The X Factor UK (Series 4)

The X Factor UK (Series 4)
Series	4
Broadcast from	18 August 2007 – 15 December 2007
Judges	Louis Walsh Sharon Osbourne Dannii Minogue Simon Cowell Brian Friedman (London auditions)
Presenters	Dermot O'Leary Fearne Cotton
Network	ITV ITV2
Number of finalists	12
Winner	Leon Jackson
Runner-up	Rhydian Roberts
Notable returnees	Andy Williams (1)
Ratings	8.57 millions
Chronology
Previous	Series 3
Next	Series 5

Series 4 of The X Factor premiered on August 18, 2007 and ended on 15 December 2007 on ITV.

It was won by 18-year old Scottish soul/jazz singer Leon Jackson who was part of the Boys category mentored by Dannii Minogue.

This series was watched by an average of 8.57 million viewers - an increase of 300,000 viewers from the previous series.

Production

Dermot O'Leary presented for the first time, replacing Kate Thornton, who had been presenting the show since 2004. Fearne Cotton replaced Ben Shephard as presenter on the spin-off show The Xtra Factor.

The original judging panel consisted of Simon Cowell, Sharon Osbourne, Brian Friedman and Dannii Minogue. Friedman left the panel and was replaced by former judge Louis Walsh. However, Friedman took the position as the creative director during the live shows.

Judges

Louis Walsh	Sharon Osbourne	Dannii Minogue	Simon Cowell

Twists/Changes

Fourth Permanent Judge Introduction: This is the first series to feature four permanent judges instead of three.

Audition Vote Majority Change: Due to the introduction of a fourth judge, an act was required to receive three yes votes to advance to boot camp instead of two.

Age Limit: The minimum age was lowered to 14 for the first time.

Bootcamp: Instead of judge being allocated to a category after auditions, all four judges are working together in bootcamp. The judges were later allocated to a category at the end of the bootcamp round.

Category Changes: Due to the addition of a fourth judge, the categories were divided into Over 25s, Boys, Girls, and Groups, with the Boys and Girls categories replacing the 16-24s category.

Judges' Houses: In a change to previous series, the judges' houses round was broadcast over a whole weekend.

Live Shows: In a change to the previous series, the Top 3 finalists duetted with celebrity performers.

Deadlock: With four permanent judges from this series onwards, in the result show where the judges' votes were tied at two elimination votes for each act in the bottom two, the result goes to deadlock where the act finishing last in the public vote is eliminated.

Act Withdrawal During The Live Shows: During the live shows, one act withdrew from the competition.

Finalists

Act		Category	Finish	Elimination
	Kimberley Southwick 19, Tamworth, Staffordshire	Girls	12th week one	Majority vote
	Daniel DeBourg 31, Chelmsford	Over 25s	11th week two	Majority vote
	Emily Nakanda 14, London	Girls	10th week three	Withdrew
	Futureproof 17-23, various places	Groups	9th week three	Majority vote
X Factor 2008 Live Tour
	Andy Williams 23, Newport	Boys	8th week four	Majority vote
	Alisha Bennett 22, Wembley, London	Girls	7th week five	Majority vote
	Beverley Trotman 38, Luton	Over 25s	6th week six	Deadlock
	Hope 16-23, various places	Groups	5th quarter-final	Fewest public votes
	Niki Evans 34, Polesworth	Over 25s	4th semi-final	Fewest public votes
	Same Difference 19-22, Portsmouth	Groups	3rd final	Fewest public votes
	Rhydian Roberts 24, Powys	Boys	Runner-up final	Fewest public votes
	Leon Jackson 18, Whitburn, West Lothian	Boys	Winner final	Most public votes

Selection process

Auditions

See: List of The X Factor UK auditionees (series 4)

Notable returnees included Mollie King as part of the girl group Fallen Angelz. She previously auditioned for the show in Series 2 and was criticized for her outfit by Sharon Osbourne. She would later go on to find fame as a member of English/Irish girl group The Saturdays

Bootcamp

See: Bootcamp (UK series 4).

