The X Factor (Australian season 7)


The X Factor was an Australian television reality music competition, based on the original UK series, to find new singing talent; the winner of which received a Sony Music Australia recording contract. The seventh season premiered on the Seven Network on 13 September 2015 and concluded on 24 November 2015. Luke Jacobz returned as the host of the show. Dannii Minogue was the only judge from the previous season who returned, while Redfoo, Ronan Keating and Natalie Bassingthwaighte were replaced by former judge Guy Sebastian, as well as new judges James Blunt and Chris Isaak. The winner was Cyrus Villanueva and his winner's single "Stone" was released after the final. He was mentored by Isaak, who won as mentor for the first time.
Open auditions in front of the show's producers took place in 13 cities between January and March 2015. The successful auditionees chosen by the producers were then invited back to the last set of auditions that took place in front of the judges and a live audience in June 2015. The next round was bootcamp, which for the first time on The X Factor Australia incorporated the five seat challenge, where each act performed in front of the judges and a live audience to earn a place on one of the five seats in their category. Following bootcamp was the super home visits round in London, where each judge reduced their five acts to three, with help from guest mentors Simon Cowell, Olly Murs and Rita Ora. For the first time on The X Factor Australia, instead of travelling to four different locations around the world, the super home visits for each category were all held together in the same location.
The live shows began on 27 September 2015. They returned to Monday and Tuesday nights as previously seen in seasons three and four. This was a change of format from seasons two, five and six, in which the live shows were broadcast on Sunday and Monday nights.

Judges

On 25 April 2015, Ronan Keating confirmed in an interview with The Sunday Telegraph that he would not be returning for the seventh season as he wanted to focus on his music career. He said, "I've had five great years working on an amazing show with a brilliant team of people. But I'm working on a new solo album and different projects so I can't make it back this year sadly." Natalie Bassingthwaighte announced her departure on her Twitter account on 29 April 2015. On 1 May 2015, Redfoo announced on his Facebook page that he would also not be returning as he wanted to focus on other projects including a new album. Dannii Minogue was the only judge from the previous season who returned.
On 3 May 2015, it was confirmed that Guy Sebastian would be returning to the judging panel, after a two-year absence, as Redfoo's replacement, while James Blunt and Chris Isaak would be replacing Keating and Bassingthwaighte. Isaak said, "It is going to be surreal to be on the show as a judge after having watched so many episodes as a fan. I know it's a show with a history of articulate, intelligent judges, and I know they wanted to change that up so they called me." Blunt previously appeared on the sixth season as a guest mentor for Minogue's Groups category during the home visits round.

Selection process

Auditions

Open auditions in front of the show's producers took place in 13 cities and ran from 31 January 2015 to 10 March 2015. Online auditions were also held for those who could not attend the open auditions. The auditionees chosen by the producers were then invited back to the last set of auditions that took place in front of the judges and a live studio audience. These auditions were filmed at the Qantas Credit Union Arena in Sydney on 4, 5, 6 and 7 June 2015 and Hisense Arena in Melbourne on 12, 13 and 14 June 2015.
CityDatesVenue
Sydney31 January–2 February 2015Sydney Cricket Ground
Byron Bay5 February 2015Byron Entertainment Centre
Brisbane7–8 February 2015Sofitel Brisbane
Townsville10 February 2015Townsville Entertainment and Convention Centre
Rockhampton12 February 2015Pilbeam Theatre
Melbourne14–16 February 2015Moonee Valley Racing Club
Perth21–22 February 2015Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre
Geraldton24 February 2015Ocean Centre Hotel
Adelaide27 February 2015AAMI Stadium Function Complex
Mildura2 March 2015Mildura Arts Centre
Albury4 March 2015Albury Entertainment Centre
Canberra6 March 2015QT Canberra
Newcastle10 March 2015Hunter Stadium

CityDatesVenue
Sydney4–7 June 2015Qantas Credit Union Arena
Melbourne12–14 June 2015Hisense Arena

