The X Factor (British TV series) series 15
Template:Infobox reality talent competition
The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. The fifteenth series began airing on ITV on 1 September 2018, presented by Dermot O'Leary. Simon Cowell returned alongside new judges Louis Tomlinson, Ayda Field (credited as Ayda Williams) and Robbie Williams who replace departing judges Nicole Scherzinger, Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh. Nile Rodgers filled in for Williams while he was away on his tour for weeks 3-5 of the live shows.
Judges and presenters
On 6 June 2018, it was announced that Sharon Osbourne would return to judge the fifteenth series, but only for the live shows, due to her ongoing work commitments in the United States. The next day, long-serving judge Louis Walsh announced that after thirteen years on the show, he would leave to focus on other projects.[1] Earlier in the year, it was reported that Nicole Scherzinger would not return as a judge for the fifteenth series.[2] On 30 September 2018, Osbourne announced her decision to no longer appear as a judge during the live shows, stating that she had "seen the new judges finding their rhythm and are doing brilliantly".[3] This was clarified during an interview with Jane Moore for The Sun, where Osbourne confirmed she was originally hired as a full-time judge on the panel, fired, then rehired, and ultimately declined a reduced role on the show.[4]
Simon Cowell confirmed his return as head judge and Dermot O'Leary’s return as presenter. After much speculation, it was announced on 16 July 2018 that Ayda Field (credited as Ayda Williams), Louis Tomlinson and Robbie Williams would join Cowell on the series' judging panel.[5]
On 30 July 2018 a promo for the series—featuring judges Cowell, Field and Williams—aired during a Love Island commercial break on ITV2.[6]
On 23 August 2018, it was announced that Xtra Bites would return after a first series, presented by Becca Dudley again, and she would be joined by a co-host named Tinea Taylor.[7]
On 2 November 2018, it was revealed that Nile Rodgers would fill in for Williams on the panel during some of the live shows, due to Williams' touring commitments. Rodgers will sit alongside Williams on 3 November, before fully substituting for him on 4, 10, 11 & 17 November. In a statement, Rodgers stated: "I had such a great time with Louis at the Judge's House in Ibiza a couple of weeks ago that when the opportunity came to step in for Robbie I could not say ('no')", "From Chic and Sister Sledge to Duran Duran and Daft Punk, I've had great experiences with Groups in my career, so I look forward to giving them as much support as I can while Rob is away!". Williams returned to the panel on 24 November.[8]
Selection process
Auditions
Auditions for performers took place only at London's SSE Arena, Wembley, on 18–20, 22–24 and 26–28 July 2018.
Deliberations
Instead of the traditional bootcamp stages, a deliberation stage (similar to that employed by Britain's Got Talent) was introduced to cut down the number of performers at the six-chair challenge. This took place on 30 July 2018 at the Tobacco Dock in London.[citation needed] It was broadcast on a single episode on 23 September 2018 after the final auditions show.
After the "deliberation" and "reveal" stages, but before the start of the "six-chair challenge", the judges found out the categories they are mentoring: Cowell mentored the "Girls", Field mentored the "Overs", Williams mentored the "Groups", and Tomlinson mentored the "Boys". .[9]
Six Chair Challenge
The Six Chair Challenge took place over the course of three days, from 1–3 August 2018, at the SSE Arena in Wembley.[citation needed] A new twist was added with the introduction of a golden button, similar to Britain's Got Talent's Golden Buzzer. When this was pressed, the act in question was guaranteed a 'Safe Seat', and would go straight through to Judges' Houses. The Six Chair Challenge was aired over 3 episodes starting on 29 September 2018 and finished on 6 October 2018.[10]
Judges' Houses
It was announced by O'Leary during an appearance on This Morning that the Judges' Houses would be filmed in late September 2018, and that three of the judges' houses would be in Los Angeles (Cowell, Field and Williams); Tomlinson's houses would be hosted in Ibiza. Cowell judged from Malibu, while Field and Williams each judged their categories separately from their home in Beverley Hills. The guest judges were announced to be: Adam Lambert and Leona Lewis in assisting Field, David Walliams with Williams, and Paula Abdul, Randy Jackson, Ryan Seacrest, Diane Warren, Babyface, Lewis and Sinitta to assist Cowell, who hosted a house party consisting of various singers, songwriters and record producers for the Girls to perform in front of. Liam Payne and Nile Rodgers were announced to assist Tomlinson.[11]
Maria Laroco was not able to secure the correct visa in time to travel to Malibu with the remaining Girls for this stage of the competition. Unlike similar instances where the affected contestants withdrew from the competition, Laroco sang to Cowell via video link from a London studio.
