30% | 2nd 18.94% | 4th 16.32% | 4th 12.79% | Eliminated (semi-final) | Eliminated (semi-final) |
| | Ruth Lorenzo | 10th 3.47% | 10th 2.95% | 5th 8.93% | 5th 10.25% | 7th 6.94% | 3rd 13.91% | 3rd 16.07% | 5th 15.23% | Eliminated (quarter-final) | Eliminated (quarter-final) | Eliminated (quarter-final) |
| | Rachel Hylton | 8th 4.77% | 8th 5.01% | 3rd 12.21% | 9th 3.81% | 5th 10.39% | 7th 4.48% | 6th 6.48% | Eliminated (week 7) | Eliminated (week 7) | Eliminated (week 7) | Eliminated (week 7) |
| | Daniel Evans | 5th 7.21% | 6th 8.23% | 9th 5.94% | 4th 10.83% | 3rd 13.77% | 6th 7.53% | Eliminated (week 6) | Eliminated (week 6) | Eliminated (week 6) | Eliminated (week 6) | Eliminated (week 6) |
| | Laura White | 3rd 16.99% | 4th 8.99% | 7th 7.53% | 7th 7.38% | 6th 9.90% | Eliminated (week 5) | Eliminated (week 5) | Eliminated (week 5) | Eliminated (week 5) | Eliminated (week 5) | Eliminated (week 5) |
| | Austin Drage | 9th 3.63% | 5th 8.98% | 8th 6.22% | 8th 6.86% | Eliminated (week 4) | Eliminated (week 4) | Eliminated (week 4) | Eliminated (week 4) | Eliminated (week 4) | Eliminated (week 4) | Eliminated (week 4) |
| | Scott Bruton | 2nd 19.48% | 9th 4.17% | 10th 3.67% | Eliminated (week 3) | Eliminated (week 3) | Eliminated (week 3) | Eliminated (week 3) | Eliminated (week 3) | Eliminated (week 3) | Eliminated (week 3) | Eliminated (week 3) |
| | Girlband | 11th 2.17% | 11th 2.30% | Eliminated (week 2) | Eliminated (week 2) | Eliminated (week 2) | Eliminated (week 2) | Eliminated (week 2) | Eliminated (week 2) | Eliminated (week 2) | Eliminated (week 2) | Eliminated (week 2) |
| | Bad Lashes | 12th 1.51% | Eliminated (week 1) | Eliminated (week 1) | Eliminated (week 1) | Eliminated (week 1) | Eliminated (week 1) | Eliminated (week 1) | Eliminated (week 1) | Eliminated (week 1) | Eliminated (week 1) | Eliminated (week 1) |
| Final Showdown | Final Showdown | Bad Lashes, Girlband | Girlband, Lorenzo | Bruton, Evans | Drage, Hylton | Lorenzo, White | Evans, Hylton | Hylton, JLS | No final showdown or judges' votes: results were based on public votes alone | No final showdown or judges' votes: results were based on public votes alone | No final showdown or judges' votes: results were based on public votes alone | No final showdown or judges' votes: results were based on public votes alone |
| Walsh's vote to eliminate (Groups) | Walsh's vote to eliminate (Groups) | Bad Lashes | Lorenzo | Bruton | Drage | White | Evans | Hylton | No final showdown or judges' votes: results were based on public votes alone | No final showdown or judges' votes: results were based on public votes alone | No final showdown or judges' votes: results were based on public votes alone | No final showdown or judges' votes: results were based on public votes alone |
| Minogue's vote to eliminate (Over 25s) | Minogue's vote to eliminate (Over 25s) | Girlband | Girlband | Bruton | Drage | White | — | JLS | No final showdown or judges' votes: results were based on public votes alone | No final showdown or judges' votes: results were based on public votes alone | No final showdown or judges' votes: results were based on public votes alone | No final showdown or judges' votes: results were based on public votes alone |
| Cole's vote to eliminate (Girls) | Cole's vote to eliminate (Girls) | Girlband | Girlband | Bruton | Drage | Lorenzo | Evans | Hylton | No final showdown or judges' votes: results were based on public votes alone | No final showdown or judges' votes: results were based on public votes alone | No final showdown or judges' votes: results were based on public votes alone | No final showdown or judges' votes: results were based on public votes alone |
| Cowell's vote to eliminate (Boys) | Cowell's vote to eliminate (Boys) | Bad Lashes | Lorenzo | Evans | Hylton | White | Evans | Hylton | No final showdown or judges' votes: results were based on public votes alone | No final showdown or judges' votes: results were based on public votes alone | No final showdown or judges' votes: results were based on public votes alone | No final showdown or judges' votes: results were based on public votes alone |
| Eliminated | Eliminated | Bad Lashes 2 of 4 votes Deadlock | Girlband 2 of 4 votes Deadlock | Scott Bruton 3 of 4 votes Majority | Austin Drage 3 of 4 votes Majority | Laura White 3 of 4 votes Majority | Daniel Evans 3 of 3 votes Majority | Rachel Hylton 3 of 4 votes Majority | Ruth Lorenzo 15.23% to save | Diana Vickers 12.79% to save | Eoghan Quigg 25.33% to save | JLS 41.66% to win |
The total number of votes cast for the entire series was 16,469,064.
^1 Due to illness, Diana Vickers did not perform during week 5 and automatically advanced to week 6. ^2 Minogue was not required to vote as there was already a majority.

