X Factor (Albanian TV series)

X Factor Albania
Also known as	Faktori X
Created by	Simon Cowell
Presented by	Alketa Vejsiu
Judges	Pandi Laço Alban Skënderaj Miriam Cani (2015–) Bleona Qereti (2015–) Soni Malaj (2012–2014) Altuna Sejdiu (2012–2014) Vesa Luma (2012) Juliana Pasha (2012)
Country of origin	Albania and Kosovo
Original language(s)	Albanian
No. of seasons	4
No. of episodes	66
Production
Producer(s)	Vera Grabocka Alketa Vejsiu
Location(s)	Tirana, Albania
Production company(s)	Syco TV FremantleMedia TV Klan
Release
Original network	TV Klan
Picture format	576i 4:3 (season 1) 1080i 16:9 (season 2-)
Audio format	Stereo
Original release	8 January 2012 – present
Chronology
Related shows	The X Factor
External links
Official website

X Factor Albania is the Albanian version of The X Factor, adapted from the original UK series to find new singing talent. The first season started in January 8, 2012, and it is broadcast by TV Klan. The judges are: Albanian singer from Macedonia Altuna Sejdiu, Albanian singer Soni Malaj, Albanian superstar Alban Skënderaj, and the famous composer Pandi Laço. The show is hosted by Alketa Vejsiu. She applied to acquire the rights of the show along with Top Channel and TV Klan. Syco TV gave the rights to her, then she sold parts of the rights to TV Klan. After losing the rights of The X Factor, Top Channel acquired the rights of the talent show, The Voice.^[1]

Overview

It was announced that there would be four categories on the show, Males 15 to 23, Females 15 to 23, over 23s and The Groups.

Also it was announced that there would be five stages of the competition. The first stage is known as the "Producers audition", the producers of the show choose which of the contestants will have the right to audition in front of the judges. Next the contestants audition in front of the judges where they sing at least one song with instrumentals or A Capella. The third stage of the competition is Bootcamp, where from thousands of contestants only 150 are left. The fourth stage includes the "Judge's houses" or known in Albania as "Vilat e Jurive", where only 32 contestants,8 per category would fight for their place in the live shows. And the last stage of the competition would be the Live shows, where four contestants per category will make it.^[2]

In the first live show the public couldn't vote or make a decision. In the second live show and on, only the public had the right to vote and decide which contestants from all categories would end up in the bottom two. The two contestants with the lowest number of votes would end up in the bottom two, then they sing again for survival, the four judges would decide which contestant they want to eliminate. If one of the judges has his or her contestant on the bottom two, he or she usually decides to eliminate the other contestant in the bottom two, so the real decision is in the hands of the two or (if one judge has two of its contestants in the bottom two) three judges that don't have their own contestants in the bottom two. The show goes this way on the live shows every week one or two contestants are voted off, until the grand finale on June tenth when the winner is announced.

The auditions were held in different cities across Albania and Kosovo, the producers auditions included many cities but the auditions in front of the judges were held only in a few. The cities that auditions were held with the judges are Tirana, Vlora, Elbasan, Shkoder and the Kosovan capital Pristina. The first episode aired half of Tirana's auditions on January 8. Vesa Luma wasn't the judge on all of the city auditions, she was chosen as the fourth judge only after all of the city auditions ended. She judged on the Shkodra's audition also. It was reported that more than 7000 people auditioned for the show, which broke a record for the biggest number of auditions in any talent show across Albania, Kosovo and the Balkans.

On the official Facebook page of the X Factor, it was announced that the show would be first aired in January 8, 2012. It was reported that the winner of the show would be signed to the famous label Syco Music which has signed the likes of Leona Lewis, One Direction, Susan Boyle, Little Mix, Cher Lloyd, Alexandra Burke, Westlife etc. The winner of the first season of X factor Albania was Sheila Haxhiraj.

Judges' categories and their finalists

In each season, each judge is allocated a category to mentor and chooses four acts to progress to the live shows. This table shows, for each season, which category each judge was allocated and which acts he or she put through to the live shows.

Key:

     – Winning judge/category. Winners are in bold, eliminated contestants in small font.

Season	Pandi Laço	Vesa Luma	Juliana Pasha	Alban Skënderaj
One	Groups Classic Boys X Group Focus Red Roses	Over 23s Lirije Rashiti Besa Breca Gerald Zyfi Matilda Shushari	Girls Sheila Haxhiraj Xhesika Polo Festina Mejzini Savjana Vjerdha	Boys Kristo Thano Anxhelo Miho Amarildo Shahinaj Arianit Bellopoja
Two	Pandi Laço	Altuna Sejdiu	Soni Malaj	Alban Skënderaj
	No Limit Kanita Suma Egzona Ademi Suela Malasi Ina Torba Rezart Saliasi	Girls Arilena Ara Antonela Çekixhi Elisa Salla Xhina Kelmendi Shkelqesa Sadiku	Boys Aldo Bardhi Sardi Strugaj Petro Xhori Herri Beluli	Groups Natyral KSAL Soul Sisters Foxy Ladies
Three	Girls Enxhi Nasufi Laura Kërliu Arissa Rexho Kristina Leka	Boys Ergi Dini Leotrim Zejnullahu Amadeo Gjura Ademir Fresku	Groups Exception Free Spirit Nimfat Dream Girls	Over 23s Senad Rrahmani Sarah Memmola Mia Morina Fatmir Durmishi
Season	Pandi Laço	Miriam Cani	Bleona Qereti	Alban Skënderaj
Four	Groups Brunetts X Roads Mama Pop Double F	Girls Edea Demaliaj Floriana Rexhepi Lediana Matoshi Mirela Boka	Boys Genti Deda Dilan Reka Matteo Brento Igli Zarka Gerald Celibashi	Over 23s Manuel Moscati Alice Ylenia Iorio Adela Curra

Series summary

     Boys category
     Girls category
     Over 23s/No Limit category
     Groups category

Season	Air date	Winner	Runner-up	Third place	Host	Judges	Winning mentor
One	8 January 2012	Sheila Haxhiraj	Kristo Thano	Xhesika Polo	Alketa Vejsiu	Juliana Pasha Pandi Laço Vesa Luma Alban Skënderaj	Juliana Pasha
Two	18 October 2012	Arilena Ara	Aldo Bardhi	Natyral		Pandi Laço Altuna Sejdiu Soni Malaj Alban Skënderaj	Altuna Sejdiu
Three	15 September 2013	Ergi Dini	Senad Rrahmani	Sarah Memmola			Altuna Sejdiu
Four	5 January 2015	Edea Demaliaj	Genti Deda	Dilan Reka		Pandi Laço Miriam Cani Bleona Qereti Alban Skënderaj	Miriam Cani

References

1. (15 August 2011).Alketa sjell “X Factor” në Shqipëri (Alketa brings "X Factor" to Albania Retrieved 5 December 2011.
2. (20 September 2011). Alketa, në kërkim të talenteve për “X Factor” (Alketa in search of talents for The X Factor) Retrieved 5 December 2011.