16 finalists were put through to the live shows at this stage, 4 from each category. This last-minute change was lobbied by Cowell who was unable to narrow his Girls down to just 3; the other judges were then allowed one more act each for their own categories as well.
| Judge | Category | Location | Assistants | Contestants eliminated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cowell | Girls | Malibu | Paula Abdul, Randy Jackson, Ryan Seacrest, Diane Warren, Babyface, Michelle Visage, Adam Lambert, Leona Lewis, Sinitta, Paul Anka, Tricky Stewart and Dallas Austin. | Georgia Burgess, Maria Laroco |
| Field | Overs | Beverly Hills | Adam Lambert and Leona Lewis | Ricky John, Louise Setara |
| Tomlinson | Boys | Ibiza | Liam Payne and Nile Rodgers | J-Sol, Thomas Pound |
| Williams | Groups | Beverly Hills | David Walliams | Panda and Burgandy, Sweet Sense |
Finalists
| Category (Mentor) | Acts | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boys (Tomlinson) | Dalton Harris | Armstrong Martins | Brendan Murray | Anthony Russell |
| Girls (Cowell) | Shan Ako | Scarlett Lee | Bella Penfold | Molly Scott |
| Overs (Field) | Janice Robinson | Giovanni Spano | Danny Tetley | Olatunji Yearwood |
| Groups (Williams) | Acacia & Aaliyah | LMA Choir | Misunderstood | United Vibe |
Live shows
The finalists were announced after each category performed at Judges' Houses. There will be 16 finalists (4 from each category) this year. The Live Shows will be broadcast for 7 weeks from 20 October to 2 December.[12][13] This year the live shows reverts to the previous format of all performances on the Saturday night and the results show on the Sunday night.[14] However, there are 16 finalists and a reduced number of live shows, so almost all of the live result shows had double eliminations.[15][16]
Nile Rodgers temporarily replaced Williams on the panel, due to touring commitments. Rodgers appeared in Williams's place from 4–18 November.[8]
Musical guests
Keala Settle and Rak-Su the winners of the previous series performed on the first live results show. Little Mix and Kylie Minogue performed on the second live results show. James Arthur and Jonas Blue, Liam Payne & Lennon Stella performed on the third live results show. Michael Bublé, Olly Murs and Lady Leshurr performed on the fourth live results show. Cheryl and Tom Walker performed on the fifth live results show. Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus appeared on the sixth live show (Andersson doing a Masterclass with the semi-finalists & Ulvaeus appearing on the judging panel alongside Williams, Field, Tomlinson & Cowell to judge the performances). Zara Larsson performed on the sixth live results show. The live final will feature performances from Robbie Williams, James Arthur & Anne-Marie & George Ezra, while Ellie Goulding, Nile Rodgers & Chic and Take That (with Robbie Williams) will perform on the live final results show.[17]
Results summary
- Colour key
| – | Contestant was in the bottom two/three and had to perform again in the sing-off |
| – | Contestant was in the bottom three but received the fewest votes and was immediately eliminated |
| – | Contestant received the fewest public votes and was immediately eliminated (no sing-off) |
| – | Contestant received the most public votes |
| Contestant | Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre Freeze |
Post Freeze |
Pre Freeze |
Post Freeze |
Pre Freeze |
Post Freeze |
Saturday | Sunday | |||||
| Dalton Harris | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | ||
| Scarlett Lee | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Bottom two | ||
| Anthony Russell | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | ||
| Acacia & Aaliyah | Safe | Safe | Safe | Bottom three | Safe | Bottom two | Safe | 6th | Safe | Bottom two | Eliminated (week 6) | |
| Brendan Murray | Safe | Safe | 12th | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Eliminated | Eliminated (week 6) | ||
| Danny Tetley | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Eliminated | Eliminated (week 6) | ||
| Shan Ako | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | 7th | Eliminated (week 5) | |||
| Bella Penfold | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | 8th | Eliminated (week 5) | ||||
| Giovanni Spano | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Bottom two | Eliminated (week 4) | |||||
