The X Factor (American season 1)


The first season of the American version of the music competition show The X Factor began airing on Fox on September 21, 2011.
Based on the UK format, the competition consists of auditions, in front of producers and then the judges with a live audience; boot camp; judges' houses and then the live finals. Auditions for the show began in March 2011 and concluded in June 2011. The show was hosted by Welsh TV presenter Steve Jones, while the original judging panel consisted of Cowell, Cheryl Cole, Paula Abdul and L.A. Reid. Cole later departed from the show after just two audition rounds and was replaced by Nicole Scherzinger, who originally co-hosted with Jones.
An early preview of The X Factor aired during the 2011 Major League Baseball All-Star Game on July 12, 2011. Another preview was shown following NFL on Fox on September 11. The show was simultaneously broadcast in Canada on CTV or CTV Two, depending on schedule.
Season one's finale aired on December 22, 2011, resulting in Melanie Amaro as the winner, and Simon Cowell as the winning mentor.

Judges and hosts

At the time of announcing the U.S. version of The X Factor, Cowell was the only confirmed judge. He later said that he was taking the choices of whom to join him on the show very seriously, saying, "It's pointless hiring judges who don't know anything about the music business. I'll probably go and find someone who did what I did for a living. I was an A&R guy for 20 years." Eventually, Grammy Award-winning record executive, songwriter, and record producer L.A. Reid, former X Factor UK judge Cheryl Cole, and Cowell's former American Idol colleague Paula Abdul Numerous people were speculated to host the series, including High School Musical star Corbin Bleu and X Factor UK host Dermot O'Leary. On May 8, 2011, Nicole Scherzinger and Welsh presenter Steve Jones were announced as co-hosts of the show.
On May 26, 2011, it was reported that Cole had been dropped from the show and was set to be replaced by Scherzinger. Reports varied over whether she was fired because American audiences had trouble understanding her accent, because of a lack of chemistry between her and Abdul, because Cole is unknown to American audiences, because Cole was confused with Sheryl Crow by American audiences, or that she had stepped down herself due to homesickness. Cole's departure was officially confirmed on June 6 in a statement from Fox, which also confirmed Scherzinger as her replacement. Jones would then serve as the sole presenter. On August 5, 2011, Cowell announced that the reason why Cole left was because he gave her the option to be a judge on the 2011 series of the UK show as he felt that she would have been comfortable there. He said that if her departure had anything to do with her not getting along with Abdul then he would not be judging the show. Cole later revealed in a 2012 interview that she had decided to quit the show of her accord and rejected Cowell's offer to return to the UK show after Tulisa already replaced her on the UK panel. Cole later patched things up with Cowell in 2014 and she along with Cowell would both return as judges on the UK show for its 2014 series for the replacements of both Sharon Osbourne and Gary Barlow.

Selection process

Auditions

Auditions for producers began in Los Angeles, California, on March 27, 2011, at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. They then took place in Miami, Florida, on April 7, 2011, at the BankUnited Center and continued in Newark, New Jersey's Prudential Center on April 14, 2011. More auditions took place in Seattle, Washington's KeyArena on April 20, 2011, and Chicago, Illinois's Sears Centre on April 27, 2011, and finished in Dallas, Texas's American Airlines Center on May 26, 2011.
It was reported that The X Factor had broken the auditions record in Los Angeles, California on March 27.
The MyStudio HD audition booths opened in Honolulu, Hawaii; Phoenix, Arizona; Nashville, Tennessee; Anchorage, Alaska; Kansas City, Kansas; and Denver, Colorado. Originally scheduled to end on April 30, 2011, the booths' opening ended up being extended until May 8, 2011. After it was announced that people auditioning through this method was in such high demand, auditions at the booths' ended up being extended until May 15, 2011.
On June 3, Cowell announced that applicants could upload a video of them singing onto YouTube and it was opened for one week only. Selected applicants would appear in front of the judges.
The last set of auditions took place during May and June 2011. These auditions individually occur simultaneously before both the judges and a live studio audience; and with such audience in attendance able to applaud/cheer approval or disapproval and perhaps influencing the judges.
Auditions footage first aired on September 21, though they were not aired in the same order that they occurred.