Bootcamp and five seat challenge

The bootcamp round of the competition was held at the Sydney Olympic Park. Filming began on 8 July 2015. The episodes with a live audience were filmed on 10 and 11 July 2015. Before bootcamp started, the judges cut half of the 100 successful acts from auditions and only 48 acts remained. At the beginning of the bootcamp round, each judge found out which category they would be mentoring. Isaak was given the Boys, Blunt was given the Over 25s, Sebastian was given the Groups and Minogue was given the Girls. For the first time on The X Factor Australia, bootcamp incorporated the five seat challenge, where each act performed in front of the judges and a live audience to earn a place on one of the five seats in their category. After each performance, the mentor for that category decided if that act deserved to take a seat as one of their top five to go through to the super home visits.
If all five seats were filled for each category and a remaining act performed better than those seated, the mentor for that category had the option of swapping an act out. Contestants Panda and Chan were swapped for Cyrus Villanueva and Big T in the Boys category, Aaron Taylor and Mama Julz were swapped for Roshani Priddis and Dan Hamill in the Over 25s category, and couple duo Luke & Tannah were swapped for Lazy J & Big Guy in the Groups category. In the Girls category, Carla Wehbe and Chloe Papandrea were swapped for Maddison Milewski and Shannon Hancock. However, Hancock was then swapped for Michaela Baranov.
The 20 successful acts were:
For the first time on The X Factor Australia, instead of travelling to four different locations around the world, the super home visits for each category were all held together in the same location. The first episode of the super home visits round was filmed in London on 25 July 2015. Each act performed one song to their mentor and guest mentors. Minogue and Sebastian were assisted by Simon Cowell and Olly Murs, and Isaak and Blunt were assisted by Cowell and Rita Ora. After the performances, the judges along with their guest mentors narrowed down the acts to three each. The Girls and Groups categories travelled to Abu Dhabi to find out which of their acts made it to the live shows, while the Boys and Over 25s categories remained in London.
JudgeCategoryLocationAssistantContestants eliminated
IsaakBoysLondonSimon Cowell
Rita Ora		Michael Duchesne, Andrew Lambrou
BluntOver 25sLondonSimon Cowell
Rita Ora		Gazele, Roshani Priddis
MinogueGirlsLondon and Abu DhabiSimon Cowell
Olly Murs		Emilia Kelberg, Maddison Milewski
SebastianGroupsLondon and Abu DhabiSimon Cowell
Olly Murs		Lazy J & Big Guy, Paris Inc.

Finalists

Key:
ActAgeHometownCategory Result
Cyrus Villanueva18WollongongBoys Winner
Louise Adams31Mount Gambier, South AustraliaOver 25s Runner-up
Jess & Matt24Chipping Norton, New South WalesGroups 3rd place
Big T22New Zealand/Perth, Western AustraliaBoys 4th place
Mahalia Simpson15New Zealand/Brisbane, QueenslandGirls 5th place
Natalie Conway33SydneyOver 25s 6th place
Michaela Baranov17–20Pennant Hills, New South WalesGirls 7th place
In Stereo14–15VariousGroups 8th place
Jimmy Davis21Gympie, QueenslandBoys 9th place
Georgia Denton14London, England/MelbourneGirls 10th place
The Fisher Boys17–23Perth, Western AustraliaGroups 11th place
Dan Hamill30Perth, Western AustraliaOver 25s 12th place

Live shows

Results summary

;Colour key
Sebastian was not required to vote as there was already a majority.

Live show details

Week 1 (27/29 September)

; Judges' vote to eliminate
; Notes
; Judges' vote to eliminate
; Notes
; Judges' vote to eliminate
;Notes
; Judges' vote to eliminate
; Notes
; Judges' vote to eliminate
With the acts in the bottom two receiving two votes each, the result was reverted to the earlier public vote for the first time this season. Conway received the fewest votes and was eliminated.
; Notes
; Judges' vote to eliminate
With the acts in the bottom two receiving two votes each, the result went to deadlock and reverted to the earlier public vote for the second week in a row. Simpson was eliminated as the act with the fewest public votes.
; Notes
; Judges' vote to send through to the Grand Final
With the acts in the bottom two receiving two votes each, the result went to deadlock and reverted to the earlier public vote for the third week in a row. Adams advanced to the final as the act with the most public votes.
;Notes
;23 November
ActCategory OrderAudition songOrderWinner's songOrderGrand final songResult
Cyrus VillanuevaBoys 1"Earned It"4"Stone"7"Jealous"Safe
Jess & MattGroups 2"Georgia"5"Nothing Matters"8"Lay Me Down"Eliminated
Louise AdamsOver 25s 3"Feeling Good"6"History"9"Someone Like You"Safe

Jess & Matt received the fewest public votes and were automatically eliminated.
;24 November
ActCategory OrderBest Moment songResult
Cyrus VillanuevaBoys 1"Wicked Game"Winner
Louise AdamsOver 25s 2"People Help the People"Runner-up

Reception

Controversy and criticism

During the third live show on 12 October, controversy occurred between Minogue and Blunt after Minogue's contestant, Georgia Denton performed "I'll Be There" by Jackson 5. Blunt, Sebastian and Isaak felt the tune was not suited to her. Denton was eliminated on the live decider the following night in a special double elimination after receiving the fewest votes from the public. During the rock-themed fourth live show on 19 October, another controversy occurred when Blunt and Isaak got into a heated argument over Isaak's song choice for his contestant Cyrus Villanueva, who performed "It Ain't Over 'til It's Over" by Lenny Kravitz. Blunt felt that it was "a soul-funk song, not a rock song". Isaak did not appreciate Blunt's feedback towards him and said, "To hear James tell me what rock and roll is... I don't know what they pass as rock and roll at the disco in Ibiza, but that was rock and roll!" Isaak told Blunt to "shut up" several times.
More controversy occurred in the Judges' Challenge-themed week six live show when Big T performed "Locked Out of Heaven" by Bruno Mars as chosen by Minogue, but failed to impress the judges with his rendition of the song. Big T failed to find the correct key at the beginning of the song and was left deflated once the performance had ended. After the performance, Blunt criticized Big T by telling him that he was in danger of sounding like a "cruise ship" act. Big T's mentor Isaak then lost control and foul-mouthed at Blunt. The fight between Isaak and Blunt continued off-camera with Sebastian trying to calm them down.

Ratings