The X Factor UK (Series 1)

The X Factor UK (Series 1)
Series	1
Broadcast from	4 September 2004 – 11 December 2004
Judges	Simon Cowell Sharon Osbourne Louis Walsh
Presenters	Kate Thornton Ben Shephard
Network	ITV ITV2
Number of finalists	9
Winner	Steve Brookstein
Runner-up	G4
Notable returnees	4Tune (2), Chenai Zinyuku (2)
Ratings	7.4 millions
Chronology
Next	Series 2

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, with Cowell as the winning mentor. Brookstein went on to have minor chart success, with runners-up G4 achieving two platinum albums before splitting up in 2007.

The judging panel consisted of Irish music manager Louis Walsh, music manager and television personality Sharon Osbourne and label head Simon Cowell, who conceived the idea to create a new talent show with a broader range of auditionees to its predecessor Pop Idol.

Kate Thornton presented the show on ITV, whilst Ben Shephard presented spin-off show The Xtra Factor on ITV2.

Twists/Changes

Auditions: The audition age for this series was 16 and older and unlike its predecessor, groups could also audition.  Auditions were held in Dublin, Newcastle, London, Leeds, Birmingham and Glasgow.   Live Shows: In Week 6, 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.

Finalists

Contestant		Category	Finish	Elimination
The X Factor 2005 Live Tour
	Roberta Howett 23, Dublin, Ireland	16-24s	9th week one	Majority vote
	Verity Keays 51, Grimsby, Lincolnshire	Over 25s	8th week two	Majority vote
	2 to Go 23-24, Notts	Groups	7th week three	Majority vote
	Voices with Soul 25-42, Luton	Groups	6th week four	Majority vote
	Cassie Compton 17, North London	16-24s	5th week five	Majority vote
	Rowetta Satchell 38, Manchester	Over 25s	4th week six	Fewest public votes
	Tabby Callaghan 23, Sligo, Ireland	16-24s	3rd week seven	Fewest public votes
	G4 22-24, London	Groups	Runners-up week eight	Fewest public votes
	Steve Brookstein 35, London	Over 25s	Winner week eight	Most public votes

Selection process

Auditions

See: List of The X Factor UK auditionees (series 1)

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.

Auditions were held in Dublin, Newcastle, London, Leeds, Birmingham and Glasgow.

Bootcamp

See: Bootcamp (UK series 1)

After the initial auditions, each judge was randomly allocated a category:

• Simon Cowell: Over 25s
• Sharon Osbourne: 16-24s
• Louis Walsh: Groups

Each judge chose twelve acts from their category to go through to round two of bootcamp. After bootcamp, each judge selected five acts to progress to "judges' homes".

Judges' Houses

See: Judges' Houses (UK series 1)

Summary of judges' homes

Judge	Category	Location	Guest mentor(s)	Contestants eliminated
Cowell	Over 25s	London	Annie Skates, Sinitta	Lloyd Wade, Odis Palmer
Osbourne	16-24s	Buckinghamshire	Mark Hudson, Terry Longden, Jack Osbourne	Andy Steed, Megan Ramsay
Walsh	Groups	Dublin	Linda Martin, Faye Sawyer, David Laudat	4Tune, Advance

Results Summary

Weekly results per act
Week		1	2	3	4	5	Quarter-Final	Semi-Final	Final
Eliminated
	Steve Brookstein	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Winner (final)
	G4	Safe	Safe	Safe	Bottom Two	Safe	Safe	Safe	Runner-Up (final)
	Tabby Callaghan	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Bottom Two	Safe	3rd	Eliminated (semi-final)
	Rowetta Satchell	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	4th	Eliminated (quarter-final)
	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 (abstained)
Cowell's vote to eliminate		Howett	2 to Go	N/A*	G4	Compton
Eliminated		Roberta Howett (2 of 3) Majority Vote	Verity Keays (2 of 3) Majority Votes	2 to Go (2 of 2) Majority Vote	Voices with Soul (2 of 3) Majority Vote	Cassie Compton (2 of 3) Majority Vote	Rowetta Satchell Public Vote To Save	Tabby Callaghan Public Vote To Save	G4 Public Vote To Win

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 (millions)	Weekly rank (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

Controversies

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.

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. 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, 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".

Trivia

• Both the winning act and runner-up performed different potential winner's singles. This would not happen again until the 2010 series.