The X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...

'' is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. The fourteenth series began airing on

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

on 2 September 2017, presented by

Dermot O'Leary Seán Dermot Fintan O'Leary Jr. (born 24 May 1973) is an English broadcaster who currently works for ITV and BBC Radio 2. His radio career began when he worked as a disc jockey at Essex Radio, but he is best known for being the presenter of ''T ...

. For the first time in seven years, the judging panel remained the same as the previous series, with

Nicole Scherzinger Nicole Scherzinger (; born Nicole Prascovia Elikolani Valiente, June 29, 1978) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, actress, and television personality. She is best known as the lead singer of the Pussycat Dolls, one of the best-selling g ...

Simon Cowell Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality, entrepreneur and record executive. He is the creator of ''The X Factor'' and ''Got Talent'' franchises which have been sold around the world. He has judged on t ...

Sharon Osbourne Sharon Rachel Osbourne (née Levy, later Arden; born 9 October 1952) is a British-American television personality, music manager and author. She is married to heavy metal singer-songwriter Ozzy Osbourne and came to prominence while appearing ...

and

Louis Walsh Michael Louis Vincent Walsh (born 5 August 1952) is an Irish music manager and television personality. He has managed Johnny Logan, Boyzone, Jedward and Westlife, four of Ireland's most successful pop acts in the 1990s and 2000s. He later bec ...

returning. This is the first series not to include companion show '' The Xtra Factor'', after it was cancelled in January 2017. Its replacement is a programme called ''Xtra Bites'' presented by Becca Dudley on the

ITV Hub ITVX (formerly ITV Hub) is a British online video-on-demand service operated by ITV plc, ITV. The service offers predominantly features content from ITV1, as well as ITV Digital Channels, ITV Digital channels and some licensed content. The serv ...

. This is also the first series to be sponsored by

Just Eat Just Eat (formerly known legally as Just Eat plc) is an online food order and delivery brand of Netherlands-based Just Eat Takeaway.com, and a former food delivery company. Just Eat was founded as a separate company in 2001 in Kolding, Denmark ...

, with the show having been sponsored by TalkTalk since 2009, as well as the second time the show has premiered in September, rather than August, since the first series in 2004.

Rak-Su Rak-Su are an English R&B group, formed in Watford. In 2017, they won the fourteenth series of ''The X Factor'', becoming the first male group to do so. The group is made up of Ashley Fongho, Jamaal Shurland, Myles Stephenson, and previously M ...

won the competition on 3 December 2017 and they became the second group to win the competition and Simon Cowell became the winning mentor for the fourth time.

Judges and presenters

In December 2016,

confirmed he would continue to judge the series through 2018, stating he had signed through "the next two years". That same month, both

and

cast doubt on their return, with Osbourne citing her dual-work on '' The Talk'', and Scherzinger stating: "I can't confirm that I'm going to e backbut I think if I did return it would have to be with this panel because I'm really close with this panel. ..I've really enjoyed myself and we're really close." On 13 April 2017, Cowell announced his intentions to retain the same judging panel for the fourteenth series. In June 2017, it was announced that the judging panel would remain the same as the previous series.

returned for his tenth series as presenter. On 23 June 2017, it was announced that ''

Britain's Got Talent ''Britain's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated to ''BGT'') is a televised British talent show competition, and part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. Presented by Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly (colloquially ...

'' judge

Alesha Dixon Alesha Anjanette Dixon (born 7 October 1978) is an English singer, rapper, dancer, television personality, and author. She gained recognition in the early 2000s as a member of the R&B, garage and hip hop group Mis-Teeq. The group disbanded in ...

would appear as a guest judge for the first day of Manchester auditions, due to Scherzinger having a "previous diary commitment". Five days later, on 28 June, it was announced that Dixon would once again appear as a guest judge, this time for Osbourne, who was unavailable due to a long-standing back injury. Cowell arrived late to the London auditions on 4 July 2017, due to an illness. On 29 October 2017, Dixon reappeared as a guest judge on the Sunday live show, this time filling in for Cowell, who was absent recovering from an injury during the weekend.

