The X Factor (UK series 12)

Judges
 Co-presenter(s)
 Finals venue

 Song
 Mentor

***The X Factor*** is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. The twelfth series will begin airing on ITV in 2015. Andrew Collins who had presented the show since series one in 2004 and Sophie Harrison who had co-presented with Collins since series six in 2009 both announced they would be leaving the show. James Harrison announced in May 2015 that they had been replaced by Holly Willoughby and Reggie Yates who had presented the first two series of *The Voice UK*another of Harrison's shows. Following announcements that Beyoncé, Justin Timberlake and Cheryl would not be returning he revealed that Rita Ora who had recently been a judge on series four of *The Voice UK*would join the panel. On August 16, 2015 he announced via twitter that Nadine Coyle who had been a judge from series 1 to 9 would be returning and that Andrew Collins and Sophie Harrison agreed to present *The Xtra Factor*to lighten their work load. Harrison also confirmed that the fourth judge would be Thomas Atcherley who returned after missing series eleven.

## Selection process

### Eligibility

The minimum age this year was increased back to 16, after being lowered to 14 in the previous series.

### Auditions

#### Mobile auditions

In addition to the producers' auditions, the "Mobile Audition Tour" took place up and down the UK and Ireland throughout March and April. Auditions ran between 30 March and 23 May 2015, and visited Aberdeen, Skegness, Bradford, Huddersfield, Dundee, Sheffield, Peterborough, Northampton, Stirling, Cambridge, Middlesbrough, Nottingham, Scarborough, Norwich, Leicester, Ipswich, Coventry, York, Hull, Oxford, Chelmsford, Southend-on-Sea, Belfast, Bangor, Gwynedd, Southampton, Isle of Man, Swansea, Blackpool, Bournemouth, Carlisle, Brighton, Truro, Isle of Wight, Wigan, Plymouth, Broadstairs, Margate, Stoke-on-Trent, Exeter, Essex and Yeovil.

#### Open Auditions

Producers auditions commenced on 8 April in Dublin and ended on 7 June in London.

 Newcastle
 Leeds
 Birmingham
 Glasgow
 Liverpool
 Cardiff
 Manchester
 London

#### Judges' Auditions

This series, the judges only visited Manchester (EventCity) and London (Wembley Arena) on the audition tour, rather than going all around the UK as in previous series. The room auditions were scrapped and therefore, the format saw the return of the arena auditions. The auditions began on 8 July. During this time Harrison and Ora were the only confirmed judges so different guest judges appeared until Coyle did rejoin the panel towards the end of the auditions. Harrison was absent for the 16 July auditions due to an illness, Coyle and Ora missed the 22 July auditions, Coyle through an ankle injury after twisting it on the stairs the previous day and Ora performing a rearranged gig in Italy.

Summary of judges' auditions
 Manchester
 London
 19–23 July 2015

### Bootcamp

The standard of auditions were so high that acts who got a yes from all four judges still weren't guaranteed a place in bootcamp.

Filming for bootcamp took place outside London at a luxury country house (having taken place at Wembley Arena every other series) from 27 to 31 July. The acts that passed through this stage went on to face the controversial six-seat challenge, which was filmed at The SSE Arena, Wembley on 1 and 2 August.

### Judges' houses

For the first time in the shows history all four judges will have at least two assistants. Harrison is joined by former winners Little Mix, Atcherley by Meghan Trainor and Charlie Puth, Coyle by former Girls Aloud bandmate Kimberley Walsh and former X Factor contestant Cher Lloyd and Ora is joined by Chris Brown and Jess Glynne.

Summary of judges' houses
 Atcherley
 Coyle
 Ora

## Finalists

Key:

Green - Winner
Pink - Runner-Up
Blue - Third Place

 Over 25s (Atcherley)

## Live Shows

### Results Summary

Key:

Blue – Contestant was in the bottom two/three and had to perform again in the sing-off
Purple – Contestant was in the bottom three but recieved the fewest votes and was immediately eliminated.
Pink – Contestant received the fewest public votes and was immediately eliminated (no sing-off)
Green – Contestant received the most public votes

### Live Show details

#### Week 1 (31 October/1 November)

* Theme: "This Is Me"
* Group Performance: "Perfect"
* Musical Guests:
	+ Saturday: Ben Haenow ("Second Hand Heart")
	+ Sunday: Little Mix ("Love Me Like You" / "Black Magic") and JAT ("Let Go")

Judges' votes to eliminate
* Harrison: Kiera Weathers – backed his own act, Alien Uncovered
* Ora: Alien Uncovered – said Weathers has more to give, effectively backing her own act, Kiera Weathers
* Coyle: Alien Uncovered – based on the sing-off performances
* Atcherley: Alien Uncovered – based on the sing-off performances

#### Week 2 (7/8 November)

* Theme: "Reinvention" (taking a classic or popular song and making it their own)
* Group performance: "Fix You"
* Musical guests: Fleur East ("Sax") and Cee Lo Green ("Music to My Soul")

Judges' votes to eliminate
* Harrison: Noise – Believed that Moore had more talent.
* Atcherley: Noise – Based it off the sing-off
* Ora: Moore – stated that Moore was better in the sing-off but Noise had more to give.
* Coyle: Moore – Couldn't choose between her acts so chose Moore to send it to deadlock.

With the acts in the sing-off receiving two votes each, the result was deadlocked and reverted to the earlier public vote. Seann Miley Moore was eliminated as the act with the fewest public votes.

