Talk:The X Factor

The fourth new judge

Someone keeps posting that 80s popstar Sinitta has been confirmed as the fourth judge for X Factor series four, however this is NOT true! ITV have NOT announced that she will be the judge, they have ONLY announced Dannii Minogue officially. Simon Cowell has repeatedly said that he wants the fourth judge to be male, NOT female, therefore its unlikely Sinitta will get the job. Please stop posting that Sinitta will be the judge as it is NOT true. NO evidence supports your argument!!

Leona "first" female winner

Correction, Lucy was the first female winner of the X Factor if you include Celebrity versions.

NO! Lucy didnt win "the x factor" - she won "celebrity x factor" - both were DIFFERENT shows!

The x factor is a talent search that rewards the winner with a 1 million pound recording contract whereas the celebrity version was all for charity, and followed a different format (and wasnt classed as a series). Therefore leona was indeed the first female winner of "the x factor"!''

Age Limit

What is the age limit of those who intend to audition?

I know that the age gap between various contestants is much wider than in Pop Idol and American Idol, but by how much? I've heard of contestants that exceeded 40 years of age!

There is no upper age limit for The X Factor (at least in the British version). People in their sixties and beyond have auditioned. I think the oldest person to audition was a woman in her eighties. --Daniel Lawrence 20:25, 15 October 2005 (UTC)

Were the categories assigned at random?

I did a bit of maintenance on this page, and I left in the statement that the categories were assigned to judges randomly (though I added the word "supposedly" because I do not believe that anything said on this show can be trusted to be genuine).

However, I'm now wondering if this is correct. I remember the series 2 show in question, when the judges were called in to the producers' room, but I just can't remember if they DID say the categories were allocated at random, or whether the producers made the decision.

Minor point, but does anyone know the answer?

The producers chose in the second series, but it might've been random in the first series - they didn't go into detail then. violet/riga (t) 19:52, 14 November 2005 (UTC)

What information goes on what pages?

I have moved the "finishing order" list from this page to The X Factor UK series 2 as I don't think it belongs here (it certainly doesn't belong under "Controversy" anyway). My view is that the results and other series-specific info should go on the series-specific pages. A while ago I spent some time trying to remove duplication across the three X Factor pages, but now it seems to be creeping in again, with things like Louis' threat to quit and Simon voting off his own act now duplicated. The odd bit of justifiable duplication doesn't hurt, but I think we need to keep in mind that there is a specific page for Series 2. That's my 2 cents' worth for now! Matt 22:57, 26 November 2005 (UTC).

The British Comedy Awards 2005

I haven't been following these awards, so can anyone clarify why The X Factor won (or was even nominated for) at award at this event? I mean, it's not meant to be a comedy programme is it? Was the nomination tongue-in-cheek or something? Matt 00:58, 15 December 2005 (UTC)

I can clarify, as I was watching the event at the time and so made the contribution in less than 10 minutes after the event. I believe, but am not completely certain, that the X Factor won best reality comedy show. It appeared at the actual award giving that the presenters were equally suprised and also pointed out the obvious error in giving them a comedy award. However, this did not stop them accepting the award ;) --The1exile 01:06, 17 December 2005 (UTC)

According to the BBC site [1], and also the Wikipedia page it was actually "best comedy entertainment programme".

Fair enough then; I wasnt paying a huge amount of attention. Make any amendments needed. --The1exile 11:38, 18 December 2005 (UTC)

Controversy - Steve Brookstein's audition

I have removed the following text:

"In the biographic details on the website of the 2004 winner Steve Brookstein he appears to indicate that he was invited by letter to audition, something which appears to be out of keeping with the apparent format of the show."

The biographic details referred to, as far as I can tell, read:

"Weeks later I opened an envelope that had been delivered some time earlier. What I had thought was a circular turned out to be my audition time for The X Factor. It was in three days time."