Selection process

On 4 July, it was reported that there would be major changes to the show this year. Auditions were taking place in

Thorpe Park Thorpe Park Resort, commonly known as Thorpe Park, is an amusement park located in the village of Thorpe between the towns of Chertsey and Staines-upon-Thames in Surrey, England, southwest of Central London. It is operated by Merlin Entertai ...

, bootcamp would take place in front of an audience and there would be six weeks of live shows instead of the usual ten. Additionally, acts would be sent home on both Saturday and Sunday, as "tedious" Saturday nights received lower viewing figures than Sunday.

Auditions

The minimum age to audition this year was 14 after being reduced down from 16 the previous year. Contestants needed a "yes" from at least three of the four judges to progress to Bootcamp.

Mobile auditions

The mobile auditions began on 11 May 2017, in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

and concluded on 23 May 2017, in

Yeovil Yeovil ( ) is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the district of South Somerset, England. The population of Yeovil at the last census (2011) was 45,784. More recent estimates show a population of 48,564. It is close to Somer ...

Judges' auditions

The auditions began on 20 June 2017, in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

and concluded on 10 July 2017, in

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

Bootcamp

Bootcamp was filmed live at

The SSE Arena, Wembley Wembley Arena (originally the Empire Pool, now known as OVO Arena Wembley for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena next to Wembley Stadium in Wembley, London, England, used for music, comedy, family entertainment and sport. The 12,500-sea ...

in front of a studio audience. Following the filming of bootcamp and prior to the filming of the six-chair challenge, the judges' categories were revealed. Cowell was given the Groups, Scherzinger was given the Over 28s, Osbourne was given the Girls and Walsh was given the Boys. There are two different stages to Bootcamp: Wall of Songs, where a list of 35 songs appeared on a wall 4 times, and the four acts who pick the same song would perform it together, and the judges would decide instantly who would make to the 2nd stage of bootcamp: the Boot camp audition, in front of the judges and a live audience, where after an act performance the judges will instantly decide whether or not they'll make it through to the 6-Chair Challenge. The categories were all revealed in Wembley Stadium, and revealed on TV on 7 October.

Six-chair challenge

The six-chair challenge took place over the course of three days, from 26 to 28 July 2017, at The SSE Arena, Wembley. Unlike previous years, where all four judges sat together, each judge was secluded on their own while their respective category performed. The three remaining judges sat together and gave their own critiques of the performance, before allowing the category's judge to make the final decision. It was broadcast over three episodes; Osbourne choosing in the first, Cowell and Scherzinger choosing in the second, with later portions of her decisions shown, alongside Walsh's, in the third.

Judges' houses

The judges' categories were announced in July 2017, with additional details of the judges' houses announced in October 2017. Anthony Russell withdrew after the pre-recorded sections of the show and was replaced by Sam Black who was knocked out of the competition at the Bootcamp stage. Black was in Walsh's Boys category. In a statement, Walsh stated, "Anthony has been fantastic across the series, a great singer and performer who we are really sad to see go. I had to think for a long time who could take the place. Sam had a great reaction from the British public when his Audition aired. So I re-watched it and realised we missed a trick not putting him through at Boot Camp. He has that retro 60s style viewers will love. He's really likeable and talented and I can't wait to hear more." At the end of judges' houses, it was announced that the public could vote for a wildcard from each category bringing the total number of contestants for the live shows to 16.

Acts

Key: : – Winner : – Runner-Up : Playing card club A

– Wildcard (Live Shows)

Live shows

The contestants for the live shows were announced during the episode broadcast on 22 October 2017. However, at the end of the episode, a wildcard vote for each category was announced by O’Leary. The winners of the wildcard vote were revealed on 28 October at the start of the first live show. For the first time since series six, a major overhaul of the set layout was made as live shows debuted in a new filming location,

LH2 Studios LH2 Studios is a purpose-built rehearsal and production space located in Park Royal, West London, United Kingdom, close to Park Royal tube station. The main studio is 1,386sqm (31.5m x 44m) with a height of 18m. Its primary function is to provi ...

in London, following the closure of

Fountain Studios Fountain Studios was an independently owned television studio in Wembley Park, northwest London. The company was last part of the Avesco Group plc. Several companies owned the site before it was bought by Fountain in 1993. Originally a film st ...

