The X Factor (Australian TV series)

The X Factor
Genre	Reality competition
Created by	Simon Cowell
Presented by	Daniel MacPherson Luke Jacobz Jason Dundas
Judges	Kate Ceberano Mark Holden John Reid Natalie Imbruglia Ronan Keating Kyle Sandilands Guy Sebastian Natalie Bassingthwaighte Mel B Dannii Minogue Redfoo James Blunt Chris Isaak Iggy Azalea Adam Lambert
Theme music composer	Jos Jorgensen Andy Love Simon Cowell
Country of origin	Australia
Original language	English
No. of seasons	8
No. of episodes	201
Production
Executive producer	Jonathon Summerhayes[1] Digby Mitchell[2]
Production locations	Various (auditions) Vodafone Arena, Melbourne, Victoria (2005 live shows) Fox Studios, Sydney, New South Wales (2010–2016 live shows)
Running time	60–120 minutes
Production companies	Grundy Television (2005) FremantleMedia Australia (2010–2016)
Original release
Network	Network Ten
Release	6 February (2005-02-06) – 15 May 2005 (2005-05-15)
Network	Seven Network
Release	30 August 2010 (2010-08-30) – 21 November 2016 (2016-11-21)
Related
The X Factor (UK) The X Factor (New Zealand) The X Factor (U.S.)
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The X Factor is an Australian television reality music competition, based on the original UK series, to find new singing talent. The first season of the show premiered on Network Ten on 6 February 2005. Ten dropped The X Factor after the first season due to its poor ratings. In 2010, the Seven Network won the rights to the show, and a second season went into production.^[3] The X Factor was renewed after the highly successful Australian Idol was no longer broadcast on Network Ten. The X Factor was produced by FremantleMedia Australia,^[4] and was broadcast on the Seven Network in Australia and on TV3 in New Zealand.^[5][6] The program was cancelled after its eighth season in 2016.^[7]

The original judging panel line-up in 2005 consisted of Mark Holden, Kate Ceberano, and John Reid. When the show was revived in 2010, the judging panel was replaced by Natalie Imbruglia, Ronan Keating, Kyle Sandilands and Guy Sebastian. Imbruglia and Sandilands did not return for season three and were replaced by Natalie Bassingthwaighte and Mel B. Redfoo and Dannii Minogue joined the panel in season five as replacements for Sebastian and Mel B. Sebastian returned to the panel in season seven along with new judges James Blunt and Chris Isaak, as replacements for Keating, Bassingthwaighte and Redfoo. The judging panel will see changes once again for season eight as Minogue has announced her departure. On 12 June 2016 it was announced that Iggy Azalea would be a judge in season eight. It was then later announced that Adam Lambert would be joining the judging panel as well as Guy Sebastian and Mel B returning as the underdog judge.^[8]

During the televised audition phases of The X Factor, originally the contestants sang in an "audition room" in front of only the judges, however, from season two onwards all auditionees sing on stage in an arena, in front of the judges and a live audience. The successful acts then progress to the next stage of the competition, "bootcamp" and later "home visits", where the judges narrow their category down to three acts who continued to the live shows, where the public vote for their favourite act, following weekly performances by the contestants.

There have been eight winners: Random, Altiyan Childs, Reece Mastin, Samantha Jade, Dami Im, Marlisa Punzalan, Cyrus Villanueva and Isaiah Firebrace. Winners received a recording contract with record label Sony Music Australia. In season three, the winner also received a management contract, and in season four, a Nissan Dualis car. Each winning contestant's single has charted within the top-ten of the ARIA Singles Chart, only Mastin's, Jade's and Im's singles have reached number one. There have also been a number of hit singles released by other contestants who have appeared on The X Factor. The show has received numerous awards and nominations, including five Logie Award nominations, of which it has won one for Most Outstanding Light Entertainment Program.