The X Factor (UK series 2)

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The X Factor
Series 2
Broadcast from 20 August –
17 December 2005
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
Shayne Ward
200px
Winner Shayne Ward in Korea
Origin Clayton, Manchester, England
Song "That's My Goal"
Genre(s) Pop, R&B, soul
Mentor Louis Walsh
Runner-up
Andy Abraham
Chronology

The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. The second series ran from 20 August to 17 December 2005.[1] Shayne Ward was declared the winner and Louis Walsh emerged as the winning mentor. The second series was longer than the first, with seven acts in each of the three categories going to the judges' homes, and twelve acts in the finals instead of nine. Kate Thornton returned as presenter of the main show on ITV and Ben Shephard presented spin-off show The Xtra Factor on ITV2, while Simon Cowell, Sharon Osbourne and Walsh returned as judges. 75,000 people auditioned for the second series.

On the back of their performances and popularity in the competition, Ward (winner), Andy Abraham (runner-up), Journey South (third place) and Maria Lawson (8th place) landed recording contracts. Chico Slimani (5th place) also released a single which topped the UK Singles Chart.

On the episode broadcast on 24 September 2005, the mentoring selection was made, with Cowell in charge of Groups, Osbourne looking after the 25 and overs and Walsh managing the 16–24s. The bootcamp stages were shown on 1 October 2005, and those who got through were taken to the "judges' homes". It was at this stage where viewers were first introduced to series five winner Alexandra Burke,[2] and series eleven runner-up Fleur East.[3]

Judges, presenters and other personnel

Simon Cowell, Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh returned as judges, quashing rumours that Osbourne and Walsh might not return for financial reasons. Kate Thornton also returned as presenter of the main show on ITV and Ben Shephard returned as presenter of spin-off show The Xtra Factor on ITV2. Yvie Burnett joined the show as vocal coach.

Selection process

The auditions episodes were broadcast on 20 August 27 August, 3 September 10 September, 17 and 24 September 2005. The first two episodes of Bootcamp aired on 1 October 2005 and the last two the following week on 8 October 2005.

Summary of judges' houses[citation needed]
Judge Category Location Contestants eliminated
Cowell Groups Marbella 4th Base, Eskimo Blonde, The Brothers
Osbourne 25 and overs Beverly Hills Richie Glynn, Joanne Hindley, Haifa Kayali
Walsh 16-24s Dublin James Brockbank, Alexandra Burke, Trevor Hodgson

Finalists

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Key:

     – Winner
     – Runner-up
     – Third place
Category (mentor) Acts
16–24s (Walsh) Nicholas Dorsett Phillip Magee Shayne Ward Chenai Zinyuku
Over 25s (Osbourne) Andy Abraham Brenda Edwards Maria Lawson Chico Slimani
Groups (Cowell) 4Tune Addictiv Ladies The Conway Sisters Journey South

Live shows

The live shows began on 15 October 2005, and the final was broadcast live on 17 December 2005.

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 received the most public votes
Weekly results per contestant
Contestant Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9 Week 10
Round 1 Round 2
Shayne Ward Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Winner
(week 10)
Andy Abraham Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Runner-up
(week 10)
Journey South Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe 3rd Eliminated
(week 10)
Brenda Edwards Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe 4th Eliminated
(week 9)
Chico Slimani Bottom two Safe Bottom two Safe Safe Safe Bottom two 5th Eliminated
(week 8)
The Conway Sisters Safe Safe Safe Safe 8th4 Bottom two Bottom two Eliminated
(week 7)
Nicholas Dorsett Safe Safe Safe Bottom two Safe Bottom two Eliminated
(week 6)
Maria Lawson Safe Safe Safe 1st3 7th4 Eliminated
(week 5)
Chenai Zinyuku Safe Bottom two Safe Bottom two Eliminated
(week 4)
Phillip Magee Safe Safe Bottom two Eliminated
(week 3)
4Tune Safe Bottom two Eliminated
(week 2)
Addictiv Ladies Bottom two Eliminated
(week 1)
Final showdown Addictiv Ladies,
Slimani
4Tune,
Zinyuku
Magee,
Slimani
Dorsett,
Zinyuku
The Conway Sisters,
Lawson
The Conway Sisters,
Dorsett
The Conway Sisters,
Slimani
No final showdown or judges' votes; results were based on public votes alone
Walsh's vote to eliminate Addictiv Ladies 4Tune Slimani Zinyuku Lawson The Conway Sisters N/A2
Osbourne's vote to eliminate Addictiv Ladies 4Tune Magee Dorsett The Conway Sisters Dorsett The Conway Sisters
Cowell's vote to eliminate Slimani Zinyuku Magee Zinyuku Lawson Dorsett The Conway Sisters1
Eliminated Addictiv Ladies
2 of 3 votes
Majority
4Tune
2 of 3 Votes
Majority
Phillip Magee
2 of 3 votes
Majority
Chenai Zinyuku
2 of 3 votes
Majority
Maria Lawson
2 of 3 votes
Majority
Nicholas Dorsett
2 of 3 votes
Majority
The Conway Sisters
2 of 2 votes
Majority
Chico Slimani
Public vote
to save
Brenda Edwards
Public vote
to save
Journey South
Public vote
to win
Andy Abraham
Public vote
to win