. Numerous other changes were introduced for this series' live shows. This included contestant and musical guest performances on both Saturday and Sunday shows, and the removal of the final showdowns, deadlocks and judges' votes on the Sunday show. Each show, two of the categories would sing and immediately after the performances, the public vote would open for a short amount of time. At the end of each show, the contestant with the fewest votes is automatically eliminated from the competition. In addition, the contestant with the highest votes for that night would also be announced. The two acts who won their respective public vote would then sing against each other in a new element of the show called the prize fight. After another public vote, the winner of the prize fight would win a special weekly prize. For the first time ever the live final was broadcast from the

Excel Centre ExCeL London (an abbreviation for Exhibition Centre London) is an exhibition centre, international convention centre and former hospital in the Custom House area of Newham, East London. It is situated on a site on the northern quay of the ...

, London and not

Wembley Arena Wembley Arena (originally the Empire Pool, now known as OVO Arena Wembley for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena next to Wembley Stadium in Wembley, London, England, used for music, comedy, family entertainment and sport. The 12,500-sea ...

as part of the show's drastic changes this series.

Musical guests

Liam Payne Liam James Payne (born 29 August 1993) is an English singer. He rose to fame as a member of the boy band One Direction. Payne made his debut as a singer in 2008 when he auditioned for the British television series ''The X Factor''. After being ...

performed on the first live show, while

Stormzy Michael Ebenezer Kwadjo Omari Owuo Jr. (born 26 July 1993), known professionally as Stormzy, is a British rapper, singer and songwriter. In 2014, he gained attention on the UK underground music scene through his ''Wicked Skengman'' series of f ...

performed on the second live show.

Tokio Myers Torville Jones (born 6 April 1984), better known by his stage name Tokio Myers, is a British pianist and record producer, who was born in London, England. He won reality show ''Britain's Got Talent'' in 2017 playing Debussy's " Clair de lune", w ...

performed on the third live show, while

Rita Ora Rita Sahatçiu Ora (born Rita Sahatçiu; 26 November 1990) is a British singer and songwriter. She rose to prominence in February 2012 when she featured on DJ Fresh's single, "Hot Right Now", which reached number one in the UK. Her debut studi ...

performed on the fourth.

Harry Styles Harry Edward Styles (born 1 February 1994) is an English singer, songwriter, and actor. His musical career began in 2010 as a solo contestant on the British music competition series ''The X Factor (UK TV series), The X Factor''. Following hi ...

performed on the fifth live show and

Paloma Faith Paloma Faith Blomfield (born 21 July 1981) is an English singer and actress. Her debut studio album, ''Do You Want the Truth or Something Beautiful?,'' was released in 2009 and was certified double platinum in the UK. The album spawned the sing ...

performed on the sixth.

Matt Terry Matthew James Terry (born 20 May 1993) is an English singer and songwriter. In 2016, he was crowned as the winner of the thirteenth series of ''The X Factor''. His debut single, " When Christmas Comes Around", which was released on 11 December ...

performed on the seventh live show and Fergie performed on the eighth.

James Arthur James Arthur (born 2 March 1988) is an English singer and songwriter. He rose to fame after winning the ninth series of ''The X Factor'' in 2012. His debut single, a cover of Shontelle's "Impossible", was released by Syco Music after the fin ...

performed on the first semi-final and

Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran (; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently r ...

performed on the second. PrettyMuch and

Louis Tomlinson Louis William Tomlinson (; born Louis Troy Austin; 24 December 1991) is an English singer and songwriter. He rose to fame as a member of the boy band One Direction. Tomlinson began his career appearing in television dramas before he auditioned ...

performed on Saturday's final, while

Pink Pink is the color of a namesake flower that is a pale tint of red. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, politeness, ...

Sam Smith Samuel Frederick Smith (born 19 May 1992) is an English singer and songwriter. After rising to prominence in October 2012 by featuring on Disclosure's breakthrough single "Latch", which peaked at number eleven on the UK Singles Chart, they ...