Judges' Houses

See: Judges' Houses (UK series 4)

Summary of judges' houses

Judge	Category	Location	Guest mentor(s)	Contestants eliminated
Cowell	Groups	Marbella	Sinitta	Ghostt, I Sette Cantanti, W4
Minogue	Boys	Ibiza	Terry Ronald	Luke Bayer, Charlie Finn, Dominic Harris
Osbourne	Girls	Los Angeles	Nicole Scherzinger	Victoria Closs, Kimberley Howlett, Stephanie Woods
Walsh	Over 25s	Dublin	Kian Egan	Daniel Boulle, Icaro Taborda, Zyta Zebihi

Results Summary

Weekly results per act
Week		1	2		3	4	5	6	Quarter-Final	Semi-Final	Final
Eliminated
	Leon Jackson	Safe	Safe		Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Winner (final)
	Rhydian Roberts	Safe	Safe		Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Runner-Up (final)
	Same Difference	Safe	Safe		Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	3rd	Eliminated (final)
	Niki Evans	Safe	Safe		Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	4th	Eliminated (semi-final)
	Hope	Safe	Safe		Bottom Two	Safe	Bottom Two	5th	5th	Eliminated (quarter-final)
	Beverley Trotman	Safe	Safe		Safe	Bottom Two	Safe	6th	Eliminated (week 6)
	Alisha Benett	Bottom Two	Bottom Two		Safe	Safe	Bottom Two	Eliminated (week 5)
	Andy Williams	Safe	Safe		Safe	Bottom Two	Eliminated (week 4)
	Futureproof	Safe	Safe		Bottom Two	Eliminated (week 3)
	Emily Nakanda	Safe	Safe		Withdrew (week 2)
	Daniel DeBourg	Safe	Bottom Two		Eliminated (week 2)
	Kimberley Southwick	Bottom Two	Eliminated (week 1)
Bottom Two		Bennett, Southwick	Bennett, DeBourg	Futureproof, Hope		Trotman, Williams	Bennett, Hope	Hope, Trotman	No final showdown or judges' votes; results were based on public votes alone
Walsh's vote to eliminate		Southwick	Bennett	Futureproof		Williams	Bennett	Hope
Osbourne's vote to eliminate		None (refused)	DeBourg	Futureproof		Williams	Hope	Trotman
Minogue's vote to eliminate		Bennett	DeBourg	Hope		Trotman	Bennett	Hope
Cowell's vote to eliminate		Southwick	DeBourg	Futureproof		Williams	Bennett	Trotman
Eliminated		Kimberley Southwick (2 of 3) Majority Vote	Daniel DeBourg (3 of 4) Majority Vote	Emily Nakanda Withdrew	Futureproof (3 of 4) Majority Vote	Andy Williams (3 of 4) Majority Vote	Alisha Benett (3 of 4) Majority Vote	Beverley Trotman (2 of 4) Deadlock	Hope Public Vote To Save	Niki Evans Public Vote To Save	Same Difference Public Vote To Save	Rhydian Roberts Public Vote To Win

Live show details

Week 1 (20 October)

• Theme: Number ones
• Musical guest: Leona Lewis ("Bleeding Love")

Contestants' performances on the first live show

Act	Category (Mentor)	Order	Song	Result
Kimberley Southwick	Girls (Osbourne)	1	"It's Raining Men"	Eliminated
Andy Williams	Boys (Minogue)	2	"I Don't Want to Talk About It"	Safe
Futureproof	Groups (Cowell)	3	"She's the One"	Safe
Beverley Trotman	Over 25s (Walsh)	4	"I Will Survive"	Safe
Emily Nakanda	Girls (Osbourne)	5	"I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)"	Safe
Leon Jackson	Boys (Minogue)	6	"Can't Buy Me Love"	Safe
Same Difference	Groups (Cowell)	7	"Tragedy"	Safe
Niki Evans	Over 25s (Walsh)	8	"Nothing Compares 2 U"	Safe
Alisha Bennett	Girls (Osbourne)	9	"Dreams"	Bottom two
Rhydian Roberts	Boys (Minogue)	10	"I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)"	Safe
Daniel DeBourg	Over 25s (Walsh)	11	"Heaven"	Safe
Hope	Groups (Cowell)	12	"Umbrella"	Safe

Judges' votes to eliminate

• Osbourne abstained from voting as both acts were in her category. In fact, she refused to sit at the judging panel during the final showdown performances.
• Cowell: Kimberley Southwick – based on the premise that the show is a singing competition.
• Minogue: Alisha Bennett – gave no reason.
• Walsh: Kimberley Southwick – stated that Bennett had the "talent factor" and had much more to give to the competition.

