X Factor (Italian season 6)
X Factor is an Italian television music competition to find new singing talent; the winner receives a € 300,000 recording contract with Sony Music. Before the start of the auditions process it was confirmed that Simona Ventura, Morgan, Elio and Arisa would be confirmed as judges and mentors; also Alessandro Cattelan returned as host, whilst Max Novaresi and Brenda Lodigiani return to host "Xtra Factor". The sixths season began airing on Sky Uno on 20 September and ended on 7 December 2012. Auditions for season 6 took place in Rimini, Andria and Milan in June  2012; bootcamp took place in Milan for two days, on 28 and 29 June. Morgan mentored the Over-25s, Ventura the boys, Elio the girls and Arisa the groups; they selected their final three acts during judges' houses. The Live Shows started on 18 October at Teatro della Luna, Assago. On Live Show 3 (November 1), the 12 finalists were joined by a 13th wildcard, voted for by the public after each judge picked one of their rejected to return. Chiara Galiazzo, a member of the category Over-25s and mentored by Morgan, was announced the winner of the competition on 7  December 2012. Her winner's single, "Due respiri", released immediately after the end of the show, was co-written by Italian singer-songwriter Eros Ramazzotti. Judges, presenters and other personnel. Sky Italia entirely confirmed the cast of "X Factor 5" for the sixths season. On 12 April 2012, Alessandro Cattelan was confirmed to present the main show on Sky Uno HD. Rumors about a possible replacement as a judge of Arisa with singer Gianna Nannini were soon denied, and indeed it was confirmed on 25 May that all the judges of the fifth series (Arisa, Simona Ventura, Elio, Morgan) would  return to their role. Also vocal coaches Alberto Tafuri, Paola Folli and Giuseppe Barbera, music-director Lucio Fabbri and art-director and choreographer Luca Tomassini were confirmed, whilst vocal-coach Gaetano Cappa replaced Diego Calvetti in the role. Selection process. Applications and auditions. A preliminary phase of auditions was held: The judges auditions were held: The first episode of audition was broadcast on 20 September 2009, and featured auditions from Rimini and Milan; Andria auditions, along with those from Rome, were shown on 27 September. Notable auditioners included Miss Italia 2011 Stefania Bivone, Michele Grandinetti, a singer already famous in  Thailand with his stage name Miki del Re, and performer and actress Carmen Serra. Bootcamp. 96 acts reached Bootcamp, which took place at the Teatro Nazionale in Milan over two days, on Thursday 28 and Friday 29 June, and was broadcast on 4 October. At the end of Bootcamp, judges met the acts of the category they had to mentor: Girls were to be mentored by Elio, Boys by Simona Ventura, Groups by Arisa and Over-25 by Morgan. Judges' houses. "Home visits" was broadcast on 11 October. Ventura mentored the Boys in Costa Smeralda, assisted by vocal coach Paola Folli ; Elio took the Girls at Villa Gaia, Robecco sul Naviglio, assisted by Alberto Tafuri; Morgan had the over 25s in Teatro Regio, Parma, with Gaetano Cappa, and Arisa had the Groups in Lake Como with Giuseppe Barbera. One of the acts from the 25+ category, Mara Sottocornola, frightened by the mechanisms of the competition, decided to not take part in this phase, preferring to accept a proposal for an opera-stage in Brussels, and wasn't replaced. The eleven eliminated acts were: Contestants and categories. Key: Live shows. Results summary. The number of votes received by each act were  released by Sky Italia after the final. With both acts receiving two votes each, the result went to deadlock and reverted to the earlier public vote. Donatella were eliminated as the act with the fewest public votes. With both acts receiving two votes each, the result went to deadlock and reverted to the earlier public vote. Falconi were eliminated as the act with the fewest public votes. With both acts receiving two votes each, the result went to deadlock and reverted to the earlier public vote. Nice were eliminated as the act with the fewest public votes. With both acts  receiving two votes each, the result went to deadlock and reverted to the earlier public vote. Frères Chaos were eliminated as the act with the fewest public votes. With both acts receiving two votes each, the result went to deadlock and reverted to the earlier public vote. Danielle Coletta was eliminated as the act with the fewest public votes. Live show details. Week 8: Final (6/7 December). 6 December 7 December During the final live show, Cixi was awarded for the most innovative and spectacular performance ("You've Got the Love", Live Show 1); the contenders were the top six  acts, and the performances were arbitrarily chosen by the production members and the main sponsor Enel. They were voted through a free-poll, on the official website; On December 6, the less two voted contendants (Fréres Chaos and Davide Merlini) were excluded from the competition.