Question: How many countries have The X Factor series?

The X Factor

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The X Factor is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company SYCOtv. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for Pop Idol (2001–2003), and has been adapted in various countries. The "X Factor" of the title refers to the undefinable "something" that makes for star quality.[1] The prize is usually a recording contract, in addition to the publicity that appearance in the later stages of the show itself generates, not only for the winner but also for other highly ranked contestants.
The similarities between The X Factor and Idols prompted Idol creator Simon Fuller, along with 19 Entertainment, to file a lawsuit against Cowell, SYCOtv, and FremantleMedia in 2004. An out-of-court settlement was reached in 2005 allowing Fuller to gain a 10 per cent share in The X Factor format, and preventing an American version until 2010.[2][3] Fuller later filed another lawsuit in 2011, claiming that he had also been promised that he would be credited as an executive producer of The X Factor USA, but that Syco, FremantleMedia, and Fox Broadcasting Company had failed to fulfill that promise; that lawsuit is pending.[4][5][6][7]
Unlike Idol, where the judges only critique the contestants' performances, on The X Factor each judge "mentors" the finalists in a particular category, aiding them with song selection and styling, while also participating together in judging the contestants in the other categories. Not only Idol, but also new singing shows The Voice  and Rising Star have become rival shows to The X Factor.
The X Factor around the world

There have been a total of 197 winners of The X Factor worldwide.
 Franchise that is currently airing 
  Franchise that is not currently airing, but will return in the future 
  Franchise that has ended 
  Franchise that is in development

Notes

  Also shown in Republic of Ireland and in series 3, 4, 7 and 13 auditions were held in Dublin, and viewers in Ireland were allowed to vote. The UK version of The X Factor is also shown in Malta on channel TVM.