I do not see how this is inconsistent with the apparent format of the show. It seems obvious that audition times have to be issued to applicants, and it is entirely reasonable that they should be sent out by letter. The implication that specially selected candidates were invited to appear, and that auditions were not genuinely open to members of the public, is not substantiated as far as I can see.

Old Trafford Audition 2006

I was there at the audition that day. I queued from 8.00am and didn't get into the stadium until around 4.30pm. There was very little information given, and the delay seemed to be due to the TV people stopping the 3mile que to film the crowds false cheering (those 'I love you Simon' etc signs you might see were given out by the production people). This meant I wasn't there to see Shane sing (which I'm not too bothered about) I'm shocked that he was miming! I've added that the auditions were done on the stand at Old Trafford, with the guy standing right in front of you and everybody able to hear you. Not ideal. I was with a relative who by the time he got heard (about 6.30) was, like many others, disheartened and fed up with the day. A single-location audition might have saved Simon Cowell some money and looked better on camera, but I found the whole experience most unenjoyable and the organisation disgraceful, as, I think, did many others. Further details/comments welcome

Section on Old Trafford Audition

I'm deleting the section on the Old Trafford Audition. It's largely based on speculation, cites no sources, is largely irrelevant and seems to be one person's rant. There have been similar comments made about past auditions and it is already largely known that those who audition don't automatically see the three judges - this is nothing new and doesn't warrant an entire section. 81.156.21.229 18:06, 10 July 2006 (UTC)

New Judge

Was there a new judge? 80.229.241.200 22:50, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

Paula Abdul, who appears with Simon on American Idol, appeared as an extra judge at some 2006 auditions.

Indeed? Is there a chance that this show, or at least, its format, will come to the U.S.? Despite X-Factor's problems in the U.K., with the credibility of Idol about to be flushed down the toilet in 2007 (with a trainwreck threatening to steal it), I think now is the time to consider bringing X-Factor across the Atlantic. -CookyMonzta (29 March 2007)

Vandalism?

It stars Netnsg as the first ever band to play instruments entirely made out of fruit - in the first paragraph... I assume that's vandalism! But I'm far from being an expert on this programme so I don't want to remove it...

jack Sven945 18:47, 25 August 2006 (UTC)

The "blurb"

I removed this text at the top of the article because it looks like excessive disambiguation that is not needed. Links to the three seasons of the UK series of this show should be, and are, included in the article. The Battle of the Stars thing is, from what I've read about it, a celebrity special, and should also only be included in the article. The only valid link I see there is to the Network Ten series. I think it should be removed again, but I will only do so again if there is agreement to do so. jd || talk || 23:00, 16 October 2006 (UTC)

I added this blurb at the top of the article a while ago because information was being added here that duplicated what was in the series-specific articles, and the set of articles was consequently getting into a bit of a mess. I spent quite a lot of time stripping this information out and merging it into the series-specific articles, but bits kept creeping back in. I gathered that people were failing to realise that there were separate articles for each of the series, and the prominent links at the top were intended to guide editors as to what should go where. I feel that the blurb you removed potentially served a useful purpose while at the same time doing nobody any harm, but since you feel so strongly that it should be removed I'm happy to leave it as it is and see if the problem recurs. Matt 02:24, 22 October 2006 (UTC).

problems with the Article which i have corrected

Chris Moyles came Third in the battle of the stars Rod stewart was also a Guest Judge on the x factor on the 21st of october

Live musicians?

What's the view on whether any of the musicians shown in the live performances - either the contestants when they accompany themselves, or the backing musicians that sometimes feature - actually ever play live, or whether they are always just miming? Matt 20:56, 29 October 2006 (UTC).

Of course they're live. If they were miming, they wouldn't forget the words or go off key. — AnemoneProjectors (talk) 23:24, 29 October 2006 (UTC)

Misunderstanding... I'm not talking about the singing, which as you say is obviously not mimed - I'm talking about the playing of musical instruments. Matt 17:41, 30 October 2006 (UTC).