| Misunderstood | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | 10th | Eliminated (week 4) | ||||||
| Molly Scott | Safe | Safe | Safe | Bottom three | Eliminated (week 3) | |||||||
| United Vibe | Safe | Safe | Safe | 12th | Eliminated (week 3) | |||||||
| LMA Choir | Safe | Safe | 13th | Eliminated (week 2) | ||||||||
| Janice Robinson | Bottom three | 14th | Eliminated (week 2) | |||||||||
| Armstrong Martins | Bottom three | Eliminated (week 1) | ||||||||||
| Olatunji Yearwood | 16th | Eliminated (week 1) | ||||||||||
| Sing-off | Robinson, Martins |
None | LMA Choir, Murray |
Acacia & Aaliyah, Scott |
None | Acacia & Aaliyah, Spano |
None | Acacia & Aaliyah, Ako |
None | Acacia & Aaliyah, Lee |
No sing-off or judges' votes: results were based on public votes alone | |
| Judges voted to | Eliminate | Eliminate | Eliminate | Eliminate | Send through | |||||||
| Williams' vote | Martins | Murray | — | — | — | Acacia & Aaliyah | ||||||
| Rodgers' vote | — | — | Scott | Spano | Ako | — | ||||||
| Field's vote | Martins | LMA Choir | Scott | Acacia & Aaliyah | Ako | Lee | ||||||
| Tomlinson's vote | Robinson | LMA Choir | Scott | Spano | Acacia & Aaliyah | Lee | ||||||
| Cowell's vote | Martins | Murray | Acacia & Aaliyah | Spano | Acacia & Aaliyah | Lee | ||||||
| Eliminated | Olatunji Yearwood Fewest votes to save |
Janice Robinson Fewest votes to save |
LMA Choir 2 of 4 votes Deadlock |
United Vibe Fewest votes to save |
Misunderstood Fewest votes to save |
Giovanni Spano 3 of 4 votes Majority |
Bella Penfold Fewest votes to save |
Shan Ako 2 of 4 votes Deadlock |
Danny Tetley Fewest votes to save |
Acacia & Aaliyah 1 of 4 votes Minority |
||
| Armstrong Martins 3 of 4 votes Majority |
Molly Scott 3 of 4 votes Majority |
Brendan Murray Fewest votes to save | ||||||||||
| Reference(s) | [citation needed] | [citation needed] | [citation needed] | [citation needed] | [citation needed] | |||||||
Live show details
Week 1 (20/21 October)
- Theme: This is Me
- Musical guests: Keala Settle ("This Is Me") and Rak-Su ("I Want You to Freak")[18]
This week's results show featured a double elimination. The three acts with the fewest votes were announced as the bottom three, and the act out of the three with the fewest public votes was then automatically eliminated. The remaining two acts then performed in the final showdown for the judges' votes.
| Act | Order | Song[19] | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Misunderstood | 1 | "Chewing Gum" (original song) | Safe |
| Anthony Russell | 2 | "Issues" | Safe |
| Danny Tetley | 3 | "Hero" | Safe |
| Molly Scott | 4 | "Fake Love" | Safe |
| Janice Robinson | 5 | "Clarity" | Bottom three |
| Brendan Murray | 6 | "Break Free" | Safe |
| Bella Penfold | 7 | "Beneath Your Beautiful" | Safe |
| Armstrong Martins | 8 | "Story of My Life" | Bottom three |
| Giovanni Spano | 9 | "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" | Safe |
| United Vibe | 10 | "Slow Hands" | Safe |
| Shan Ako | 11 | "Imagine" | Safe |
| Olatunji Yearwood | 12 | "Jiggle It" (original song) | Eliminated |
| Scarlett Lee | 13 | "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" | Safe |
| LMA Choir | 14 | "Circle of Life" | Safe |
| Acacia & Aaliyah | 15 | "Finesse" | Safe |
| Dalton Harris | 16 | "Life On Mars?" | Safe |
| Sing-off details | |||
| Janice Robinson | 1 | "The Climb" | Saved |
| Armstrong Martins | 2 | "True Colors" | Eliminated |
- Judges' votes to eliminate
- Field: Armstrong Martins – backed her own act, Janice Robinson, saying she deserves to be in the competition
- Tomlinson: Janice Robinson – backed his own act, Armstrong Martins
- Williams: Armstrong Martins – gave no reason
- Cowell: Armstrong Martins – said that despite Martins being more interesting, Robinson was the better singer
Week 2 (27/28 October)
- Theme: Guilty Pleasures
- Musical guests: Little Mix ("Woman Like Me")[20] and Kylie Minogue ("A Lifetime to Repair")
This week's results show featured a double elimination. Lines were frozen on Sunday at 7:30pm, 30 minutes before the results show, and Janice Robinson was eliminated after the special guest performance from Little Mix after receiving the fewest votes. Lines then reopened and the two acts with the next fewest votes then performed in the sing-off.