CNCO CNCO is a Latin American boy band based in Miami, Florida. The group consists of Richard Camacho, Erick Brian Colón, Christopher Vélez and Zabdiel De Jesús; former member Joel Pimentel departed the band in May 2021. They won a five-year reco ...

and

Little Mix Little Mix are a British girl group, composed of group members Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Jade Thirlwall, and Perrie Edwards. Jesy Nelson was originally part of the group before she left in 2020. After becoming the first group to win the British ver ...

performed during the Sunday final.

Results summary

;Colour key * The voting percentages in week 6 for Sunday do not add up to 100%, owing to the freezing of votes. Kevin Davy White received 8.2% of the final vote.

Live show details

Week 1 (28/29 October)

* Theme: "Express Yourself" * Prize: Trip to New York City, meet and greet with

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...

* Musical guests: ** Saturday:

Bedroom Floor "Bedroom Floor" is a song by English singer and songwriter Liam Payne. It was written by Jacob Kasher, Charlie Puth, Ammar Malik, Steve Mac, Aaron Jennings and Noel Zancanella, with production handled by Mac and Ben Rice. The song was released on ...

") ** Sunday:

MNEK Uzoechi Osisioma "Uzo" Emenike (born 9 November 1994), professionally known by his stage name MNEK (, ), is a British singer, songwriter and record producer. He has been nominated for a Grammy and a Brit Awards, Brit Award, and has received the ...

(" Blinded by Your Grace, Pt. 2") The wildcards were revealed at the start of Saturday's show. Cowell missed this week’s show, due to recovery from falling down the stairs the morning before.

filled in as a guest judge on Sunday.

Week 2 (4/5 November)

* Theme: "Viva Latino" * Prize: Recording session with a Grammy awarded producer * Musical guests: ** Saturday:

Angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...

") ** Sunday:

(" Anywhere")

Week 3 (11/12 November)

* Theme: "

George Michael George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the most significant cultural icons of the MTV generation and is one of the best-selling musici ...

" * Prize: Open for

Manchester Arena Manchester Arena, currently referred to as the AO Arena for sponsorship reasons, is an indoor arena in Manchester, England, immediately north of the Manchester city centre, city centre and partly above Manchester Victoria station in air rights s ...

on 21 November 2017 * Musical guests: ** Saturday:

Kiwi Kiwi most commonly refers to: * Kiwi (bird), a flightless bird native to New Zealand * Kiwi (nickname), a nickname for New Zealanders * Kiwifruit, an edible berry * Kiwi dollar or New Zealand dollar, a unit of currency Kiwi or KIWI may also refe ...

") ** Sunday:

Guilty Guilty or The Guilty may refer to: * Guilt (emotion), an experience that occurs when a person believes they have violated a moral standard Law *Culpability, the degree to which an agent can be held responsible for action or inaction *Guilt (law) ...

Week 4: Quarter-Final (18/19 November)

* Theme: "Crazy in Love" * Prize: Record own song with

Ali Tamposi Alexandra Tamposi (born November 17, 1989) is an American songwriter from West Palm Beach, Florida. She is best known for co-writing Kelly Clarkson's song "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)," 5 Seconds of Summer's song "Youngblood (5 Seconds of S ...

* Musical guests: ** Saturday:

(" The Thing About Love") ** Sunday: Fergie ("

Save It Til Morning "Save It Til Morning" is a song recorded by American singer Fergie for her second studio album, ''Double Dutchess'' (2017). It was written by Fergie and Toby Gad, who also produced the song. Fergie and Venus Brown provided additional vocal produc ...

Week 5: Semi-Final (25/26 November)

O'Leary confirmed that there was to be no Prize fight from this week onwards and all the categories were to perform on the same night for first time this series. ;25 November * Theme: "Cool Britannia" * Musical guest:

Naked Nudity is the state of being in which a human is without clothing. The loss of body hair was one of the physical characteristics that marked the biological evolution of modern humans from their hominin ancestors. Adaptations related to h ...

") ;26 November *Theme: "Get Me to the Final" *Musical guest:

(" Perfect")

Week 6: Final (2/3 December)

O’Leary revealed on 2 December that the winners' single this year would be the contestants' duet. ;2 December * Theme: "No theme"; "Celebrity duets/Winner's single" * Musical guests:

Pete Tong Peter Michael Tong, (born 30 July 1960) is an English disc jockey who works for BBC Radio 1. He is the host of programmes such as ''Essential Mix'' and ''Essential Selection'' on the radio service, which can be heard through Internet radio stre ...

