The X Factor (UK series 1)
| The X Factor | |
|---|---|
| Series 1 | |
| Broadcast from | 4 September – 11 December 2004 |
| Judges |
Simon Cowell Sharon Osbourne Louis Walsh |
| Presenter(s) | Kate Thornton (ITV) |
| Co-presenter(s) | Ben Shephard (ITV2) |
| Broadcaster |
ITV ITV2 (The Xtra Factor) |
| Winner | |
| Steve Brookstein | |
| Origin | Camberwell, London, England |
| Song | "Against All Odds" |
| Genre(s) | Blue-eyed soul, jazz |
| Mentor | Simon Cowell |
| Runner-up | |
| G4 | |
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 series was won by Steve Brookstein,[1] with Cowell as the winning mentor. Brookstein went on to have some chart success, with runners-up G4 achieving two platinum albums before splitting up in 2007.
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.
| Judge | Category | Location | Assistant | Contestants eliminated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cowell | 25 and Overs | London | Annie Skates, Sinitta | Odis Palmer, Lloyd Wade |
| Osbourne | 16-24s | Buckinghamshire | Mark Hudson, Terry Longden, Jack Osbourne | Megan Ramsay, Andy Steed |
| Walsh | Groups | Dublin | Linda Martin, Faye Sawyer, David Laudat | 4Tune, Advance |
Finalists
The following acts made it to the live shows;
Key:
- – Winner
- – Runner-up
- – Third place
| Category (mentor) | Acts | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 16–24s (Osbourne) | Tabby Callaghan | Cassie Compton | Roberta Howett |
| 25 and overs (Cowell) | Steve Brookstein | Verity Keays | Rowetta Satchell |
| Groups (Walsh) | 2 to Go | G4 | Voices with Soul |
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.
Results summary
- Colour key
| – | Contestant was in the bottom two and had to sing again in the final showdown |
| – | Contestant received the fewest public votes and was immediately eliminated (no final showdown) |
| Contestant | Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steve Brookstein | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Winner (week 8) | |
| G4 | Safe | Safe | Safe | Bottom two | Safe | Safe | Safe | Runner-up (week 8) | |
| Tabby Callaghan | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Bottom two | Safe | 3rd | Eliminated (week 7) | |
| Rowetta Satchell | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | 4th | Eliminated (week 6) | ||
| Cassie Compton | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Bottom two | Eliminated (week 5) | |||
| Voices with Soul | Bottom two | Safe | Bottom two | Bottom two | Eliminated (week 4) | ||||
| 2 to Go | Safe | Bottom two | Bottom two | Eliminated (week 3) | |||||
| Verity Keays | Safe | Bottom two | Eliminated (week 2) | ||||||
| Roberta Howett | Bottom two | Eliminated (week 1) | |||||||
| Final showdown | Howett, Voices with Soul |
2 to Go, Keays |
2 to Go, Voices with Soul |
G4, Voices with Soul |
Callaghan, Compton |
No final showdown or judges' votes; results were based on public votes alone | |||
| Walsh's vote to eliminate | Howett | Keays | 2 to Go | Voices with Soul | Compton | ||||
| Osbourne's vote to eliminate | Voices with Soul | Keays | 2 to Go | Voices with Soul | None (refused) | ||||
| Cowell's vote to eliminate | Howett | 2 to Go | N/A1 | G4 | Compton | ||||
| Eliminated | Roberta Howett 2 of 3 votes Majority |
Verity Keays 2 of 3 votes Majority |
2 to Go 2 of 2 votes Majority |
Voices with Soul 2 of 3 votes Majority |
Cassie Compton 2 of 2 votes Majority |
Rowetta Satchell Public vote to save |
Tabby Callaghan Public vote to save |
G4 Public vote to win | |
^1 Cowell was not required to vote as there was already a majority.