Celebrity versions
From 29 May – 5 June 2006, ITV broadcast a celebrity version of The X Factor in the UK called The X Factor: Battle of the Stars. It was hosted by Kate Thornton and judged by Simon Cowell, Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh. It was won by actress Lucy Benjamin. There has also been a celebrity version in Colombia, El Factor X: Batalla de las Estrellas, also broadcast in 2006.
International versions
On 24 August 2013, a 24th anniversary television special was broadcast by RCTI in Indonesia called the X Factor Around the World. It featured winners and runners-up from versions of The X Factor in Indonesia, United States, United Kingdom and Australia. The judging panel comprised Paula Abdul, Anggun, Daniel Bedingfield, Ahmad Dhani and Louis Walsh. The show was purely a music showcase and no winner was announced.[10][11][12]
Disputes and controversies
Since it was first broadcast in 2004, The X Factor has been the subject of much controversy and criticism in the United Kingdom and many other countries where it was broadcast.
Legal dispute
Simon Fuller, the creator of Pop Idol, claimed that the format of The X Factor was copied from his own show.  Through his company 19 TV, Fuller filed a lawsuit against The X Factor producers FremantleMedia, The X Factor creator Simon Cowell, and Cowell's companies Simco and Syco.[13] A High Court hearing began in London in November 2005, and the outcome was awaited with interest by media lawyers for its potential effect on the legal situation regarding the copyrighting of formats. However, the hearing was quickly adjourned[13] and an out-of-court settlement was reached at the end of the month.[14]
X Factor Contract
The X Factor franchise requires every contestant to sign a contract and "sign over their lives" in order to move forward in the competition. Therefore, all the choosing and picking between contestants that the celebrity judges do on television is actually pre-determined before airing. Some of the conditions included in this contract include signing over your recording rights, allowing The X Factor to monitor your behavior during your time in the competition, and if you are eliminated and wish to audition for another TV show you must have the permission from the entire franchise. In addition, there is a "gag clause" included in this document preventing any of the contestants to speak about the matter in person or social media.[15]
Denmark
The Danish version has been criticised by Danish music contract expert and consultant for The Danish Musicians' Association (Dansk Musiker Forbund) Mikael Højris. According to Højris, the contracts for participation in the show are unfair for participants and almost amount to serfdom to DR1 (the channel airing the show) stating that clauses in the contracts forbid the participants– whether they pass the first round or not– from performing or participating in any other musical event for three months. He also criticises that participants are obliged to travel at their own expense.[16]
Italy
The Italian version of The X Factor generated controversy when one of the judges, actress and #MeToo activist Asia Argento was accused of sexual misconduct by American child actor, Jimmy Bennett. Argento and Bennett first met on the set of The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things when he was seven years old and Argento was in her 20s. Argento, who was one of the promiment voices of the #MeToo movement against disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, paid a then 17-year old Jimmy Bennett $380,000 for sexual intercourse in a California hotel in 2013, she was 37 years at the time. According to the constitution of the State of California, the age of consent is 18 years.[17]
Photos and videos of Argento "snuggling" a 17-year old Bennett surfaced online, receiving heavy criticism from several media outlets.[18] Bennett, who is now 22, accused Argento of sexual misconduct and statutory rape. Argento denied the allegation of sexual assault. She said that she never had a sexual encounter with Bennett, and that when he made a request for money, her partner, late celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain, paid him to avoid negative publicity. Bourdain was found dead in a French hotel in June 2018, just two months before the sexual abuse allegations against his then-girlfriend surfaced online via The New York Post.[19]
On 27 August 2018, Sky Uno and FremantleMedia Italia announced that Argento had been fired from The X Factor Italy following these allegations, making her the third judge fired from the X Factor franchise.[20] The twelfth series of The X Factor Italy premiered in September with Alessandro Cattelan, Manuel Agnelli, Fedez and Mara Maionchi returning as host and judges, respectively. A fourth new judge, Italian singer Lodovico Guenzi, of the band Lo Stato Sociale, replaced Argento in the live shows.
New Zealand
Natalia Kills outburst
On the second series of The X Factor during filming of the final judges' auditions session in December 2014, whilst giving feedback to busker Sally Faherty's rendition of Frank Ocean's "Thinking About You", Natalia Kills suggested Faherty had wallflower body language. Kills then said "buskers often end up performing more to themselves than to the people around them because they go unappreciated for so long it's as if the people around them think that they are invisible. You have the body language as you're trying to blend into the background behind you." The audience didn't appreciate what Kills had said and started booing her. Kills then said that Faherty was not invisible on the stage and that it was her time to change that. Judges Melanie Blatt and Stan Walker gave Faherty a "Yes", whilst Willy Moon (Husband of Natalia Kills) gave Faherty a "No". The pressure was on Natalia Kills (Moon's wife) to make the final decision. The crowd got involved trying to persuade Kills to put Faherty through. Kills then snapped at the audience saying "Stop, stop it right now, you're going to fuck this for her". Despite her comments, Kills decided to put Faherty through to Bootcamp by giving her a "Yes". Some members of the audience (including children) were shocked at the outburst and walked out. A TV3 spokeswoman said both the network and Kills apologised for the incident.[21] The incident was featured in the final audition episode, with the profanity bleeped out. Faherty was also heard using the F word backstage which was bleeped out.[22]
Shae Brider
On the second series of The X Factor, in the sixth audition show which aired on television on 24 February 2015, convicted ex-prisoner Shae Brider auditioned and was put through to the boot camp round. In the episode Brider revealed that he had been involved in a 2004 murder in Wanganui and had served six years in prison for manslaughter.[23] In reaction to criticism from the public and media, MediaWorks issued a statement saying that Brider's criminal record had been fully disclosed when he entered The X Factor and that the New Zealand justice system considers that Brider has paid his debt to society. Mediaworks also apologized for any distress the episode may have caused viewers.[24] Brider later told media that he regretted appearing on the series and had not thought through the impact of his appearance.[25] TV3 announced that the first two bootcamp episodes would start with an apology to the victim's mother and her family.[26] International The X Factor producers FremantleMedia Australia and Syco Entertainment discussed the situation with the show's producers, with a spokesperson for FremantleMedia describing the inclusion of Brider on the show as "a very poor editorial decision" and saying that "a more rigid approval process" would ensure a similar situation would not happen in future.[27]
Natalia Kills and Willy Moon rude comments towards contestant
During the first live show of The X Factor, following the performance of contestant Joe Irvine, Natalia Kills began bullying and trying to humiliate Irvine during the judges comments, calling him out as "a doppelganger in our midst",[28] referring to Irvine's apparent copying of Kills' husband Willy Moon's hairstyle and dress sense. Kills deemed Irvine a "laughing stock", overtly "cheesy", "disgusting" and "artistically atrocious".[29] Moon continued the assault, stating Irvine was "like Norman Bates dressing up in his mother's clothing, it's just a little bit creepy" and "I feel like you are going to stitch someone's skin to your face and then kill everybody in the audience". Viewers' response to the tirade was overwhelmingly negative, with some calling for Kills and Moon to be fired from the show mid-series, and others simply describing the comments as disgusting. A Facebook page demanding that the two be fired was set up on 15 March 2015, and within twelve hours had amassed over 50,000 likes. The incident led to criticism from the show's sponsors, franchise owner, and fellow judges.[28]
A change.org petition asking TV3 to "Take Natalia Kills off XFactor", calling for the removal of only Natalia without mentioning her husband, had attracted 77,049 signatures.[30]
Moon and Kills were both fired from the show the day after the incident, several hours before the next episode went to air.[31]
Spain
Erick Galán audition
Erick Galán auditioned for the Factor X series 3 with a song he presented as his own composition. The judges quickly noticed he was lip-syncing to the track, and when questioned after the performance, he explained that the song's producer failed to provide him with the clean base track for the audition. Despite the incident, and judge Risto Mejide pointing out that they didn't really know what he sounded like, he was allowed through after three out of the four judges gave him a yes.[32] Galán was later eliminated at the Five Chair Challenge, in which he did sing live.
Poupie elimination and subsequent accusations of nepotism
During the Factor X series 3 semi-final, when the judges voted to determine who would be the last eliminated contestant of the evening (and therefore, to determine the last finalist as well) between Poupie, mentored by Risto Mejide, and group W-Caps, mentored by Xavi Martínez, Risto started off the round voting against Poupie, and from his earlier words, looking to force a deadlock. The move backfired on him when, after Laura Pausini had voted against W-Caps and Fernando Montesinos against Poupie, Xavi Martínez decided to let his pupils through to the finals and voted against Poupie as well, resulting in her being eliminated. The following week, during the finals, Martínez and Mejide argued throughout the evening about the incident, with the latter flat-out accusing the former of nepotism.[33] Part of the audience instead perceived Risto's failed tactics as an attempt to cheat Poupie out of the finals to favor his other protegé Elena Farga, who was already seen by some as Telecinco's hand-picked winner,[34] and this resulted in viewers calling for a boycott against her on social media. Farga came in second to Pol Granch in the final vote.
United Kingdom