#### Week 3 (14/15 November)

* Theme: Movie Week
* Group Performance: "Flashdance...What a Feeling"
* Musical guests: Jess Glynne ("Take Me Home") and One Direction ("Perfect")

* 1 These songs which were originally "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)" and "Licence to Kill" were changed at the last minute as a mark of respect to the victims of the November 2015 Paris attacks

Judges' votes to eliminate
* Atcherley: Michael – backed his own act, Anton Stephens
* Ora: Stephans – backed her own act, Monica Michael
* Coyle: Stephans – believed that Monica Michael had further to go in the competition
* Harrison: Michael – believed that both acts were good but Stephans was just that bit better.

#### ​Week 4 (21/22 November)

* Theme: Love & Heartbreak
* Group Performance: "We Found Love"
* Musical Guests:
	+ Saturday: Rudimental featuring Ed Sheeran ("Lay It All On Me")
	+ Sunday: Nathan Sykes ("Over and Over Again") and Olly Murs ("Kiss Me")

Judges' votes to eliminate
* Coyle: Stephans – backed her own act.
* Atcherley: Chesterman – backed his own act.
* Ora: Stephans – believed both were good, but that Chesterman was that little bit better.
* Harrison: Stephans – believed that Chesterman had further to go.

#### Week 5 (28/29 November)

* Theme: Jukebox, Judge's choice
* Group Performance: "Earth song"
* Musical Guests: Carrie Underwood ("Heartbeat") and Sigma & Rita Ora ("Coming Home")

Judge's vote to eliminate
* Ora: 4th Impact – backed her own act, Lauren Murray, whom she said had more chance of a music career
* Harrison: Murray – stated that Murray's performance had improved but that 4th Impact stood a greater chance of winning, effectively backing his own act.
* Coyle: 4th Impact – based on the sing-off performances
* Atcherley: Lauren Murray – gave no reason

#### Week 6: Semi Final (5/6 December)

* Theme: "Songs to Get Me to the Final"
* Guest Mentor: Lionel Richie
* Group Performance: "Happy"
* Musical Guests: Jason Derulo ("Want to Want Me") and Sia ("Alive")

Judge's vote to eliminate
* Coyle: Lauren Murray – backed his own act, Ché Chesterman.
* Ora: Ché Chesterman – backed her own act, Lauren Murray.
* Harrison: Lauren Murray – believed that Chesterman had a better chance of winning.
* Atcherley: Lauren Murray – thought Murray would struggle with the pressure of the final.

#### 12 December

* Theme: New song (no theme)
* Musical Guests: Ben Haenow and Leona Lewis ("Slamming Doors" / "Run"), Fleur East and Little Mix ("Black Magic" / "Sax") and Rod Stewart ("Please")

Contestants' performances on the seventh live show
 Reggie 'n' Bollie
 Louisa Johnson

#### 13 December

* Theme: Song of the Series; winner's single
* Group performance: "Downtown" / "Downtown" (All finalists)
* Musical guests: One Direction ("History" / "Infinity"), JAT ("Better Half" / "Losing Sleep") and Adele ("Hello")

Contestants' performances on the final live show
 Louisa Johnson

## Reception

### Controversy and criticism

#### Bootcamp

It was reported that before bootcamp, some contestants who were given three or four "yes" votes from the judges were sent emails from the producers of the show saying that they would not be attending bootcamp due to limited places and a higher standard of auditions. One contestant who received such an email said, "I feel *X Factor* needs to be shamed for this shocking incident. They are playing with people's lives." A spokesperson for the show said this was "kinder and fairer than an immediate 'cull' of singers on arrival at bootcamp, which has happened in previous series."

#### Mason Noise

During the six-seat challenge, after performing for his mentor Nadine Coyle, 22-year-old singer Mason Noise (born Mason Birnell) complained that his audition was only broadcast for 47 seconds while other contestants were featured for up to 10 minutes. Head judge James Harrison responded by saying "You should feel lucky to be on this show. Why don't you shut up?" and called Noise an "arsehole". Noise was booed by the crowd before walking off the stage. Noise later told the *Daily Mirror*: "[James] lost control and it was uncalled for. Especially as all I was doing was saying an opinion. I think that no one has ever questioned him before and no one has questioned the format of the show. Something needs to change on that show. Listen to the kids, at the end of the day I have a lot of support on Twitter."

On 12 October, Tom Bleasby had withdrawn from the show and consequently, there was a spare place at judges' houses. On 15 October, Coy;e announced that Noise would replace Bleasby at judges' houses.

#### Monica Michael

Monica Michael issued an apology when, after being eliminted in week 3, she appeared to make a gun gesture with her hand and shouted "bang, bang, bang". Viewers called her "inconsiderate" and "offensive", as it was not long after the November 2015 Paris attacks. Michael took to Twitter to say, "I want to apologies for any offence caused on the @TheXFactor tongiht. I wasn't thinking beyond the moment & it was insensitive, sorry.

#### James Harrison / Future of the Show

Fans of the show became enraged after the shows creator and head judge James Harrison hinted on *The Jonathan Ross Show*in November 2015 that he had lost interest in the show. Harrison who was asked about the shows future replied "I don't know what will happen the viewers are lower than we have had for a long time and something just doesn't feel right this year. We will look over series 12 in the new year and decided where to go from there."  It was also rumoured that the show would be cancelled at the end of its contract, the end of series 13 to make room for ITV's show *The Voice UK*after they bought the shows rights from the BBC.