| Act | Order | Song[21] | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| LMA Choir | 1 | "Proud Mary" | Bottom three |
| Shan Ako | 2 | "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" | Safe |
| Danny Tetley | 3 | "Crazy for You" | Safe |
| Brendan Murray | 4 | "Believe" | Bottom three |
| Misunderstood | 5 | "Close to You" | Safe |
| Molly Scott | 6 | "Little Do You Know" | Safe |
| Dalton Harris | 7 | "I Have Nothing" | Safe |
| Scarlett Lee | 8 | "Always On My Mind" | Safe |
| Acacia & Aaliyah | 9 | "All My Life"/"Shutdown" | Safe |
| Giovanni Spano | 10 | "...Baby One More Time" | Safe |
| Anthony Russell | 11 | "I Want to Know What Love Is" | Safe |
| United Vibe | 12 | "Party in the U.S.A." | Safe |
| Bella Penfold | 13 | "Diamonds Are Forever"/"Diamonds from Sierra Leone" | Safe |
| Janice Robinson | 14 | "Show Me Love" | Eliminated |
| Sing-off details | |||
| LMA Choir | 1 | "A Change Is Gonna Come" | Eliminated |
| Brendan Murray | 2 | "High and Dry" | Saved |
- Judges' votes to eliminate
- Williams: Brendan Murray – backed his own act, LMA Choir.
- Tomlinson: LMA Choir – backed his own act, Brendan Murray.
- Cowell: Brendan Murray – gave no reason.
- Field: LMA Choir – could not decide so chose to take 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. LMA Choir were eliminated as the act with the fewest public votes.
Week 3 (3/4 November)
- Theme: Fright Night
- Musical guests: James Arthur ("Empty Space")[22] and Jonas Blue, Liam Payne & Lennon Stella ("Polaroid")[23]
The live show was pre-recorded during Saturday afternoon to allow Williams to be present before flying to South America for touring commitments. Nile Rodgers appeared as a guest judge, filling in for Williams during the third results show and the fourth & fifth live shows and results shows.
This week's results show featured a double elimination. Lines were originally scheduled to be frozen on Sunday at 7:30pm, 60 minutes before the results show, the act receiving the fewest votes leaving the competition at the beginning of the show before lines would reopen and the two acts with the next fewest votes would then perform in the sing-off. However, due to a technical issue that affected the sound during Danny Tetley and Anthony Russell's performances, Saturday’s public vote was cancelled and lines instead opened in the results show on Sunday.[24] At the start of the live results show, all of the performances were shown in full before the public vote opened for 14 minutes.[25]
| Act | Order | Song[26] | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Molly Scott | 1 | "Toxic" | Bottom three |
| Dalton Harris | 2 | "Creep" | Safe |
| United Vibe | 3 | "Bleeding Love" | Eliminated |
| Shan Ako | 4 | "The Sound of Silence" | Safe |
| Danny Tetley | 5 | "Who Wants to Live Forever" | Safe |
| Anthony Russell | 6 | "Demons" | Safe |
| Misunderstood | 7 | "Thriller" | Safe |
| Scarlett Lee | 8 | "I Put a Spell on You" | Safe |
| Acacia & Aaliyah | 9 | "Jump" | Bottom three |
| Bella Penfold | 10 | "In My Blood" | Safe |
| Brendan Murray | 11 | "Youngblood" | Safe |
| Giovanni Spano | 12 | "Live and Let Die" | Safe |
| Sing-off details | |||
| Acacia & Aaliyah | 1 | "Big for Your Boots" | Saved |
| Molly Scott | 2 | "Human" | Eliminated |
- Judges' votes to eliminate
- Rodgers: Molly Scott - based on the sing-off performances, effectively backing Williams' own act, Acacia & Aaliyah.