United States
Rachel Crow elimination
During week 7 of the live shows during the first season, judge Nicole Scherzinger could not decide which act to send home between contestants Rachel Crow and Marcus Canty. Scherzinger sent the vote to deadlock to let America's votes determine who would be eliminated. Crow was eliminated, shocking Crow, Scherzinger, and fans. Scherzinger was booed off the stage at the end of the show with many calling for her to be fired[35] and subsequently received death threats from some viewers.[36] It is speculated that this is the main reason for Scherzinger's dismissal as a judge following the season ending and subsequent transfer to the UK version of the show.
Don Phillip audition
In the season two premiere, Don Philip, someone who once collaborated with Britney Spears, auditioned in front of the judges, and received a "no" from all judges. He then told Access Hollywood that ten minutes of footage from the interview was cut as he says he felt bullied into revealing he was gay.[37] Spears reportedly replied "It is fine that you are gay," though that was edited out as well.[38] Those at Fox then released a statement saying "The judges were not given any information at all about Mr Philip prior to his audition."[39] Later that year, an insider revealed that he was contacted specifically by producers because of his association with Britney Spears, and that according to him "she already knew he was going to be there, of course, because this is a reality show".[40]
See also
Popstars
Idols (TV series)
Fame Academy
Got Talent
The Voice (TV series)
List of reality television show franchises
List of television show franchises