Week 2 (27 October)

• Theme: Film themes
• Musical guest: Celine Dion ("Taking Chances")

Contestants' performances on the second live show

Act	Category (Mentor)	Order	Song	Film	Result
Hope	Groups (Cowell)	1	"Lady Marmalade"	Moulin Rouge!	Safe
Leon Jackson	Boys (Minogue)	2	"Home"	The Wedding Date	Safe
Beverley Trotman	Over 25s (Walsh)	3	"I Have Nothing"	The Bodyguard	Safe
Alisha Bennett	Girls (Osbourne)	4	"I Say a Little Prayer"	My Best Friend's Wedding	Bottom two
Same Difference	Groups (Cowell)	5	"Breaking Free"	High School Musical	Safe
Daniel DeBourg	Over 25s (Walsh)	6	"Build Me Up Buttercup"	There's Something About Mary	Eliminated
Rhydian Roberts	Boys (Minogue)	7	"The Phantom of the Opera"	The Phantom of the Opera	Safe
Emily Nakanda	Girls (Osbourne)	8	"I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman"	Crossroads	Safe
Futureproof	Groups (Cowell)	9	"If You Don't Know Me by Now"	My Girl	Safe
Andy Williams	Boys (Minogue)	10	"Stayin' Alive"	Saturday Night Fever	Safe
Niki Evans	Over 25s (Walsh)	11	"My Heart Will Go On"	Titanic	Safe

Judges' votes to eliminate

• Walsh: Alisha Bennett – backed his own act, Daniel DeBourg.
• Osbourne: Daniel DeBourg – backed her own act, Alisha Bennett.
• Minogue: Daniel DeBourg – gave no reason.
• Cowell: Daniel DeBourg – stated that Bennett had more potential to improve.

Week 3 (3 November)

• Theme: Big band
• Musical guest: Boyz II Men ("It's The Same Old Song" / "Reach Out (I'll Be There)" / "End of the Road")

Contestants' performances on the third live show

Act	Category (Mentor)	Order	Song	Result
Leon Jackson	Boys (Minogue)	1	"Fly Me to the Moon"	Safe
Futureproof	Groups (Cowell)	2	"Can't Take My Eyes Off You"	Eliminated
Niki Evans	Over 25s (Walsh)	3	"All That Jazz"	Safe
Rhydian Roberts	Boys (Minogue)	4	"Get the Party Started"	Safe
Same Difference	Groups (Cowell)	5	"Reach"	Safe
Alisha Bennett	Girls (Osbourne)	6	"Valerie"	Safe
Hope	Groups (Cowell)	7	"Hanky Panky"	Bottom two
Andy Williams	Boys (Minogue)	8	"This Guy's in Love with You"	Safe
Beverley Trotman	Over 25s (Walsh)	9	"Feeling Good"	Safe

During week two, it was announced that Emily Nakanda had withdrawn from the competition due to a "happy slapping" video involving her that had emerged. She was not replaced and the elimination went ahead as normal.

Judges' votes to eliminate

• Walsh: Futureproof – stated that Hope's performance on the night was "slick and energetic" and Futureproof's was "sloppy".
• Osbourne: Futureproof – stated that she loved Hope.
• Minogue: Hope – stated that neither act had performed well this week, but that Futureproof had delivered better performances in the previous two weeks.
• Cowell: Futureproof – stated that Hope had greater long-term potential.