- Cowell: Acacia & Aaliyah - backed his own act, Molly Scott, though said he couldn't believe either act was in the bottom two.
- Field: Molly Scott - based on the sing-off performances.
- Tomlinson: Molly Scott - said he wasn't sure Scott was quite there as an artist.
Week 4 (10/11 November)
- Theme: "Movies" (songs from films)[27]
- Musical guests: Michael Bublé ("When I Fall in Love") and Olly Murs featuring Lady Leshurr ("Moves")[28]
This week's results show featured a double elimination. Lines were frozen on Sunday at 7:30pm, 60 minutes before the results show, and Misunderstood were eliminated after the special guest performance from Bublé after receiving the fewest votes. Lines then reopened and the two acts with the next fewest votes then performed in the sing-off.
| Act | Order | Song[27] | Movie | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Giovanni Spano | 1 | "The Greatest Show" | The Greatest Showman | Bottom three |
| Dalton Harris | 2 | "California Dreamin'" | San Andreas | Safe |
| Scarlett Lee | 3 | "I'll Never Love Again" | A Star is Born | Safe |
| Brendan Murray | 4 | "Everybody Hurts" | Bewitched | Safe |
| Acacia & Aaliyah | 5 | "Survivor" | Tomb Raider | Bottom three |
| Bella Penfold | 6 | "A Million Dreams" | The Greatest Showman | Safe |
| Misunderstood | 7 | "Maniac" | Flashdance | Eliminated |
| Danny Tetley | 8 | "My Heart Will Go On" | Titanic | Safe |
| Anthony Russell | 9 | "Eye of the Tiger" | Rocky III | Safe |
| Shan Ako | 10 | "Never Enough" | The Greatest Showman | Safe |
| Sing-off details | ||||
| Giovanni Spano | 1 | "Let Me Entertain You" | Eliminated | |
| Acacia & Aaliyah | 2 | "All My Life"/ "Shutdown" | Saved | |
- Judges' votes to eliminate
- Rodgers: Giovanni Spano - backed Williams' own act, Acacia & Aaliyah.
- Field: Acacia & Aaliyah - backed her own act, Giovanni Spano.
- Tomlinson: Giovanni Spano - stated that he believed Acacia & Aaliyah had a future as a recording artist while Spano had more of a future in musical theatre.
- Cowell: Giovanni Spano - gave no specific reason but praised both acts' sing-off performances and added that he felt embarrassed at Acacia & Aaliyah as he believed something was stopping them from performing at their best during the live shows.
Week 5: Quarter-final (17/18 November)
- Theme: Big Band
- Musical guests: Tom Walker ("Leave A Light On") and Cheryl ("Love Made Me Do It")[29]
This week's results show featured a double elimination. Lines were frozen on Sunday at 7:30pm, 30 minutes before the results show, and Bella Penfold was eliminated immediately at the beginning of the show. Once that occurred, lines reopened for a few more minutes and the two acts with the next fewest votes performed in the sing off.
During the results show, Cowell told the acts that the final 6 would go on The X Factor Live Tour in 2019. After the elimination of Shan Ako, Cowell went up on stage to console Ako and told her that he would allow both her and Penfold to join the final 6 on tour as well.
| Act | Order | Song[30] | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scarlett Lee | 1 | "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" | Safe |
| Brendan Murray | 2 | "Say Something" | Safe |
| Shan Ako | 3 | "Summertime" | Bottom three |
| Anthony Russell | 4 | "Beyond the Sea" | Safe |
| Acacia & Aaliyah | 5 | "Act Our Age" (original song) | Bottom three |
| Bella Penfold | 6 | "Strong" | Eliminated |
| Dalton Harris | 7 | "Listen" | Safe |
| Danny Tetley | 8 | "My Way" | Safe |
| Sing-off details | |||
| Shan Ako | 1 | "Rise Up" | Eliminated |
| Acacia & Aaliyah | 2 | "Bang Bang" | Saved |
- Judges' votes to eliminate
- Cowell: Acacia & Aaliyah - backed his own act, Shan Ako.