### Live show details
#### Week 1 (11 October)

* Theme: UK or USA number-one singles
* Musical guest: Leon Jackson ("Don't Call This Love")
* Best bits song: "Never Had a Dream Come True"
Contestants' performances on the first live show :
| Contestant | Category (mentor) | Order | Song | Country | Result |
| Girlband | Groups (Walsh) | 1 | "Venus" | UK | Bottom Two |
| Austin Drage | Boys (Cowell) | 2 | "Every Breath You Take" | UK | Safe |
| Daniel Evans | Over 25s (Minogue) | 3 | "I Want to Know What Love Is" | USA | Safe |
| Alexandra Burke | Girls (Cole) | 4 | "I Wanna Dance with Somebody" | USA | Safe |
| JLS | Groups (Walsh) | 5 | "I'll Make Love to You" | USA | Safe |
| Scott Bruton | Boys (Cowell) | 6 | "Yeh Yeh" | UK | Safe |
| Rachel Hylton | Over 25s (Minogue) | 7 | "With Every Heartbeat" | UK | Safe |
| Diana Vickers | Girls (Cole) | 8 | "With or Without You" | USA | Safe |
| Bad Lashes | Groups (Walsh) | 9 | "It Must Have Been Love" | USA | Bottom Two |
| Eoghan Quigg | Boys (Cowell) | 10 | "Imagine" | UK | Safe (Highest Votes) |
| Ruth Lorenzo | Over 25s (Minogue) | 11 | "Take My Breath Away" | USA | Safe |
| Laura White | Girls (Cole) | 12 | "Fallin'" | USA | Safe |
| Final showdown details ||||||
| Girlband | Groups (Walsh) | 1 | "That's What Friends Are For" | "That's What Friends Are For" | Saved |
| Bad Lashes | Groups (Walsh) | 2 | "Wonderwall" | "Wonderwall" | Eliminated |

##### Judges' votes to eliminate

* Cowell: Bad Lashes – gave no reason but described both contestants as "shocking"; he later stated on The Xtra Factor that he felt Girlband had shown more emotion in their final showdown performance due to being shown in an earlier slot to be overlooked by the public.
* Cole: Girlband – gave no reason.
* Minogue: Girlband – gave no reason.
* Walsh: Bad Lashes – could not decide between two of his own contestants so chose to take the vote to deadlock.
With the contestants in the bottom two receiving two votes each, the result went to deadlock and reverted to the earlier public vote. Bad Lashes were eliminated as the contestant with the fewest public votes.