Boot camp

Day one of boot camp started with dance training with choreographer Brian Friedman and then the acts were called to the stage in groups of 10 to sing in front of the judges. After all of them performed, the acts were brought in front of the judges as part of one of three groups. Two of these groups made it through and one was eliminated, leaving 100 acts still in the competition. The judges threw a party for the remaining acts that for many lasted late into the night.
Day two started with everyone getting woken up at 6:00am and heading to meet Reid. He informed them that they would be put into "ensembles" and groups, and would be working with stylists, choreographers, and vocal coaches. They were given five hours to learn the songs they were given. One third of the acts would be eliminated by the end of the second day. Several of the ensembles performances were aired. The first ensemble performed "Creep", the second ensemble performed "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For", the third ensemble performed "Desperado", the fourth ensemble performed "Wishing on a Star", the fifth ensemble performed "Superman ", the sixth ensemble performed "Feeling Good", the seventh ensemble performed "I Have Nothing" and the eighth ensemble performed "Run".
Day two continued with more ensembles performing for the judges. The ninth ensemble performed "What's Going On". Next, they showed a couple of quick shots of some ensembles, presumably consisting of all people that would not make it through to the end. The tenth ensemble that was covered in detail performed "I Won't Let Go". The eleventh ensemble performed "Chasing Cars". Next, the judges deliberated, and decided on which a third of the acts would be eliminated. Once again, three groups were brought in. Group 1 was eliminated, meaning groups 2 and 3 made it through to the next round of boot camp.
Day three had all 64 acts perform for the judges. They were given a list of 35 songs at the end of the day two and were told to choose one that best represented them. At the end of this final boot camp round, 32 acts would go through to judges' houses. This final performance was done in front of a crowd of 3,000 people. After each of the performances, the judges gave no feedback.
The first boot camp episode aired on October 5, 2011 and covered the first two days of boot camp. The second bootcamp episode aired on October 6 and covered the rest of day two and the remainder of bootcamp. By the end of bootcamp, 162 acts were cut to 32, 8 acts in each category. The judges later found out which category they would mentor and their acts joined them at their house.

Judges' houses

helped Scherzinger to pick her finalists in Malibu, California and Pharrell Williams acted as a guest judge helping Abdul to pick her finalists in Santa Barbara, California. Rihanna helped Reid choose his finalists in The Hamptons, New York. Mariah Carey was contracted to aid Cowell in France, but was unable to attend due to Hurricane Irene grounding her flight to Paris, so Cowell was instead assisted by three vocal coaches.
In the United States, footage from judges' houses was originally scheduled to air on October 12, 13 and 18. However, due to weather delaying the start of the 2011 American League Championship Series, the footage from judges' houses 1 was moved to October 13, with footage from judges' houses 2 seen instead on October 16. The footage from judges' houses 3 aired on October 18 as scheduled and featured footage of the judges revealing their four finalists in each category to take through to the live shows. In Canada, the judges' houses 1 episode was broadcast as originally scheduled on October 12. No episode was shown in Canada on October 13, with CTV and CTV Two opting to follow Fox's scheduling changes to take advantage of simultaneous substitution rules.
JudgeCategoryLocationAssistantContestants eliminated
AbdulGroupsSanta Barbara, CaliforniaPharrell Williams2Squar'd
4Shore
The Anser
Illusion Confusion
CowellGirlsFranceThree vocal coachesMelanie Amaro
Caitlin Koch
Jazzlyn Little
Tora Woloshin
ReidBoysThe Hamptons, New YorkRihannaSkyelor Anderson
Tim Cifers
Brennin Hunt
Nick Voss
ScherzingerOver 30sMalibu, CaliforniaEnrique IglesiasTiger Budbill
Christa Collins
Elaine Gibbs
James Kenney

Melanie Amaro was initially eliminated from the Girls' category, but was invited back to the competition after Cowell decided he had made a mistake in not including her, bringing the total number of finalists to 17.

Finalists

The final 17 finalists were confirmed as follows;
Key:
ActAgeHometownCategory Result
Melanie Amaro 19 Tortola, British Virgin IslandsGirls Winner
Josh Krajcik30Wooster, OhioOver 30s Runner-up
Chris Rene29Santa Cruz, CaliforniaBoys 3rd place
Marcus Canty20Bowie, MarylandBoys 4th place
Rachel Crow13Mead, ColoradoGirls 5th place
Drew14Chino Valley, ArizonaGirls 6th place
Astro15Brooklyn, New YorkBoys 7th place
LeRoy Bell60Tacoma, WashingtonOver 30s 8th place
Lakoda Rayne17-23VariousGroups 9th place
Stacy Francis42Los Angeles, CaliforniaOver 30s 10th place
The Stereo Hogzz24-25Houston, TexasGroups 11th place
InTENsity18-23VariousGroups 12th place
Simone Battle22Los Angeles, CaliforniaGirls 13th place
Tiah Tolliver20Chula Vista, CaliforniaGirls 14th place
Dexter Haygood49Memphis, TennesseeOver 30s 15th place
The Brewer Boys15 & 18Temecula, CaliforniaGroups 16th place
Phillip Lomax23SeattleBoys 17th place

Act who died years later.