Heritage Orchestra The Heritage Orchestra is a British orchestra founded by Chris Wheeler and Jules Buckley. They perform mainstream, cult, experimental and popular music. The orchestra, which ranges between 25 and 65 members, has performed internationally in ve ...

featuring

Becky Hill Rebecca Claire Hill (born 14 February 1994) is a British singer from Bewdley, England. She rose to prominence after appearing on the first series of the then BBC (now ITV) talent contest ''The Voice UK'', auditioning with John Legend's "Ordin ...

Sing It Back "Sing It Back" is a song written and performed by Irish-English electronic music duo Moloko (Róisín Murphy and Mark Brydon). It first appeared in its original version on Moloko's second album, ''I Am Not a Doctor'' (1998); it was released as a ...

"/ "

You've Got the Love "You Got the Love" is a song by British songwriting team The Source featuring American singer-songwriter Candi Staton. Originally released in 1986, the song was remixed and re-released in 1991, 1997, and 2006. It reached number three on the UK ...

") (with Grace Davies, Rak-Su & Kevin Davy White), PrettyMuch ("

No More No More may refer to: * No More (band), a German post-punk band Songs * "No More" (1944 song), written by Bob Russell and Toots Camarata; covered by Billie Holiday * "No More" (1961 song), a version of "La Paloma" recorded by Elvis Presley an ...

") and

(" Miss You") Kevin Davy White received the fewest public votes and was automatically eliminated. ;3 December *Theme: "Song to win", "Song of the Series" *Musical guests:

Power Power most often refers to: * Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work" ** Engine power, the power put out by an engine ** Electric power * Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events ** Abusive power Power may a ...

"/" Reggaetón Lento (Remix)"),

Beautiful Trauma '' Beautiful Trauma'' is the seventh studio album by American singer-songwriter Pink (singer), Pink. It was released on October 13, 2017, by RCA Records. Following ''The Truth About Love (Pink album), The Truth About Love'', Pink took a career ...

"/"

What About Us What About Us may refer to: * ''What About Us'' (Livin Out Loud album), or the title song * ''What About Us?'' (Ruth-Ann Boyle album), or the title song * "What About Us?" (Brandy song), 2002 * "What About Us" (Jodeci song), 1994 * "What About ...

"), and

One Last Song "One Last Song" is a song by English singer Sam Smith. It was written by Smith, Tyler Johnson and Charles Emanuel Smalls, with production handled by Steve Fitzmaurice, Jimmy Napes and Johnson. The song was released on 3 November 2017 through C ...

Winner's single

All proceeds from the winner's single are in aid of children's hospice charities,

Together for Short Lives Together for Short Lives is the UK registered charity for children's palliative care. Together for Short Lives’ vision is for children and young people in the UK with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions and their families to have as fu ...

and

Shooting Star Chase Shooting Star Children's Hospices is an English children's hospice charity (No: 1042495). The charity cares for babies, children and young people with life-limiting conditions, and their families, across Surrey and West London. They provide spec ...

. Simco Limited will donate 100% of its profits from the sale of each download and in respect of all audio streaming of the single, and the Chancellor has also agreed to donate the VAT, in each case to be shared equally by the charities. This donation will be at least 20p plus VAT for each download sold in the UK.

FremantleMedia Fremantle (; formerly FremantleMedia) is a British multinational television production and distribution company based in London. Fremantle takes its name from Fremantle International, acquired by predecessor company All American Television in ...

, ITV and all performers featuring on the single have also agreed to forgo any master royalties due to them in connection with downloads and all audio streaming of the single.

Reception

Ratings

: The ratings over a 28-day period, including the broadcasts on ITV and streaming through

. : The ratings over a 28-day period, including the broadcasts on ITV, ITV HD and streaming through

. : The ratings over a 28-day period, including the broadcasts on ITV, ITV HD, ITV+1 and streaming through

. : The rank for the combined ITV, ITV HD and ITV+1 broadcasts, compared with all channels for that week, from Monday to Sunday.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:X Factor (British series 14), The 2017 British television seasons 2017 in British music 14 United Kingdom 14