Don't they normally use a backing track? The big band was live. — AnemoneProjectors (talk) 20:34, 30 October 2006 (UTC)

Yes, normally they have a backing track, but sometimes they play instruments too. For example, in recent shows Ben played piano and one of the MacDonald Brothers played guitar. It seems quite believable to me that the big band was live (though I wasn't studying it too carfeully), but I'm less sure about these other cases. Matt 22:44, 30 October 2006 (UTC).

Euro X Factor prize

From the article, re "Euro X Factor":

"It was also stated that the convential £1,000,000 recording contract the winner recieves would be massively increased to £100,000,000 for "Euro X Factor"."

The Mirror piece here makes no mention of this. It does say, though, that "The new show could take the X Factor judge's Cowell's fortune past the £100million mark." A contract worth £100m seems a huge prize, even in today's world, so I wonder if there has been a mix-up here about what the £100m refers to? I added a "confirmation required" note to the article; please remove it if you are sure this info is accurate. Matt 21:22, 11 December 2006 (UTC).

Sinitta

Where has it been confirmed that she'll be a judge? Does any have citiation?

She hasnt been confirmed as a judge, its not true.

The X Factor Winners: Merge Proposal

The three winners already have their own articles, so is it a good idea to include all this detail in this article too? Could be a route to a lot of duplication. Propose merging the information into the individual articles and just retaining links from here. Matt 00:28, 10 May 2007 (UTC).

I think the X Factor winners section is fine as it is as long as no further information is added to it. The information given is directly related to the show and I think the public (expecially audiences unfamiliar with X Factor) would appriciate having a track record of the previous winners on the X Factor page. It is convenient for the public to read the article whilst on the x factor page, instead of having to click links to other pages which would take them off topic.

I suggest removing the winners section as it is duplicated, and if it doesn't already say who the winners were, it can be added. We should also remove the galleries of record covers and international logos, because it's not necessary and there will be issues with fair use. — AnemoneProjectors (zomg!) 18:17, 10 May 2007 (UTC)

The american idol and idols page includes all of these things, so why cant x factor?

Fair use problems, if those pages have similar sections they should be removed too but I'm not looking at those. — AnemoneProjectors (zomg!) 14:54, 14 May 2007 (UTC)

No new judges announced

ITV have not announced any new judges so far. The Sun is not a reliable source of information. When the new presenter was announced ITV confirmed it almost straight away. Coxyappo 16:19, 21 May 2007 (UTC)

See http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2001320029-2007210332,00.html. "ITV has also confirmed Grease Is The Word judge Brian Friedman will be the fourth X Factor judge, as The Sun predicted last month.The dance coach, 29, joins Sharon Osbourne, Dannii Minogue and Simon Cowell when the show returns later this year."

- and, BTW, The Sun is no less reliable a source than any other newspaper. They do not print statements such as "DANNII Minogue has landed a £1million deal to become a new X Factor judge, TV Biz can reveal." unless they are pretty sure of their facts. Sure, sometimes they're wrong, but so are all media outlets.

- TubeTalk on Digital Spy went to the BAFTA's and said that the judges have been confirmed for a long time but will not be announced untill the first audition next month

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/a58173/i-am-a-dentist-i-am-not-rambo.html

Coxyappo 16:11, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

Minor query

I just noticed the following statement, with regard to the judges' vote:

"Ties should not be possible, but in the event that a judge refuses to cast a vote the act who came last in the public vote is sent home."

The idea that a judge would really refuse to cast a vote seems odd. Anyone know where this fact came from? Has it ever happened, or ever been stated as being in the rules?

Apparently in series 1, Sharon refused to vote when two of her acts were in the bottom two, but Simon and Louis both voted the same person off. I seem to remember that she didn't want to vote at least once in the other two series but I think Kate Thornton always pushed her and she voted. I suppose Simon gets the deciding vote for series 4 in the case of ties, do we know this for sure? — AnemoneProjectors (zomg!) 22:38, 5 June 2007 (UTC)

Right, thanks! Matt 00:54, 6 June 2007 (UTC)

Game show?