``
Live show details
Week 1 (23 October)
| Act | Order | Song | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Voices with Soul | 1 | "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" | Bottom two |
| Verity Keays | 2 | "I Will Always Love You" | Safe |
| Roberta Howett | 3 | "Superstar" | Eliminated |
| 2 to Go | 4 | "Don't Know Much" | Safe |
| Steve Brookstein | 5 | "When a Man Loves a Woman" | Safe |
| Cassie Compton | 6 | "Alfie" | Safe |
| G4 | 7 | "Everybody Hurts" | Safe |
| Rowetta Satchell | 8 | "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me" | Safe |
| Tabby Callaghan | 9 | "You Really Got Me" | Safe |
- Judges' votes to eliminate
- Osbourne: Voices with Soul
- Walsh: Roberta Howett
- Cowell: Roberta Howett
Week 2 (30 October)
| Act | Order | Song | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rowetta Satchell | 1 | "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" | Safe |
| 2 to Go | 2 | "Always" | Bottom two |
| Cassie Compton | 3 | "Without You" | Safe |
| Verity Keays | 4 | "Wind Beneath My Wings" | Eliminated |
| G4 | 5 | "Don't Look Back in Anger" | Safe |
| Tabby Callaghan | 6 | "My Oh My" | Safe |
| Steve Brookstein | 7 | "If You Don't Know Me by Now" | Safe |
| Voices with Soul | 8 | "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" | Safe |
- Judges' votes to eliminate
- Walsh: Verity Keays
- Cowell: 2 to Go
- Osbourne: Verity Keays
Week 3 (6 November)
| Act | Order | Song | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tabby Callaghan | 1 | "Addicted to Love" | Safe |
| Voices with Soul | 2 | "Bridge Over Troubled Water" | Bottom two |
| Steve Brookstein | 3 | "Smile" | Safe |
| 2 to Go | 4 | "(I've Had) The Time of My Life" | Eliminated |
| Cassie Compton | 5 | "I Say a Little Prayer" | Safe |
| Rowetta Satchell | 6 | "Over the Rainbow" | Safe |
| G4 | 7 | "...Baby One More Time" | Safe |
- Judges' votes to eliminate
- Walsh: 2 to Go
- Osbourne: 2 to Go
- Cowell was not required to vote as there was already a majority
Week 4 (13 November)
| Act | Order | Song | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| G4 | 1 | "Circle of Life" | Bottom two |
| Rowetta Satchell | 2 | "MacArthur Park" | Safe |
| Tabby Callaghan | 3 | "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" | Safe |
| Voices With Soul | 4 | "Lady Marmalade" | Eliminated |
| Cassie Compton | 5 | "Hero" | Safe |
| Steve Brookstein | 6 | "Help Me Make It Through The Night" | Safe |
- Judges' votes to eliminate
- Cowell: G4
- Osbourne: Voices with Soul
- Walsh: Voices with Soul
Week 5 (20 November)
| Act | Order | Song | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steve Brookstein | 1 | "Let's Stay Together" | Safe |
| Cassie Compton | 2 | "All by Myself" | Eliminated |
| G4 | 3 | "My Way" | Safe |
| Tabby Callaghan | 4 | "Sweet Child o' Mine" | Bottom two |
| Rowetta Satchell | 5 | "Somewhere" | Safe |
- Judges' votes to eliminate
- Osbourne refused to send home either of her acts
- Walsh: Cassie Compton
- Cowell: Cassie Compton
Week 6 (27 November)
| Act | Order | First song | Order | Second song | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rowetta Satchell | 1 | "River Deep - Mountain High" | 5 | "When You Tell Me That You Love Me" | Eliminated |
| G4 | 2 | "You'll Never Walk Alone" | 6 | "Somebody to Love" | Safe |
| Steve Brookstein | 3 | "I Get the Sweetest Feeling" | 7 | "If I Could Turn Back the Hands of Time" | Safe |
| Tabby Callaghan | 4 | "More Than Words" | 8 | "Livin' on a Prayer" | Safe |
This week did not feature a final showdown and instead the act with the fewest public votes, Rowetta Satchell, was automatically eliminated.