- Rodgers: Shan Ako - backed Williams' own act, Acacia & Aaliyah.
- Tomlinson: Acacia & Aaliyah - based on the sing-off performances.
- Field: Shan Ako - could not decide so chose to take 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. Shan Ako was eliminated as the act with the fewest public votes.
Week 6: Semi-final (24/25 November)
- 24 November
- Theme: Get Me to the Final (Part I) & Mamma Mia[31]
This week's semi-final featured a triple elimination. During Saturday's show, the lines froze where the two acts with the fewest votes were immediately eliminated. They then re-opened and closed during Sunday's results show ahead of the final sing-off of the series.
In addition, following all of the act's first performance during Saturday's show, each act performed a segment from an ABBA song where Björn Ulvaeus joined the judging panel for the performances.
| Act | Order | First song | Order | Second song | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brendan Murray | 1 | "Run" | 11 | "I Have a Dream" | Eliminated |
| Danny Tetley | 2 | "This Is My Life" | 12 | "Thank You for the Music" | Eliminated |
| Dalton Harris | 3 | "Feeling Good" | 7 | "SOS" | Safe |
| Acacia & Aaliyah | 4 | "Blinded by Your Grace, Pt. 2"/ "I Win" | 10 | "Money, Money, Money" | Safe |
| Anthony Russell | 5 | "Livin' on a Prayer" | 8 | "The Name of the Game" | Safe |
| Scarlett Lee | 6 | "This Is Me" | 9 | "The Winner Takes It All" | Safe |
- 25 November
- Theme: Get Me to the Final (Part II)
- Musical guests: Zara Larsson[31] ("Ruin My Life")
| Act | Order | Song | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dalton Harris | 1 | "Clown" | Safe |
| Acacia & Aaliyah | 2 | "Big for Your Boots"/ "Shutdown" | Bottom two |
| Anthony Russell | 3 | "Don't Look Back in Anger" | Safe |
| Scarlett Lee | 4 | "I Didn't Know My Own Strength" | Bottom two |
| Sing-off details | |||
| Acacia & Aaliyah | 1 | "Blinded by Your Grace, Pt. 2"/ "I Win" | Eliminated |
| Scarlett Lee | 2 | "This Is Me" | Saved |
- Judges' votes to send through to the final
- Cowell: Scarlett Lee - based on the sing-off performances, effectively backing his own act, Scarlett Lee, who he said the final would not be the same without.
- Williams: Acacia & Aaliyah - backed his own act, Acacia & Aaliyah.
- Field: Scarlett Lee - based on the sing-off performances, though stated she wished she could send both acts through.
- Tomlinson: Scarlett Lee - based on the vocals in the sing-off performances, though stated that it would be criminal if Acacia & Aaliyah didn't receive a record deal after the show.
Week 7: Final (1/2 December)
For the first time since 2007, there will be no elimination on Saturday. Instead, all 3 finalists will progress to Sunday's live final results show.[32]
- 1 December[33]
- Theme: No theme; Celebrity duets
- Group Performance: Robbie Williams Medley (Final 10 with Robbie Williams)
- Musical guests: James Arthur & Anne-Marie ("Rewrite the Stars") and George Ezra ("Shotgun")
| Act | Order | First song | Order | Second song |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anthony Russell | 1 | "Let It Be" | 4 | "Leave a Light On" with Tom Walker |
| Dalton Harris | 2 | "A Song for You" | 5 | "Beneath Your Beautiful" with Emeli Sandé |
| Scarlett Lee | 3 | "Your Song" | 6 | "Angels" with Robbie Williams |
- 2 December[34]
- Theme: Winners duets
- Musical guests: Ellie Goulding ("Close To Me"), Nile Rodgers & Chic ("TBA") and Take That with Robbie Williams ("TBA")
| Act | Order | Song | Results |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anthony Russell | 1 | "I Predict a Riot" with Kaiser Chiefs | |
| Dalton Harris | 2 | "The Power of Love" with James Arthur | |
| Scarlett Lee | 3 | "One More Sleep" with Leona Lewis |
Reception
Ratings
As of September 2018, all official ratings include those who watched on demand via the ITV Hub.