^1 For the first and, as of series 11, only time on any The X Factor series, a judge made an unforced decision to eliminate one of their own acts over another judge's act.
^2 Walsh was not required to vote as there was already a majority.
^3 In Lawson's 2008 autobiography, Life Starts Now, she revealed she had topped the vote the week before her elimination.
^4 According to voting figures published in the Sunday Mirror, Lawson turned out to have received twice as many public votes as the Conway Sisters.

Live show details

Week 1 (15 October)

Contestants' performances on the first live show
Act Order Song Result
Addictiv Ladies 1 "Superstar" Eliminated
Shayne Ward 2 "Right Here Waiting" Safe
Chico Slimani 3 "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" Bottom two
Journey South 4 "Something About the Way You Look Tonight" Safe
Phillip Magee 5 "Amazed" Safe
Brenda Edwards 6 "Son of a Preacher Man" Safe
The Conway Sisters 7 "SOS" Safe
Nicholas Dorsett 8 "On the Wings of Love" Safe
Maria Lawson 9 "Emotion" Safe
4Tune 10 "I Want It That Way" Safe
Chenai Zinyuku 11 "The Closest Thing to Crazy" Safe
Andy Abraham 12 "Greatest Love of All" Safe
Judges' votes to eliminate
  • Cowell: Chico Slimani – said that the judges had to pick the real talent over a "joke act", effectively backing his own act, Addictiv Ladies
  • Osbourne: Addictiv Ladies – said that Slimani's performance was more exciting than Addictiv Ladies', effectively backing her own act, Chico Slimani
  • Walsh: Addictiv Ladies – said that Slimani had the all-round entertainment package

Week 2 (22 October)

Contestants' performances on the second live show
Act Order Song Result
Andy Abraham 1 "You to Me Are Everything" Safe
Chenai Zinyuku 2 "Young Hearts Run Free" Bottom two
4Tune 3 "I'll Be There" Eliminated
Chico Slimani 4 "Play That Funky Music" Safe
Nicholas Dorsett 5 "Let's Get It On" Safe
The Conway Sisters 6 "You Raise Me Up" Safe
Maria Lawson 7 "The Way You Make Me Feel" Safe
Phillip Magee 8 "Wind Beneath My Wings" Safe
Journey South 9 "Desperado" Safe
Brenda Edwards 10 "Rescue Me" Safe
Shayne Ward 11 "If You're Not the One" Safe
Judges' votes to eliminate
  • Cowell: Chenai Zinyuku – gave no reason, though effectively backed his own act, 4Tune
  • Walsh: 4Tune – gave no reason, though effectively backed his own act, Chenai Zinyuku
  • Osbourne: 4Tune – said that Zinyuku had a better chance of selling records

Week 3 (29 October)

Contestants' performances on the third live show
Act Order Song Result
Phillip Magee 1 "Johnny B. Goode" Eliminated
Brenda Edwards 2 "Midnight Train to Georgia" Safe
Shayne Ward 3 "Summer of '69" Safe
Chico Slimani 4 "Livin' la Vida Loca" Bottom two
The Conway Sisters 5 "Total Eclipse of the Heart" Safe
Chenai Zinyuku 6 "Hero" Safe
Andy Abraham 7 "Unforgettable" Safe
Journey South 8 "Angel of Harlem" Safe
Nicholas Dorsett 9 "Let's Stay Together" Safe
Maria Lawson 10 "Piece of My Heart" Safe
Judges' votes to eliminate
  • Osbourne: Phillip Magee – gave no reason, though effectively backed her own act, Chico Slimani
  • Walsh: Chico Slimani – gave no reason, though effectively backed his own act, Phillip Magee
  • Cowell: Phillip Magee – said that he was gradually getting used to Slimani's "entertainment factor"

Week 4 (5 November)

