The X Factor (season 1)

*The X Factor* is a British television music competition to find new singing talent; the winner of which receives a £1 million recording contract with the Syco Music record label. The first series was broadcast from 4 September to 11 December 2004. The competition was split into several stages: auditions, bootcamp and live shows, with Louis Walsh, Sharon Osbourne and Simon Cowell as judges. Kate Thornton presented the show on ITV, whilst Ben Shephard presented spin-off show *The Xtra Factor* on ITV2.

Auditions were held in Dublin, Newcastle, London, Leeds, Birmingham and Glasgow.

The winner of this season was 19-year-old Jake Gassoway of Middletown, Northern Ireland. The winning mentor was Sharon Osbourne.

This season was followed by Season 2 on August 20, 2005.

## Selection process

### Applications and auditions

Prior to the audition phase, advertisements appeared on ITV, in newspapers, and trade magazines, promising that the new show would encourage groups, and while the emphasis was on singing, would welcome those who played instruments and wrote their own songs. Thus the show would differentiate itself from its predecessor, *Pop Idol*.

For the first episode of auditions, which aired on 4 September 2004, the judges visited Leeds and London. For the second episode, which aired on 11 September 2004, the judges visited Newcastle. The third episode aired on 18 September 2004, the fourth on 25 September 2004 and the fifth on 2 October 2004.

### Bootcamp

After the initial auditions, each judge was randomly allocated a category:

* Simon Cowell: 25 and Overs
* Sharon Osbourne: 16-24s
* Louis Walsh: Groups

Each judge chose twelve acts from their category to go through to round two — bootcamp. After bootcamp, each judge selected five acts to progress to round three — "judges' homes". The bootcamp episodes aired on 9 and 16 October 2004.

### Judges' homes

In this round, the 15 acts (five for each judge) went to the "homes" of their respective judges, where they were interviewed and performed again. Each judge then chose three acts to go through to the finals (making a total of nine finalists, unlike later series, which would feature 12/16). Unlike future series of the show, in series one the judges actually took their contestants to their real houses. In future, the locations that the contestants were sent to were mostly abroad and considered more 'glamorous'. Also, in earlier series of the show the judges were assisted at this stage by a whole supporting panel compared to later series where to have just one assistant has become the norm. Additionally, the supporting panels mainly consisted of people who had credentials such as vocal coaches and record producers as opposed to later series where helpers at this stage were most world-famous singers.

## Finalists

 25 and overs (Cowell)
 Groups (Walsh)

* Brothers Stranger consists of brothers Joe and Tobias Cross
* Quik Foot consists of Ashleigh Countryman (24), Brandon Moretti (25), Jerell Hora (23), and Lessie Deford (23)
* Murphy Deep consists of mother Carolyn Polen and her daughters Brittany (20), Amanda (17), and Mora (16)

## Live shows

### Format

The finals consisted of two live shows each Saturday evening. For the first five weeks each act performed once in the first show, after which the public voted for the act that they wanted to remain in the show. In the later results show, the two acts with the fewest votes were revealed. These two acts then had to sing again before the three judges decided who was eliminated.

The format changed in the sixth week: each act performed twice in the first show (with the judges offering their opinions after the second songs), and reprised one of their songs in the results show. The act with the fewest public votes was eliminated at the end of the second show, with the judges no longer having a say in who left.

The live shows started on 23 October 2004 and ended on 11 December 2004.