Week 4 (10 November)

• Theme: 21st century classics
• Musical guest: Shayne Ward ("Breathless")

Contestants' performances on the fourth live show

Act	Category (Mentor)	Order	Song	Year	Result
Niki Evans	Over 25s (Walsh)	1	"Because of You"	2005	Safe
Same Difference	Groups (Cowell)	2	"I Don't Feel Like Dancin'"	2006	Safe
Andy Williams	Boys (Minogue)	3	"Chasing Cars"	2006	Eliminated
Beverley Trotman	Over 25s (Walsh)	4	"You're Beautiful"	2005	Bottom two
Hope	Groups (Cowell)	5	"Back to Black	2007	Safe
Leon Jackson	Boys (Minogue)	6	"Dancing in the Moonlight"	2000	Safe
Alisha Bennett	Girls (Osbourne)	7	"Put Your Records On"	2006	Safe
Rhydian Roberts	Boys (Minogue)	8	"You Raise Me Up"	2002	Safe

Judges' votes to eliminate

• Walsh: Andy Williams – backed his own act, Beverley Trotman.
• Osbourne: Andy Williams – gave no reason.
• Minogue: Beverley Trotman – backed her own act, Andy Williams.
• Cowell: Andy Williams – stated that he believed the public would prefer to see Trotman saved.

Week 5 (17 November)

• Theme: Disco
• Musical guest: Girls Aloud ("Call the Shots")

Contestants' performances on the fifth live show

Act	Category (Mentor)	Order	Song	Result
Leon Jackson	Boys (Minogue)	1	"Relight My Fire"	Safe
Niki Evans	Over 25s (Walsh)	2	"Hot Stuff"	Safe
Rhydian Roberts	Boys (Minogue)	3	"Go West"	Safe
Hope	Groups (Cowell)	4	"Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)"/"Hung Up"	Bottom two
Beverley Trotman	Over 25s (Walsh)	5	"I'm Every Woman"	Safe
Alisha Bennett	Girls (Osbourne)	6	"Young Hearts Run Free"	Eliminated
Same Difference	Groups (Cowell)	7	"Blame It on the Boogie"	Safe

Judges' votes to eliminate

• Cowell: Alisha Bennett – backed his own act, Hope.
• Minogue: Alisha Bennett – gave no reason.
• Osbourne: Hope – backed her own act, Alisha Bennett.
• Walsh: Alisha Bennett – gave no reason but stated that neither act deserved to be in the bottom two.

Week 6 (24 November)

• Theme: Love songs
• Musical guest: Westlife ("I'm Already There")

Contestants' performances on the sixth live show

Act	Category (Mentor)	Order	Song	Result
Beverley Trotman	Over 25s (Walsh)	1	"Without You"	Eliminated
Same Difference	Groups (Cowell)	2	"Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now"	Safe
Niki Evans	Over 25s (Walsh)	3	"The Power of Love"	Safe
Rhydian Roberts	Boys (Minogue)	4	"Somewhere"	Safe
Hope	Groups (Cowell)	5	"Hurt"	Bottom two
Leon Jackson	Boys (Minogue)	6	"You Don't Know Me"	Safe

Judges' votes to eliminate

• Walsh: Hope – backed his own act, Beverley Trotman.
• Cowell: Beverley Trotman – backed his own act, Hope.
• Minogue: Hope – stated that Trotman was more consistent.
• Osbourne: Beverley Trotman – stated "I'm doing this for a reason, and you'll realise the reason when I say it. I'm sending home Beverley", implying that she wanted to send the result to deadlock.

With the acts in the bottom two receiving two votes each, the result went to deadlock and reverted to the earlier public vote. Trotman was eliminated as the act with the fewest public votes.

Week 7: Quarter-Final (1 December)

• Theme: British classics
• Musical guest: Duran Duran ("Notorious")

Contestants' performances on the seventh live show

Act	Category (Mentor)	Order	First song	Order	Second song	Result
Rhydian Roberts	Boys (Minogue)	1	"Somebody to Love"	10	"I Vow to Thee, My Country"/"World in Union"	Safe
Hope	Groups (Cowell)	2	"2 Become 1"	6	"We Will Rock You"	Eliminated
Niki Evans	Over 25s (Walsh)	3	"Total Eclipse of the Heart"	9	"Fields of Gold"	Safe
Leon Jackson	Boys (Minogue)	4	"Crazy Little Thing Called Love"	7	"The Long and Winding Road"	Safe
Same Difference	Groups (Cowell)	5	"Any Dream Will Do"	8	"Wake Me Up Before You Go Go"	Safe

The quarter-final did not feature a final showdown and instead the act with the fewest public votes, Hope, were automatically eliminated.