#### Week 2 (18 October)

* Theme: Michael Jackson
* Musical guest: Girls Aloud ("The Promise")
* Best bits song: "I’ll Stand by You"
Contestants' performances on the second live show :
| Contestant | Category (mentor) | Order | Song | Result |
| Alexandra Burke | Girls (Cole) | 1 | "I'll Be There" | Safe |
| Scott Bruton | Boys (Cowell) | 2 | "She's Out of My Life" | Safe |
| Ruth Lorenzo | Over 25s (Minogue) | 3 | "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" | Bottom Two |
| Girlband | Groups (Walsh) | 4 | "Heal the World" | Bottom Two |
| Laura White | Girls (Cole) | 5 | "You Are Not Alone" | Safe |
| Austin Drage | Boys (Cowell) | 6 | "Billie Jean" | Safe |
| Daniel Evans | Over 25s (Minogue) | 7 | "One Day in Your Life" | Safe |
| JLS | Groups (Walsh) | 8 | "The Way You Make Me Feel" | Safe |
| Diana Vickers | Girls (Cole) | 9 | "Man in the Mirror" | Safe |
| Rachel Hylton | Over 25s (Minogue) | 10 | "Dirty Diana" | Safe |
| Eoghan Quigg | Boys (Cowell) | 11 | "Ben" | Safe (Highest Votes) |
| Final showdown details |||||
| Ruth Lorenzo | Over 25s (Minogue) | 1 | "Purple Rain" | Saved |
| Girlband | Groups (Walsh) | 2 | "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" | Eliminated |

##### Judges' votes to eliminate

* Walsh: Ruth Lorenzo – backed his own contestant, Girlband.
* Minogue: Girlband – backed her own contestant, Ruth Lorenzo.
* Cole: Girlband – based on the final showdown performances.
* Cowell: Ruth Lorenzo – chose to take the vote to deadlock as he wanted to give Girlband a second chance whereas he felt Lorenzo did not "play to her strengths".
With the acts in the bottom two receiving two votes each, the result went to deadlock and reverted to the earlier public vote. Girlband were eliminated as the contestant with the fewest public votes. During the show, a mistake was made in one of the overlays and Lorenzo's number was briefly displayed incorrectly, meaning any calls to that number would not have registered a vote. After the show, viewers complained that they had dialled this incorrect number and could not get through to vote for Lorenzo, but ITV insisted the issue should not have made any difference to the overall result as Lorenzo received more votes than Girlband and advanced to the third week after the result went to deadlock.

#### Week 3 (25 October)

* Theme: Big band
* Group performance: "Hero"
* Best Bits song: "Shine"
Contestants' performances on the third live show :
| Contestant | Category (mentor) | Order | Song | Big Band Artist | Result |
| Scott Bruton | Boys (Cowell) | 1 | "That's Life" | Frank Sinatra | Bottom Two |
| Daniel Evans | Over 25s (Minogue) | 2 | "The Lady Is a Tramp" | Mitzi Green | Bottom Two |
| Laura White | Girls (Cole) | 3 | "God Bless the Child" | Billie Holiday | Safe |
| Eoghan Quigg | Boys (Cowell) | 4 | "L-O-V-E" | Nat King Cole | Safe (Highest Votes) |
| Ruth Lorenzo | Over 25s (Minogue) | 5 | "Summertime" | Ella Fitzgerald | Safe |
| Alexandra Burke | Girls (Cole) | 6 | "Candyman" | Christina Aguilera | Safe |
| Austin Drage | Boys (Cowell) | 7 | "Mack the Knife" | Bobby Darin | Safe |
| JLS | Groups (Walsh) | 8 | "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?" | Dean Martin | Safe |
| Diana Vickers | Girls (Cole) | 9 | "Smile" | Charlie Chaplin | Safe |
| Rachel Hylton | Over 25s (Minogue) | 10 | "Feeling Good" | Nina Simone | Safe |
| Final showdown details ||||||
| Scott Bruton | Boys (Cowell) | 1 | "I Can't Make You Love Me" | "I Can't Make You Love Me" | Eliminated |
| Daniel Evans | Over 25s (Minogue) | 2 | "To Where You Are" | "To Where You Are" | Saved |