Live shows

The first two-and-a-half hour live show aired on a special Tuesday time slot on October 25; which followed the same format as the latest series of the UK show with each of the judges narrowing their number of acts down to three, without a public vote. The public vote started with the following performance and results shows starting November 2, which aired on Wednesdays and Thursdays respectively. The two-part finale was held on December 21 and 22.
There was no guest performance during the first week. The second live result show featured a performance from Outasight. Jessie J and Willow Smith performed on the third live results show, while the fourth live results show featured a performance from Rihanna. Kelly Clarkson and Bruno Mars performed on the fifth live result show while Tinie Tempah performed on the sixth live result show. Mary J. Blige and Lenny Kravitz performed on the seventh live results show while Florence + The Machine and X Factor USA judge Nicole Scherzinger performed on the semi-final results show. The final featured performances from Justin Bieber, Leona Lewis, 50 Cent, Stevie Wonder, Pitbull and Ne-Yo.

Results summary

;Color key

Week 1 (October 25)

;Judges' decisions to eliminate
;Judges' votes to eliminate
;Judges' votes to eliminate
;Judges' votes to eliminate
The Pepsi Choice Group performance was chosen by the audience and included circus outfits along with a rotating stage and laser special effects in a hip-hop dance style.
Two acts were eliminated during the results show. The three acts with the fewest public votes were announced, and the act with the fewest votes was automatically eliminated. The remaining two acts then performed in the final showdown and faced the judges' votes.
;Judges' votes 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. Bell was eliminated as the act with the fewest public votes.

Week 6 (November 30/December 1)

Michael Jackson's mother, Katherine; his three children Prince, Paris, and Blanket; and his brothers Marlon, Tito, and Jackie were present in the audience during the performance show.
As in the previous week, two acts were eliminated during the results show. The three acts with the fewest public votes were announced, and the act with the fewest votes was automatically eliminated. The remaining two acts then performed in the final showdown and faced the judges' votes.
;Judges' votes to eliminate
Nervo served as the house DJs for the first song of the night. Originally, the second song was going to be chosen by the public as part of the Pepsi Challenge, however, due to technical problems that happened with the Pepsi Challenge the night before the performance show, that feature was delayed to week eight and executive producers told that the contestants had only 24 hours to choose another song.
;Judges' votes 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. Crow was eliminated as the act with the fewest public votes.

Week 8: Semi-Final (December 14/15)

Each contestant performed two songs.
ActSong choicesResult
Drew"Secrets"N/A
Drew"Wherever You Will Go"N/A
Drew"Breakeven"N/A
Melanie Amaro"Hero"Chosen
Melanie Amaro"I Didn't Know My Own Strength"Not chosen
Melanie Amaro"The Voice Within"Not chosen
Rachel Crow"Forget You"N/A
Rachel Crow"Ain't No Mountain High Enough"N/A
Rachel Crow"Valerie"N/A
Astro"Gold Digger"N/A
Astro"Mama Said Knock You Out" / "Stop Looking at My Mom"N/A
Astro"Dirt off Your Shoulder"N/A
Chris Rene"My Love Is Your Love"Not chosen
Chris Rene"Angel"Not chosen
Chris Rene"Fly"Chosen
Marcus Canty"We Belong Together"Not chosen
Marcus Canty"Saving All My Love for You"Not chosen
Marcus Canty"I'll Make Love to You"Chosen
Josh Krajcik"Chasing Pavements"Not chosen
Josh Krajcik"Everytime You Go Away"Not chosen
Josh Krajcik"Come Together"Chosen

ActOrderFirst songOrderSecond songResult
Marcus Canty1"I'll Make Love to You"5"Careless Whisper"Eliminated
Chris Rene2"Fly"6"No One"Safe
Melanie Amaro3"Hero"7"Feeling Good"Safe
Josh Krajcik4"Come Together"8"Hallelujah"Safe

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

Week 9: Final (December 21/22)

The final lasted for 1.5 hours on Wednesday, December 21 and 2 hours on Thursday, December 22.
;December 21
ActOrderFirst song OrderSecond song
Josh Krajcik1"Uninvited" 4"At Last"
Chris Rene2"Complicated" 5"Young Homie"
Melanie Amaro3"I Believe I Can Fly" 6"Listen"

;December 22
ActOrderSongResult
Melanie Amaro1"All I Want for Christmas Is You"Winner
Chris Rene2"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"Third place
Josh Krajcik3"Please Come Home for Christmas"Runner-up

Contestants Who Appeared on Other Shows or Seasons

U.S. Nielsen ratings

Controversy

In the quarter-final result show, Scherzinger who had the deciding vote, was clearly upset with the bottom two acts because she admired both acts and was undecided about how she would vote. Her vote either meant that if she would eliminate Canty, Canty would be eliminated or if she voted against Crow, the result would go to deadlock and the public vote would determine the result. While Scherzinger was deliberating, she wanted the public vote to decide the outcome that week and sent the result to deadlock. Following this, Crow was voted out which led to Crow breaking down on stage and Scherzinger was booed off the stage and her future on the show was put in jeopardy. She subsequently received death threats from some viewers. Scherzinger was let go at the end of the season and later relocated to London to be a judge on the 2012 series of the UK show.