Week 8: Semi-Final (8 December)

• Themes: Mentor's choice; contestant's choice
• Musical guest: Michael Bublé ("Lost")

Contestants' performances on the eighth live show

Act	Category (Mentor)	Order	First song	Order	Second song	Result
Niki Evans	Over 25s (Walsh)	1	"Songbird"	5	"One Moment in Time"	Eliminated
Leon Jackson	Boys (Minogue)	2	"The Very Thought of You"	6	"How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)"	Safe
Rhydian Roberts	Boys (Minogue)	3	"Bridge over Troubled Water"	7	"You'll Never Walk Alone"	Safe
Same Difference	Groups (Cowell)	4	"Chain Reaction"	8	"Never Had a Dream Come True"	Safe

The semi-final did not feature a final showdown and instead the act with the fewest public votes, Niki Evans, was automatically eliminated.

Week 9: Final (15 December)

• Themes: Christmas songs; celebrity duets; song of the series; winner's single
• Group performance: "One Moment in Time" (auditionees)
• Musical guest: Kylie Minogue ("Wow")

Contestants' performances on the final live show

Act	Category (Mentor)	Order	First song	Order	Second song (duet)	Order	Third song	Order	Fourth song	Result
Same Difference	Groups (Cowell)	1	"All I Want for Christmas Is You"	4	"Any Dream Will Do" (with Jason Donovan)	7	"Breaking Free"	N/A	N/A (already eliminated)	3rd place
Leon Jackson	Boys (Minogue)	2	"White Christmas"	5	"Better the Devil You Know" (with Kylie Minogue)	8	"You Don't Know Me"	10	"When You Believe"	Winner
Rhydian Roberts	Boys (Minogue)	3	"O Holy Night"	6	"You Raise Me Up" (with Katherine Jenkins)	9	"Somewhere"	11	"When You Believe"	Runner-up

Ratings

Template:UK4ratings

Controversies

Osbourne's walkout

During the results of the first live show on 20 October, Osbourne walked away from the panel after it was revealed that both the bottom two acts came from her category. This left the three remaining judges, Cowell, Minogue and Walsh, to decide which of the bottom two would be sent home. When O'Leary asked Osbourne for her vote, she claimed to have left the show, saying, "I'm out—gone".

It later emerged that Osbourne was dissatisfied with the last-minute rescheduling of the programme from 17:45 to 17:30, claiming that fewer people saw the performance of her act, Kimberley Southwick, as she was first on stage. After a considerable amount of media coverage, including Paul O'Grady apparently convincing Osbourne live on his chat show to return to The X Factor, Osbourne's spokesman confirmed on 23 October that she would return to the show. A newspaper source explained that leaving prematurely would have been breach of contract and the legal repercussions would have made it in Osbourne's interests to return to the panel.

Alleged feuds and alliances

During the filming of The X Factor, there was much media speculation about rumoured feuds between the judges, most notably between Osbourne and Minogue. One report emerged of a backstage argument just 15 minutes before they were due to go live on television. On one show, Minogue criticised contestant Niki Evans's tuning, which prompted Niki's mentor, Louis Walsh, to suggest live on television that Minogue herself could not sing. Minogue then reportedly missed part of the results show as she was crying.

In an interview published on 2 December 2007, Minogue stated "As for Sharon, you don't click with everybody. But it's her choice not to be friends. Apparently she's envious because I'm younger and prettier.", and in another that she felt "younger and prettier" compared with the other judges.

During Osbourne's appearance on The Graham Norton Show, she stated, in reference to Minogue, "She knows she's there because of her looks, not because of her contribution to the music industry." In a press conference held on 12 December 2007, when asked why she had been publicly talking about Minogue, Osbourne said "It's an even playing field, Dannii speaks about me, I speak about her." Minogue said in turn "I've looked up to Sharon and Louis for years and I wanted to be part of that gang. But when they're slating you, you think: 'Please don't, I really like you.'" Cowell admitted that Osbourne did not feel comfortable about having a new judge and that Osbourne and Minogue would never be "the best of buddies," adding that if Osbourne wanted to leave the show, he would let her. It was also reported that Cowell was forced to sit the judges down, asking them to maintain a civil relationship with each other behind the scenes. The apparent flirting between Cowell and Minogue also generated comment in the popular media.