Contestants' performances on the fourth live show
Act Order Song Result
Brenda Edwards 1 "Somebody Else's Guy" Safe
Nicholas Dorsett 2 "I Want You Back" Bottom two
Andy Abraham 3 "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" Safe
Chenai Zinyuku 4 "Always on My Mind" Eliminated
Chico Slimani 5 "Kiss" Safe
Journey South 6 "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" Safe
Maria Lawson 7 "You're Beautiful" Safe
Shayne Ward 8 "You Make Me Feel Brand New" Safe
The Conway Sisters 9 "One Voice" Safe
Judges' votes to eliminate
  • Osbourne: Nicholas Dorsett – said that Zinyku deserved her place in the competition more
  • Cowell: Chenai Zinyuku – said that Dorsett had not been in the bottom two previously and deserved a second chance
  • Walsh: Chenai Zinyuku – said that it was a tough decision to choose between his own acts

Week 5 (12 November)

Contestants' performances on the fifth live show
Act Order Song Result
Shayne Ward 1 "Cry Me a River" Safe
Maria Lawson 2 "Brown Sugar" Eliminated
The Conway Sisters 3 "Hold On" Bottom two
Andy Abraham 4 "I'll Make Love to You" Safe
Journey South 5 "Livin' on a Prayer" Safe
Chico Slimani 6 "Hero" Safe
Nicholas Dorsett 7 "I Believe I Can Fly" Safe
Brenda Edwards 8 "Heartbreaker" Safe
Judges' votes to eliminate
  • Osbourne: The Conway Sisters – gave no reason, though effectively backed her own act, Maria Lawson
  • Cowell: Maria Lawson – gave no reason, though effectively backed his own act, The Conway Sisters
  • Walsh: Maria Lawson – went with his heart

Walsh's decision to eliminate Lawson caused controversy when Osbourne accused Walsh of being part of the "Irish Mafia", since both he and The Conway Sisters are Irish. Cowell, though backed his own act to eliminate Lawson, said that if he had to go with his heart, he would have sent his own act home. He felt they would not have a chance to win, and that Lawson had more talent and her elimination would be the first one that the public would disagree with.

Week 6 (19 November)

Contestants' performances on the sixth live show
Act Order Song Result
The Conway Sisters 1 "One Moment in Time" Bottom two
Andy Abraham 2 "Me and Mrs. Jones" Safe
Nicholas Dorsett 3 "If I Ever Fall in Love" Eliminated
Journey South 4 "Angels" Safe
Brenda Edwards 5 "Last Dance" Safe
Shayne Ward 6 "A Million Love Songs" Safe
Chico Slimani 7 "It's Chico Time" Safe
Judges' votes to eliminate
  • Walsh: The Conway Sisters – gave no reason, though effectively backed his own act, Nicholas Dorsett
  • Cowell: Nicholas Dorsett – felt the conway sisters had more passion in their sing off performance
  • Osbourne: Nicholas Dorsett – refused to give a reason.

Week 7 (26 November)

Contestants' performances on the seventh live show
Act Order Song Result
Chico Slimani 1 "Billie Jean" Bottom two
The Conway Sisters 2 "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" Eliminated
Andy Abraham 3 "I Have Nothing" Safe
Shayne Ward 4 "I Believe in a Thing Called Love" Safe
Brenda Edwards 5 "I Will Always Love You" Safe
Journey South 6 "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" Safe
Judges' votes to eliminate
  • Osbourne: The Conway Sisters – gave no reason, though effectively backed her own act, Chico Slimani
  • Cowell: The Conway Sisters – said that both acts deserved to be in the bottom two, but felt Slimani had an entertainment value and voted to eliminate The Conway Sisters despite them being his own act. This became the first time ever in the history of the show that a mentor decided to eliminate his own act over the act from another category.
  • Walsh was not required to vote as there was already a majority.

Week 8 (3 December)

Contestants' performances on the eighth live show
Act Order First song Order Second song Result
Journey South 1 "Bad Day" 6 "Candle in the Wind" Safe
Chico Slimani 2 "I Got You (I Feel Good)" 7 "Time Warp" Eliminated
Brenda Edwards 3 "I'm Outta Love" 8 "I'll Never Love This Way Again" Safe
Shayne Ward 4 "Take Your Mama" 9 "Careless Whisper" Safe
Andy Abraham 5 "Easy Lover" 10 "When I Fall in Love" Safe

This week did not feature a final showdown and instead the act with the fewest public votes, Chico Slimani, was automatically eliminated. After his elimination, Slimani reprised his performance of "Time Warp" as his exit song.