##### Judges' votes to eliminate

* Cowell: Daniel Evans – backed his own contestant, Scott Bruton.
* Cole: Scott Bruton – said that she felt the "belief and passion" in Evans' performance.
* Minogue: Scott Bruton – backed her own contestant, Daniel Evans, whom she stated sang the best in the sing off.
* Walsh: Scott Bruton – commented that Evans "sang every word like he meant it".

#### Week 4 (1 November)

* Theme: Disco
* Musical guest: Will Young ("Grace")
* Best Bits song: "Rule the World"
Contestants' performances on the fourth live show :
| Contestant | Category (mentor) | Order | Song | Result |
| Rachel Hylton | Over 25s (Minogue) | 1 | "Lost in Music" | Bottom Two |
| Austin Drage | Boys (Cowell) | 2 | "Wishing on a Star" | Bottom Two |
| Diana Vickers | Girls (Cole) | 3 | "Call Me" | Safe |
| Daniel Evans | Over 25s (Minogue) | 4 | "Don't Leave Me This Way" | Safe |
| Laura White | Girls (Cole) | 5 | "Somebody Else's Guy" | Safe |
| Eoghan Quigg | Boys (Cowell) | 6 | "Could It Be Magic" | Safe (Highest Votes) |
| Ruth Lorenzo | Over 25s (Minogue) | 7 | "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)" | Safe |
| Alexandra Burke | Girls (Cole) | 8 | "On the Radio" | Safe |
| JLS | Groups (Walsh) | 9 | "Working My Way Back To You"/"Forgive Me Girl" | Safe |
| Final showdown details |||||
| Rachel Hylton | Over 25s (Minogue) | 1 | "No More Drama" | Saved |
| Austin Drage | Boys (Cowell) | 2 | "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" | Eliminated |

##### Judges' votes to eliminate

* Cowell: Rachel Hylton – backed his own contestant, Austin Drage.
* Cole: Austin Drage – stated she was prepared to give Hylton a "moment to shine".
* Minogue: Austin Drage – backed her own contestant, Rachel Hylton.
* Walsh: Austin Drage – said Hylton had more to give to the competition and was more of a "raw talent".
However, voting statistics revealed that Drage received more votes than Hylton which meant that if Walsh sent the result to deadlock, Drage would have been saved.

#### Week 5 (8 November)

* Theme: Mariah Carey
* Guest Mentor: Mariah Carey
* Musical guest: Mariah Carey ("I Stay in Love" / "Hero")
* Best Bits song: "A Moment Like This"
Contestants' performances on the fifth live show :
| Contestant | Category (mentor) | Order | Song | Result |
| Eoghan Quigg | Boys (Cowell) | 1 | "Anytime You Need a Friend" | Safe (Highest Votes) |
| Ruth Lorenzo | Over 25s (Minogue) | 2 | "My All" | Bottom Two |
| Laura White | Girls (Cole) | 3 | "Endless Love" | Bottom Two |
| Rachel Hylton | Over 25s (Minogue) | 4 | "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" | Safe |
| Diana Vickers | Girls (Cole) | 5 | Bye Week | Automatically Advanced |
| JLS | Groups (Walsh) | 6 | "One Sweet Day" | Safe |
| Daniel Evans | Over 25s (Minogue) | 7 | "Open Arms" | Safe |
| Alexandra Burke | Girls (Cole) | 8 | "Without You" | Safe |
| Final showdown details |||||
| Ruth Lorenzo | Over 25s (Minogue) | 1 | "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" | Saved |
| Laura White | Girls (Cole) | 2 | "Over the Rainbow" | Eliminated |
^1 Due to illness, Diana Vickers did not perform and automatically advanced to the following week. She was due to perform fifth and would have performed "Always Be My Baby".