I notice that the genre field in the infobox, which I'm pretty sure used to say "talent contest" (or at least incorporate those words) now reads "Interactive reality game show". Is everyone happy that it's a "game show"? I must admit that's not a description I would use. Matt 00:56, 6 June 2007 (UTC).

Ugh, no it's not a game show, it's a talent contest. — AnemoneProjectors (zomg!) 17:11, 6 June 2007 (UTC)

I changed it to "talent contest". If it's a talent contest then it's necessarily "reality", and "interactive" to me implies more interaction than people just phoning in to vote, so I removed those words too. Matt 23:31, 7 June 2007 (UTC).

Guess of judges' catagories for series 4

User 82.36.142.214 recently edited the X Factor article to name the judges' catagories for series 4. Although we MUST NOT write anything final at this stage (as there is no evidence to support it), the estimate 82.36.142.214 made seems pretty accurate...

• 14-24 Boys: Louis Walsh,
• 14-24 Girls: Dannii Minogue,
• 25-and-overs: Simon Cowell,
• Groups: Sharon Osbourne

It is very likely (in my opinion), that Dannii will get the 14-24 girls because that is the reason she was hired in as a judge - because she is young. The X Factor said at some point that with the younger bottom catagory "it made sense to have a younger judge".

Sharon Osbourne will probably get the groups because A). It is now series 4 and she's never taken the groups. B). She was preparing to have the groups for series 3 but was surprised to hear she had the 25-and-overs again.

The 25-and-overs will probably go to Simon because he is the only one to have gone full circle in terms of mentoring roles (from 25-and-overs, to groups, to 16-24s). It is only fitting that he goes back to where he started - with the 25-and-overs.

Louis is likely to get the 14-24 boys because he is replacing Brian Freidman, who, like Dannii Minogue, was hired because he (Brian) was young and could connect with the younger age-group. Also, Louis hasn't had the 16-24s directly before, the last time he had them was two series ago.

I'm just opening the floor to debate really. Please throw in what you think about this topic.

Wiki_edit_jonny - 00.58 GMT 20/07/2007

Any judge could get any category. There's nothing to debate. Add it when it's confirmed, no need to talk about it until then. — AnemoneProjectors (zomg!) 13:13, 21 July 2007 (UTC)

I can guarantee you that Louie is the judge for the 25+ category, having a very loose connection with one of the final 24 contestants, and she's been to his house. Obviously without an actual written source to cite I can't really make the change, but take it from me, Louie is for the 25+, I don't know about the others. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.194.246.219 (talk) 19:01, 19 September 2007 (UTC)

Dermot is Irish

Shouldn't his flag be the ROI flag, as he is Irish, although he was born here, both parents are Irish, and he considers himself Irish and not English. -- Chris as I am Chris 14:55, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

There's no reason to use flags at all. — AnemoneProjectors (?) 15:19, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

Yes, I'd lobby for their removal myself as they don't have any relevance to the subject of the article. If someone actually wants to know the nationality of Dermot O'Leary, why would they look here? (P.S. For the record, a persons nationality is dictated by their birth place only) ~~ Peteb16 09:06, 21 August 2007 (UTC)

British and Irish

I don't think it should be described as a "British and Irish show" simply because it allows Irish contestants and Irish viewers can vote. It's produced in the United Kingdom and should be described as "British". Any objections? — AnemoneProjectors (?) 16:59, 18 August 2007 (UTC)

Reality TV star noteability guidelines

Hello, I've just created a seperate page proposing guidlines for noteability of Reality TV contestants and if they should have their own articles. I did this due to the mass number of articles being created and deleted on these subjects in recent months, and confusion among editors if they are in fact noteable or not. You can read this here. All edits and comments on the talk page are welcome. Thanks, Dalejenkins | 16:30, 24 August 2007 (UTC).