Week 7: Semi-final (4 December)
| Act | Order | First song | Order | Second song | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tabby Callaghan | 1 | "Pride (In the Name of Love)" | 4 | "Sailing" | Eliminated |
| Steve Brookstein | 2 | "Have I Told You Lately" | 5 | "Greatest Love of All" | Safe |
| G4 | 3 | "O Holy Night" | 6 | "Bohemian Rhapsody" | Safe |
The semi-final did not feature a final showdown and instead the act with the fewest public votes, Tabby Callaghan, was automatically eliminated.
Week 8: Final (11 December)
- Themes: No theme; song of the series; winner's single
| Act | Order | First song | Order | Second song | Order | Third song | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steve Brookstein | 1 | "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher" | 3 | "Smile" | 5 | "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" | Winner |
| G4 | 2 | "Nessun Dorma" | 4 | "Bohemian Rhapsody" | 6 | "Creep" | Runner-up |
Reception
Ratings
This series achieved an average of 7.4 million viewers per episode. The lowest of and The X Factor UK series so far
| Episode | Air date | Official ITV1 rating[2] (millions) |
Weekly rank[2] (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Auditions 1 | 4 September | 5.25 | 21 |
| Auditions 2 | 11 September | 6.53 | 17 |
| Auditions 3 | 18 September | 7.08 | 14 |
| Auditions 4 | 25 September | 7.24 | 16 |
| Auditions 5 | 2 October | 6.71 | 18 |
| Bootcamp 1 | 9 October | 6.69 | 21 |
| Bootcamp 2 | 7.89 | 17 | |
| Judges' houses | 16 October | 7.32 | 17 |
| Live show 1 | 23 October | 7.18 | 17 |
| Live results 1 | 7.83 | 15 | |
| Live show 2 | 30 October | 6.53 | 20 |
| Live results 2 | 7.26 | 17 | |
| Live show 3 | 6 November | 6.89 | 19 |
| Live results 3 | 7.02 | 18 | |
| Live show 4 | 13 November | 7.42 | 15 |
| Live results 4 | 6.88 | 18 | |
| Live show 5 | 20 November | 7.91 | 16 |
| Live results 5 | 7.98 | 14 | |
| Live show 6 | 27 November | 8.06 | 22 |
| Live results 6 | 8.01 | 23 | |
| Live semi-final | 4 December | 7.79 | 20 |
| Live results 7 | 7.52 | 23 | |
| Final | 11 December | 8.62 | 15 |
| Final results | 9.96 | 8 |
Controversy and criticism
It was reported in tabloid newspapers that the show's audition process was unfair after Walsh was accused of cheating. He was thought to have advised the group Co-Ed on things such as song choices, which caused controversy after it was revealed that he had actually previously managed Co-Ed after they appeared on the Irish version of Popstars in 2001. Around the same time, footage of Cowell and Osbourne coaching contestants to argue back to the judges was being auctioned over the Internet.[3]
Prior to the first live show, Osbourne accused Cowell of "rigging" the show by editing footage to make the contestants in his category more appealing to viewers.[4] Osbourne attracted criticism again following the final in December 2004 when she was forced to make an apology after attracting what Cowell referred to as "record complaints" over an outburst by Osbourne in which she criticised eventual winner Steve Brookstein. This left her place on the show uncertain,[5] although she returned for the second series in 2005
Despite finishing as runners-up, G4 have since referred to The X Factor as "just panto".[6]
References
- ↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/4089147.stm
- 1 2 "Weekly Viewing Summary (see relevant week)". BARB. Retrieved 25 September 2013.
- ↑ Kilkelly, Daniel (4 September 2004). "'X Factor' judge accused of cheating". Digital Spy (Hearst Magazines UK). Retrieved 25 September 2013.
- ↑ Wilkes, Neil (22 October 2004). "Osbourne brands Cowell "fucking wanker". Digital Spy (Hearst Magazines UK). Retrieved 25 September 2013.
- ↑ Kilkelly, Daniel (19 December 2004). "Sharon Osbourne facing 'X Factor' axe?". Digital Spy (Hearst Magazines UK). Retrieved 25 September 2013.
- ↑ Mendoza, Nadia (1 August 2007). "G4: X Factor is just panto". The Sun (News UK). Retrieved 25 September 2013.
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