##### Judges' votes to eliminate

* Cowell: Laura White – gave no reason but commented that both acts "were not the worst singers of the night".
* Cole: Ruth Lorenzo – backed her own contestant, Laura White.
* Minogue: Laura White – backed her own contestant, Ruth Lorenzo.
* Walsh: Laura White – commented that Lorenzo was "more of a fighter".
However, voting statistics revealed that White received more votes than Lorenzo which meant that if Walsh sent the result to deadlock, White would have been saved.

#### Week 6 (15 November)

* Theme: British classics
* Musical guest: Leona Lewis ("Run")
* Best Bits song: "Footprints in the Sand"
Contestants' performances on the sixth live show :
| Contestant | Category (mentor) | Order | Song | British Artist | Result |
| Daniel Evans | Over 25s (Minogue) | 1 | "It's Not Unusual" | Tom Jones | Bottom Two |
| Alexandra Burke | Girls (Cole) | 2 | "You Are So Beautiful" | Joe Cocker | Safe |
| JLS | Groups (Walsh) | 3 | "I Want to Hold Your Hand"/"Twist and Shout"/"Hey Jude" | The Beatles | Safe |
| Rachel Hylton | Over 25s (Minogue) | 4 | "You Know I'm No Good" | Amy Winehouse | Bottom Two |
| Eoghan Quigg | Boys (Cowell) | 5 | "One More Try" | George Michael | Safe |
| Diana Vickers | Girls (Cole) | 6 | "Yellow" | Coldplay | Safe (Highest Votes) |
| Ruth Lorenzo | Over 25s (Minogue) | 7 | "Angels" | Robbie Williams | Safe |
| Final showdown details ||||||
| Daniel Evans | Over 25s (Minogue) | 1 | "Bridge over Troubled Water" | "Bridge over Troubled Water" | Eliminated |
| Rachel Hylton | Over 25s (Minogue) | 2 | "One" | "One" | Saved |

##### Judges' votes to eliminate

* Walsh: Daniel Evans – gave no reason but had constantly criticised Evans throughout the competition.
* Cole: Daniel Evans – stated that she had seen a spark back from Hylton this week.
* Cowell: Daniel Evans – gave no reason though commented that Hylton "threw it away" with her last performance and that he would have liked to see her perform with more passion; he later stated on The Xtra Factor that he wanted to save Hylton as she was one of his favorite acts in the competition.
* Minogue was not required to vote as there was already a majority; she stated she would have chosen to take the vote to deadlock as both contestants were in her category.
However, voting statistics revealed than Evans received more votes than Hylton which meant that if the result went to deadlock, Evans would have been saved.

#### Week 7 (22 November)

* Theme: Take That
* Guest Mentors: Gary Barlow & Mark Owen
* Musical guests: Take That ("Greatest Day"), Same Difference ("We R One") and Rhydian ("The Impossible Dream")
* Best Bits song: "When You Believe"
Contestants' performances on the seventh live show :
| Contestant | Category (mentor) | Order | Song | Result |
| Alexandra Burke | Girls (Cole) | 1 | "Relight My Fire" | Safe |
| Ruth Lorenzo | Over 25s (Minogue) | 2 | "Love Ain't Here Anymore" | Safe |
| JLS | Groups (Walsh) | 3 | "A Million Love Songs" | Bottom Two |
| Rachel Hylton | Over 25s (Minogue) | 4 | "Rule the World" | Bottom Two |
| Diana Vickers | Girls (Cole) | 5 | "Patience" | Safe |
| Eoghan Quigg | Boys (Cowell) | 6 | "Never Forget" | Safe (Highest Votes) |
| Final showdown details |||||
| JLS | Groups (Walsh) | 1 | "Stand by Me"/"Beautiful Girls" | Saved |
| Rachel Hylton | Over 25s (Minogue) | 2 | "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" | Eliminated |