Lesbian Hug Cut

"Executive producer Richard Holloway once cut a contestant from the show because she had a girlfriend and was filmed hugging her during an emotional moment. Holloway told producers to edit her out of the show because, 'ITV audiences don't like lesbians'."

Can't find anything to back this up, should it be removed? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Enemysprout (talk • contribs) 19:45, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

I've removed it. Unsourced contentious material relating to living people is not permitted in Wikipedia (see Wikipedia:Biographies of living persons). If a source is found, it can be restored. EALacey 12:08, 28 October 2007 (UTC)

Judges' categories

Just looking at this section... what about doing a cute little table like:

×	Series 1	Series 2	Series 3	Series 4
Simon Cowell	25+	Groups	16-25	TBA
Dannii Minogue	—	—	—	TBA
Sharon Osbourne	16-24	25+	25+	TBA
Louis Walsh	Groups	16-24	Groups	TBA

? I don't think we need to say who came 1st, 2nd and 3rd in this section. It's an easier way to see who has and hasn't had what. — AnemoneProjectors (会話) 21:41, 12 September 2007 (UTC)

I like the table, I would just be tempted to put Dannii at the bottom because she's a new judge and the em dashes would look neater at the bottom. Jonny - Wiki edit Jonny 21:04, 13 September 2007 (UTC)

That's fine by me, I did that originally but decided on alphabetical order then. We can use the terms "Boys" and "Girls" for this series to keep it short as well. — AnemoneProjectors (会話) 21:10, 13 September 2007 (UTC)

why are the winners not mentioned on this page at all??

just wondering why there is no mention of who won the x factor each year?

it seems silly to have a whole article about the show, yet not mention the winners.

i know they have their own individual pages, but what if i didn't have a clue about the x factor, or the previous years winners? i come here and NOTHING is mentioned!!!

again, there's also the individual pages for each series of the show, but that would entail looking at too many pages to find this info. it's not exactly a clear and concise page if it's not showing this info!!

a simple table under a winners section would be all that is needed. winner's name (obv including link to their page), year they won, their mentor. nothing fancy, but i think it is most definitely needed.

look at the american idol article. there's a table listing the winner (and the final conestants) for each series, so why not here? what i'm suggesting above isn't even that detailed, just the winners!!! the american idol article also links to each year's show, so don't start a debate saying, no it's not needed, as there's individual years pages...

it's poor article without this basic information. 194.221.133.226 13:57, 5 October 2007 (UTC)

edit - like the message above, re judges and the 'cute little table' that's what i'm suggesting!!!

Winner	Series	Mentor	Age Group
Steve Brookstein	1	Simon	25+
Shayne Ward	2	Louis	16-24
Leona Lewis	3	Simon	16-24
TBA	4	TBA	TBA

see, i've even coded it... lmao! 194.221.133.226 14:03, 5 October 2007 (UTC)

The winners aren't mentioned????????????? I can't believe I never noticed. They definitely have to be, but I think it should be in the lead section, same as the American Idol page. I don't think a separate section for the winners is needed at the moment. — AnemoneProjectors (会話) 20:44, 5 October 2007 (UTC)

Lucy Benjamin Should not be with the winners

Lucy Benjamin Should not be with the winners at the bottom of the page, she should have her own category - eg

Celebrity Winners - Lucy Benjamin

because its misleading to think she won a normal series of it

Networks broadcasting The X Factor

I have deleted this section. It listed ITV1, UTV, STV and TV3 as the networks, and explained that ITV1, STV and UTV are part of the ITV network. That ITV and TV3 broadcast The X Factor is stated clearly in the first line of the article. Furthermore, anyone wishing to understand the relationship between ITV, ITV1, STV and UTV can do so by reading the ITV article, which is linked to from this one. Armada104 20:45, 3 November 2007 (UTC)