| Episode | Air date | Official rating (millions)[35],1 |
Weekly rank[35],2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Auditions 1 | 1 September | 7.59 | 4 |
| Auditions 2 | 2 September | 6.43 | 11 |
| Auditions 3 | 8 September | 6.57 | 13 |
| Auditions 4 | 9 September | 6.38 | Outside top 15 |
| Auditions 5 | 15 September | 7.08 | 10 |
| Auditions 6 | 16 September | 6.08 | Outside top 15 |
| Auditions 7 | 22 September | 6.59 | 15 |
| Auditions 8 | 23 September | 6.34 | Outside top 15 |
| Six-chair challenge 1 | 29 September | 6.27 | Outside top 15 |
| Six-chair challenge 2 | 30 September | 6.38 | Outside top 15 |
| Six-chair challenge 3 | 6 October | 6.38 | Outside top 15 |
| Judges Houses 1 | 7 October | 6.19 | Outside top 15 |
| Judges Houses 2 | 13 October | 6.88 | Outside top 15 |
| Judges Houses 3 | 14 October | 6.26 | Outside top 15 |
| Live show 1 | 20 October | 5.55 | 15 |
| Live results 1 | 21 October | 4.00 | 15 |
| Live show 2 | 27 October | 4.00 | 15 |
| Live results 2 | 28 October | 4.20 | 15 |
| Live show 3 | 3 November | 3.70 | Outside top 15 |
| Live results 3 | 4 November | 4.20 | 15 |
| Live show 4 | 10 November | ||
| Live results 4 | 11 November | TBA | TBA |
| Live show 5 | 17 November | TBA | TBA |
| Live results 5 | 18 November | 4.80 | 11 |
| Live show 6 | 24 November | TBA | |
| Live results 6 | 25 November | 4.60 | 9 |
| Live final 1 | 1 December | TBA | TBA |
| Live final 2 | 2 December | TBA | TBA |
- ^1 The ratings over a 28-day period, including the broadcasts on ITV and streaming through ITV Hub using BARB's 4-figure dashboard system (includes viewers watching on tablets/smartphones).
- ^2 The rank for the combined ITV, ITV HD and ITV+1 broadcasts, compared with all channels for that week, from Monday to Sunday.
Controversies
Accusations of transphobia
During the audition stage, 20-year-old trans man, Felix Shepherd, impressed the judges with his rendition of "All I Want" by Kodaline, and received a standing ovation from the crowd. Before singing, Williams asked him about his background; Shepherd said he was there to prove to people that he was "more than just a transgender guy." Williams responded by asking him: "So when you were born, what was your name?", thus misgendering him. Although many fans of the show were supportive of the representation, many were outraged by Williams' question, though Shepherd stated that he was not offended by Williams.[36][37]
Sound problems
During the third week of live shows, sound issues caused the judges, O'Leary and contestants to sound distorted. As the show was not live, O'Leary did not address the sound problems until the following night's live results show, but at the end of the programme, another message said: "Due to a technical issue, tonight's vote has been cancelled. It will open in tomorrow night's show." During the results show all the performances of the night were replayed before the lines opened to make the result fair for the contestants.[24]
References
- ^ Lee, Ben (7 June 2018). "Louis Walsh quits The X Factor, after 13 years". Digital Spy. United Kingdom. Retrieved 12 June 2018.
- ^ Daly, Helen (7 June 2018). "X Factor 2018 judges: Sharon Osbourne lands new deal". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
- ^ Lenniger, Shea (2 October 2018). "Sharon Osbourne Says Goodbye to UK X Factor". Billboard. United States: Eldridge Industries. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
- ^ "Sharon Osbourne on her X Factor sacking and that attack on Simon Cowell". 4 October 2018.
- ^ "New X Factor judges (finally) confirmed". BBC News. United Kingdom. 17 July 2018. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
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{{cite web}}: line feed character in|title=at position 160 (help) - ^ @TheXFactor (4 November 2018). "@TheXFactor: Tune in tonight at 8.30pm on @itv & @wearestv to see all of last night's #XFactor performances from our 12 amazing contestants, in full, before the new public vote opens. #decisiontime" (Tweet). Retrieved 4 November 2018 – via Twitter.
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