##### Judges' votes to eliminate

* Walsh: Rachel Hylton – backed his own contestant, JLS.
* Minogue: JLS – gave no reason but effectively backed her own contestant, Rachel Hylton.
* Cole: Rachel Hylton – said JLS would go further in the competition though stated that it had been the best Hylton had sung since the auditions.
* Cowell: Rachel Hylton – stated that this was Hylton's third time in the bottom two and that JLS should not have been in the final showdown.
JLS had previously been rehearsing to sing "Rule the World", with the approval of their mentor, Walsh. Contrary to this, Minogue, who had higher priority in the judges' song-selection rota, selected the song for her artist Hylton to sing. This led to an on-screen argument between Minogue and Walsh.

#### Week 8: Quarter-Final (29 November)

* Themes: Britney Spears; American classics
* Musical guests: Miley Cyrus ("7 Things") and Britney Spears ("Womanizer")
* Best Bits song: "Don't Wanna Lose You"
Contestants' performances in the quarter-final :
| Contestant | Category (mentor) | Order | First song | Order | Second song | American Artist | Result |
| Ruth Lorenzo | Over 25s (Minogue) | 1 | "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" | 6 | "Always" | Bon Jovi | Eliminated |
| JLS | Groups (Walsh) | 2 | "...Baby One More Time" | 7 | "You Light Up My Life" | Whitney Houston | Safe |
| Alexandra Burke | Girls (Cole) | 3 | "Toxic" | 8 | "Listen" | Beyoncé | Safe (Highest Votes) |
| Eoghan Quigg | Boys (Cowell) | 4 | "Sometimes" | 9 | "We're All in This Together" | The Cast of High School Musical | Safe |
| Diana Vickers | Girls (Cole) | 5 | "I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman" | 10 | "Everybody Hurts" | R.E.M | Safe |
The quarter-final did not feature a final showdown and instead the contestant with the fewest public votes, Ruth Lorenzo, was automatically eliminated.

#### Week 9: Semi-Final (6 December)

* Themes: Mentor's choice; contestant's choice
* Musical guest: Il Divo ("Amazing Grace")
* Best bits song: "Breakaway"
Contestants' performances in the semi-final :
| Contestant | Category (mentor) | Order | First song | Order | Second song | Result |
| Eoghan Quigg | Boys (Cowell) | 1 | "Year 3000" | 5 | "Does Your Mother Know" | Safe |
| Diana Vickers | Girls (Cole) | 2 | "Girlfriend" | 6 | "White Flag" | Eliminated |
| Alexandra Burke | Girls (Cole) | 3 | "Don't Stop the Music" | 7 | "Un-Break My Heart" | Safe |
| JLS | Groups (Walsh) | 4 | "Umbrella" | 8 | "I'm Already There" | Safe (Highest Votes) |
The semi-final did not feature a final showdown and instead the contestant with the fewest public votes, Diana Vickers, was automatically eliminated.

#### Week 10: Final (13 December)

* Themes: Christmas songs; celebrity duets; song of the series; winner's single
* Group performances: "I Have a Dream" (auditioned contestants) and "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" (top 12 contestants)
* Musical guest: Beyoncé ("If I Were a Boy")
* Best bits songs: "All or Nothing" (Eoghan Quigg), "End of the Road" (JLS) & "The Voice Within" (Alexandra Burke)
Contestants' performances in the final :
| Contestant | Category (mentor) | Order | First song | Order | Second song | Duet Partner | Order | Third song | Order | Fourth song | Result |
| Eoghan Quigg | Boys (Cowell) | 1 | "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday" | 4 | "Picture of You" | Boyzone | 7 | "We're All in This Together" | N/A | N/A (already eliminated) | Eliminated |
| JLS | Groups (Walsh) | 2 | "Last Christmas" | 5 | "Flying Without Wings" | Westlife | 8 | "I'm Already There" | 10 | "Hallelujah" | Runner-Up |
| Alexandra Burke | Girls (Cole) | 3 | "Silent Night" | 6 | "Listen" | Beyoncé | 9 | "You Are So Beautiful" | 11 | "Hallelujah" | Winner |

## Charity single

The twelve contestants together recorded a cover version of Mariah Carey's 1993 hit "Hero" in support of the Help for Heroes charity. The single was available for download from 25 October 2008, after the top 12 contestants performed the song live on that night's show. It was released in stores on 27 October, and Simon Cowell predicted it "will go straight to the top of the charts". In the first week of its release it went straight to number 1 and sold 313,244 copies, more than the rest of the top ten combined.