Week 9: Semi-final (10 December)

Contestants' performances on the ninth live show
Act Order First song Order Second song Result
Andy Abraham 1 "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" 5 "Lately" Safe
Journey South 2 "You're in My Heart (The Final Acclaim)" 6 "Let It Be" Safe
Brenda Edwards 3 "Respect" 7 "Without You" Eliminated
Shayne Ward 4 "If Tomorrow Never Comes" 8 "Unchained Melody" Safe

The semi-final did not feature a final showdown and instead the act with the fewest public votes, Brenda Edwards, was automatically eliminated. After her elimination, Edwards reprised her performance of "Respect" as her exit song.

Week 10: Final (17 December)

  • Themes: No theme; Christmas songs; song of the series; winner's single
  • Musical guest: The X Factor rejex ("My Way")[4]
Contestants' performances on the final live show
Act Order First song Order Second song Order Third song Order Fourth song Result
Journey South 1 "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" 4 "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" 7 "Let It Be" N/A N/A (already eliminated) Third place
Andy Abraham 2 "When a Man Loves a Woman" 5 "O Holy Night" 8 "Me and Mrs. Jones" 10 "That's My Goal" Runner-up
Shayne Ward 3 "If You're Not the One" 6 "When a Child Is Born" 9 "Over the Rainbow" 11 "That's My Goal" Winner

Reception

Ratings

Episode Air date Official ITV1 rating[5] Weekly rank[5]
Auditions 1 20 August 6.72 13
Auditions 2 27 August 7.48 10
Auditions 3 3 September 7.75 9
Auditions 4 10 September 7.29 12
Auditions 5 17 September 9.79 5
Auditions 6 24 September 10.04 8
Bootcamp 1 1 October 8.93 9
Bootcamp 2 8.96 8
Judges' houses 1 8 October 9.09 10
Judges' houses 2 9.96 7
Live show 1 15 October 7.87 14
Live results 1 8.96 11
Live show 2 22 October 8.47 12
Live results 2 9.02 8
Live show 3 29 October 8.60 9
Live results 3 9.52 6
Live show 4 5 November 7.76 13
Live results 4 7.51 14
Live show 5 12 November 9.09 10
Live results 5 8.99 12
Live show 6 19 November 8.95 12
Live results 6 8.76 13
Live show 7 26 November 8.45 21
Live results 7 9.13 14
Live show 8 3 December 10.00 9
Live results 8 8.95 18
Live show 9 10 December 7.80 16
Live results 9 8.48 14
Live final 17 December 9.65 7
Live final results 9.90 6

Controversy and criticism

Elimination of Maria Lawson and "Irish Mafia"

After the final showdown in week 5, controversy was created around the judges' voting process when Walsh cast the deciding vote to keep The Conway Sisters, who are Irish, in the show at the expense of Maria Lawson. Osbourne later claimed that Lawson was the victim of the "Irish Mafia" after Walsh chose to keep The Conway Sisters in. When the voting statistics were revealed at the end of the series, Lawson was revealed to have received twice as many public votes as The Conway Sisters.[6] The controversy heightened when it was revealed that Walsh had also worked with The Conway Sisters personally prior to them auditioning for The X Factor.[7] Osbourne's "Irish Mafia" remark resulted in an investigation by media regulator Ofcom over Osbourne's "Irish Mafia" remark, however on 9 January 2006, Ofcom cleared Osbourne of any wrongdoing.[8]

Louis Walsh

Rumours later circulated that Walsh had quit the show after being humiliated and "bullied" by Osbourne and Cowell. In addition to the media outrage at his choice to eliminate Lawson, there were verbal assaults. Furthermore, on 19 November, during the sixth live show of the series, Osbourne threw water over Walsh live on air after he asked her, "Are you on drugs? Are you taking Ozzy's drugs?" at the start of her (positive) critique of Journey South's performance of Robbie Williams' 1997 hit single "Angels".[9] On 23 November, Walsh told The Sun: "I've been totally humiliated and undermined by both of them. This has caused me nothing but stress. The final straw was Sharon with the water and being booed by the audience and then Cowell saying I was an idiot and stupid... I've had enough. I'm going back to Dublin. I'm not putting up with it any more."[10] Cowell apparently "begged" Walsh to come back and, in the event, Walsh did turn up for the next show; it was stated that he had indeed quit midweek but had been persuaded to return. He explained how he had felt he could not take the pressure any more, and denied that the episode was a publicity stunt.[11]

References

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  2. Cheryl Cole moved to tears as former X Factor hopeful returns as favourite
  3. X Factor flops blast 'cruel' Walsh
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  1. REDIRECT Template:The X Factor (British)

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