Impartiality

Series 4 presented a change in the panellists' judging style. Simon Cowell said at the ITV Autumn Launch: "We tried to be bit more impartial as judges, and that, you'll see a lot more of on X Factor. There's still competition within the judges but our job essentially is to find a star." This ethic was put into practice with the judges working together at the bootcamp. During the live shows, the acts were no longer introduced with their mentors at the start of the show. Only the judges were introduced, after which the individual performances began.

Standard of talent

At ITV's Autumn launch on 12 July 2007, Cowell discussed the upcoming series. He said that in previous years the programme had been more like a "popularity contest" than a talent show. When asked about the standard of talent, Cowell said: "It's in a different league this year... we're going to have the best 12 [finalists] we've ever seen". This came with comments that the series 4 auditions had gone "brilliantly".

Series 4 also saw more emphasis placed on the international standing of The X Factor, with Cowell calling it "the biggest show in Europe" with around 150,000 auditioning for the series. Referring to the impact that the international success of Series 3 winner Leona Lewis had had on the show, Dannii Minogue said at the Sheffield auditions: "I think that Leona has completely upped the ante now on this show, and there's no turning back. We're looking for an international standard of acts that can sell millions of albums". In response to the expectation of a raised standard of talent on the show, producers tried with series 4 to assemble what O'Leary called an "international panel of judges"; this was particularly the case with the original judging lineup that included Friedman. There were also more international contestants in series 4, with two acts from the United States, numerous acts from Japan and a Brazilian act auditioning.

Nevertheless, Cowell said before the first live show that "I think we could be heading for a train wreck," referring to the fact that the public did not believe any of the final 12 this year were as good as Lewis, But he added, "But if you take Leona out of the equation, they weren't that good last year. As a whole, we've probably got the most talented 12 we've had. We just haven't had the chance to showcase them properly yet."

Alleged voting irregularities

It was reported that Ofcom received at least 1,900 complaints from would-be voters for eventual runner-up Rhydian Roberts, saying that despite calling numerous times they were unable to get through to vote for Roberts. The programme said the high number of calls meant some people were greeted by engaged tones. Roberts, who refused to attend the wrap party afterwards, had been the odds-on favourite to win and bookmakers described Leon Jackson's victory as "the biggest shock in reality show history". ITV denied the allegations, commenting that "As all numbers go through to the same lines and vote platform it is impossible for there to be any bias in favour or against a particular contestant." They confirmed that Jackson performed strongly throughout the series and won on the night of the final by around 10% of the popular vote. A subsequent Ofcom investigation found that Roberts had not been unfairly disadvantaged.

Team Rankings

1.Boys (mentored by Dannii Minogue)

2.Groups (mentored by Simon Cowell)

3.Over 25s (mentored by Louis Walsh)

4.Girls (mentored by Sharon Osbourne)

Trivia

• This was the second series in a row where the winning mentor had two acts as the winner and runner-up.
• This was the first series to have the result going to deadlock.
• This is the third consecutive series where only one judge had all of their acts on The X Factor Live Tour.
• This is the first series where only one judge sent the result to deadlock.
  • This is the first series where the result went to deadlock only once.
• This was the first series to have an act to withdraw from the competition during the live shows.
• This was the first series to have a Double Bill weekend during the judges houses stage.
• This is the only series where a judge lost their last act in Week 5.
• This is the first series where a female judge emerged as the winning mentor.
• Despite not making the live shows, Luke Bayer and Dom Hartley Harris have gone on to appear in West End Shows such as ”Everybody’s Talking About Jamie” and “Hamilton”. Both have received great reviews from theatre critics. In July 2021, it was announced that Harris and Bayer would both star in The Hope Mill Theatre production of Rent during August 2021.
• In terms of talent of the final 12, this series is often regarded as one of the weakest series by The X Factor fandom, who believe none of the acts would have made a great winner, not even Rhydian Roberts who was arguably the most talented of the 12, although many saw him more as a theatre star than a pop star.