## Reception
### Ratings

Viewing figures for series 5 were, at the time of airing, the highest ever for any X Factor series, about 20% up on the previous series. This, however, was beaten by the sixth series the following year.
The first show of the series had the highest launch audience for any series, peaking at over 12 million viewers. The entire Auditions phase officially averaged 9.9m, a rise of 1.2m over the previous series.
The Bootcamp episodes performed well in the ratings; although the Saturday episode was beaten for the first time by Strictly Come Dancing, the Sunday episode restored the balance. The Saturday Judges' houses episode had the highest audience since the opening show, and the Sunday episode had a lower rating but still exceeded that of Strictly Come Dancing. The entire bootcamp and judges' houses phase officially averaged 9.8m, a rise of 2.5m over the previous series.
The live shows pulled in very strong audiences, often rating as the most watched programme of the week. The final was the second most watched television programme of 2008 with 14.06m viewers.
Series 5 of The X Factor officially averaged 10.5m, at the time becoming the most watched British talent series of the 21st century.
| Episode | Air date | Official ITV1 rating | Weekly rank | Share |
| Auditions 1 | 16 August | 10.78 | 1 | 48.2% |
| Auditions 2 | 23 August | 10.10 | 1 | 45.4% |
| Auditions 3 | 30 August | 8.80 | 2 | 43.5% |
| Auditions 4 | 6 September | 9.57 | 1 | 42.8% |
| Auditions 5 | 13 September | 9.96 | 1 | 43.2% |
| Auditions 6 | 20 September | 10.01 | 1 | 41.7% |
| Bootcamp 1 | 27 September | 8.94 | 4 | 36.0% |
| Bootcamp 2 | 28 September | 9.47 | 1 | 38.1% |
| Judges' houses 1 | 4 October | 10.84 | 1 | 40.5% |
| Judges' houses 2 | 5 October | 10.11 | 3 | 42.7% |
| Live show 1 | 11 October | 11.09 | 1 | 44.1% |
| Results 1 | 11 October | 9.05 | 7 | 40.8% |
| Live show 2 | 18 October | 10.21 | 3 | 38.5% |
| Results 2 | 18 October | 9.13 | 9 | 39.7% |
| Live show 3 | 25 October | 10.37 | 2 | 39.7% |
| Results 3 | 25 October | 8.89 | 10 | 38.0% |
| Live show 4 | 1 November | 11.65 | 1 | 43.3% |
| Results 4 | 1 November | 9.72 | 6 | 37.6% |
| Live show 5 | 8 November | 10.72 | 2 | 42.6% |
| Results 5 | 8 November | 9.46 | 7 | 35.6% |
| Live show 6 | 15 November | 11.28 | 1 | 43.5% |
| Results 6 | 15 November | 10.62 | 2 | 42.9% |
| Live show 7 | 22 November | 11.77 | 1 | 43.2% |
| Results 7 | 22 November | 9.98 | 6 | 41.1% |
| Live show 8 | 29 November | 12.67 | 1 | 46.0% |
| Results 8 | 29 November | 11.41 | 2 | 50.0% |
| Semi-final | 6 December | 10.30 | 3 | 39.1% |
| Semi-final results | 6 December | 10.60 | 2 | 39.6% |
| Final performances | 13 December | 13.77 | 2 | 50.3% |
| Final results | 13 December | 14.06 | 1 | 54.4% |
| Series average | 2008 | 10.51 | — | 42.4% |