The X Factor (UK series 1).html



Series 1 of UK TV talent show The X Factor was broadcast from 4 September to 11 December 2004. It was won by Steve Brookstein, who went on to have some chart success, with runners-up G4 achieving three platinum albums before splitting up in mid 2007. Simon Cowell was the winning mentor. Although Brookstein won the series, his mentor Simon Cowell later admitted that G4 (mentored by fellow judge and rival Louis Walsh) were the real winners of the show.¹ Brookstein and Cowell reportedly fell out over Cowell's insistence that he record covers verisons, rather than self-penned material, leading to him being dropped from Sony BMG, and his name being little-mentioned in subsequent series of the show.

Format

See the main X Factor (UK) article for a general description of the show's format.

After the initial auditions, each judge was randomly allocated a category: Simon Cowell was assigned solo 25-and-overs, Louis Walsh got the groups and Sharon Osbourne the solo 16–24s.

Each judge then chose twelve acts from their category to go through to round two — boot camp. After boot camp, each judge selected five acts to progress to round three — judges' homes. In this round, the 15 acts (five for each judge) went to the homes of their respective judges, where they were interviewed and performed again. Each judge then chose three acts to go through to the finals (making a total of nine finalists).

The finals consisted of two live shows each Saturday evening. For the first five weeks each act performed once in the first show, after which the public voted for the act that they wanted to remain in the show. In the later results show, the two acts with the fewest votes were revealed. These two acts then had to sing again before the three judges decided who was eliminated.

The format changed in the sixth week: each act performed twice in the first show (with the judges offering their opinions after the second songs), and reprised one of their songs in the results show. The act with the fewest public votes was eliminated at the end of the second show, with the judges no longer having a say in who left.

Finalists

Ages are as of the date of the show (2004).

16 to 24s - Sharon Osbourne

• Cassie Compton, 17
• Roberta Howett, 23
• Tabby Callaghan, 23

25-and-overs - Simon Cowell

• Rowetta Satchell, 38
• Steve Brookstein, 35
• Verity Keays, 50

Groups - Louis Walsh

• 2 To Go (Peter Jones (24), Emma Paine (23))
• G4 (Mathew Stiff (24), Jonathan Ansell (22), Michael Christie (23), Ben Thapa (22))
• Voices With Soul (Grace, Hildia, and Corene Campbell)

Results table

Contestants' colour key:

– Simon's contestants (over 25s)

– Sharon's contestants (16s to 24s)

– Louis's contestants (groups)

Live show details

23 October 2004

Judges' votes to eliminate

• Sharon: Voices With Soul
• Louis: Roberta
• Simon: Roberta

30 October 2004

Judges' votes to eliminate

• Louis: Verity
• Simon: 2 to Go
• Sharon: Verity

6 November 2004

Judges' votes to eliminate

• Louis: 2 to Go
• Sharon: 2 to Go
• Simon: No vote required

13 November 2004

Judges' votes to eliminate

• Louis: Voices With Soul
• Simon: G4
• Sharon: Voices With Soul

20 November 2004

Judges' votes to eliminate

• Sharon: Refused to vote as she had two of her acts in the bottom two
• Louis: Cassie
• Simon: Cassie

27 November 2004

* repeated in the second show

4 December 2004

* repeated in second show

Live final: 11 December 2004

* repeated in second show

Ratings

This series had the lowest ratings of all five series to date, averaging 6.9 million viewers. The final achieved 8.1 million viewers for the performances and 9.7 million for the results.^{citation needed}

References

External links

• The X Factor at itv.com