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. Season 6 premiered on the Seven Network on 13 July 2014 and ended on 20 October 2014. Luke Jacobz returned as host, while Dannii Minogue, Redfoo, Natalie Bassingthwaighte and Ronan Keating returned as judges. Comedy duo Luke & Wyatt joined the sixth season as the hosts of the online spin-off show The Fan Factor. The winner was Marlisa Punzalan and her winner's single "Stand by You" was released after the final. Punzalan became the youngest winner of the show at 15 years old and was the first contestant from the Girls category to do so. She was mentored by Keating, who won as mentor for the second time after previously mentoring season two winner Altiyan Childs in 2010.
Open auditions in front of the show's producers took place in 13 cities from November 2013 to January 2014. 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 studio audience in April 2014. Following auditions was super bootcamp, where all four judges worked together and collectively chose 24 acts, including six from each of the four categories: Boys, Girls, Over 25s and Groups. After super bootcamp was the home visits round, where each judge reduced their six acts to three, with assistance from guest mentors James Blunt, John Legend, Jennifer Lopez, Jessica Mauboy and Nicole Scherzinger. The live shows began on 10 August 2014. This was the first season of The X Factor Australia to feature a wildcard in the live shows as the thirteenth contestant.
Judges
After the previous season concluded, the show confirmed that Keating, Redfoo, Bassingthwaighte and Minogue will all return for this season. Additionally, Minogue's confirmation on 24 February 2014, meant she would not return as a judge to the UK show for the 2014 UK series to replace Nicole Scherzinger despite popular demand in the UK for her to return to UK show in 2014. Scherzinger was eventually replaced by former judge Mel B.
Selection process
Auditions Open auditions in front of the show's producers took place in 13 cities and ran from November 2013 to January 2014. Online and DVD auditions were also held for those who could not attend the open auditions. The auditionees chosen by the producers were 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 Hisense Arena in Melbourne on 4, 5 and 6 April, and at the Qantas Credit Union Arena in Sydney on 9, 10, 11 and 12 April.
+Open auditions City Dates Venue Canberra 7 November 2013 Rydges Lakeside Canberra Adelaide 9 November 2013 AAMI Stadium Newcastle 13 November 2013 Hunter Stadium Cairns 19 November 2013 Shangri-La Hotel, The Marina Darwin 21 November 2013 The Hilton Hotel Brisbane 23–24 November 2013 Suncorp Stadium Mackay 26 November 2013 Central QLD Conservatorium of Music Coffs Harbour 3 December 2013 Opal Cove Resort Albury 5 December 2013 Albury Entertainment Centre Melbourne 7–9 December 2013 Flemington Racecourse Bunbury 16 January 2014 Quality Hotel Lord Forrest Perth 18–19 January 2014 Parmelia Hilton Sydney 24–26 January 2014 Australian Technology Park
+Judges' auditions City Dates Venue Melbourne 4–6 April 2014 Hisense Arena Sydney 9–12 April 2014 Qantas Credit Union Arena
Super bootcamp The super bootcamp stage of the competition was held at The Star in Pyrmont, New South Wales. Filming began in late April 2014. The first day of bootcamp saw judges Ronan Keating, Natalie Bassingthwaighte, Redfoo and Dannii Minogue split each category into collaborations. The male and female soloists were put into ensembles of four within their category, the Over 25s were put into ensembles of three, and the acts from the Groups category were put into pairs. Each collaboration was given a list of songs which they had to choose from and only had 24 hours to rehearse. On the second day, each collaboration performed their chosen song for the judges. At the end of the day, a select group of soloists from the Boys and Girls categories were first requested by the judges to return to the stage to form a boy band (consisting of Ellis Hall, Harry Target and Joel Watson) and a girl group (consisting of Serenity, Tahnie Cristini, Chaska Halliday and Nada Leigh Nasser). The judges then sent home half of the 100 acts.
On the third day, each judge found out which category they would be mentoring, and the remaining 48 acts each had a one-on-one mentoring session with their mentor. Bassingthwaighte was given the Boys, Keating was given the Girls, Redfoo was given the Over 25s and Minogue was given the Groups category. On the fourth day, each act individually performed one song to the judges and a live audience of one thousand. On the fifth and final day of bootcamp, the judges revealed which acts they put through to home visits.
The 24 successful acts were: Boys: Jaymie Deboucherville, James Johnston, Adrien Nookadu, Dean Ray, Tee, Jesse Teinaki Girls: Alice Bottomley, Sydnee Carter, Shanell Dargan, Chloe Papandrea, Marlisa Punzalan, Caitlyn Shadbolt Over 25s: Reigan Derry, Jason Heerah, Ryan Imlach, Rochelle Pitt, Stephanie Totino, Amali Ward Groups: Brothers3, MajikHoney, Paris Inc., Trill, XOX, Younger Than Yesterday
Home visits and wildcards The final round of the selection process, the home visits, saw each judge take their remaining six acts to exclusive locations around the world. Bassingthwaighte and Keating took the Boys and Girls to New York City, Redfoo took the Over 25s to Las Vegas, and Minogue took the Groups to an exclusive location in Sydney. On the first day, each act had a one-on-one mentoring session with their mentor. Minogue was assisted by Jessica Mauboy during the mentoring sessions for the Groups. On the second day of home visits, each act performed one song to their mentor and guest mentor. Bassingthwaighte was assisted by American Idol judge Jennifer Lopez, Keating was assisted by John Legend, Redfoo was assisted by former X Factor UK judge Nicole Scherzinger (who got replaced by Mel B as of UK Series 11) and Minogue was assisted by James Blunt. After the performances, the judges along with their guest mentors, narrowed down the acts to three each. On the third and final day, the judges revealed which acts they put through to the live shows.
Key: – Wildcard winner +Summary of home visits Judge Category Location Assistant(s) Contestants eliminated Wildcards Bassingthwaighte Boys New York City Jennifer Lopez Jaymie Deboucherville, James Johnston Jesse Teinaki Keating Girls John Legend Shanell Dargan, Chloe Papandrea Alice Bottomley Redfoo Over 25s Las Vegas Nicole Scherzinger Stephanie Totino, Amali Ward Ryan Imlach Minogue Groups Sydney Jessica MauboyJames Blunt MajikHoney, Paris Inc. Brothers3
At the end of home visits, it was announced that each judge could bring back one eliminated act from their category, who did not make the top twelve, as their wildcard. Bassingthwaighte chose Jesse Teinaki, Keating chose Alice Bottomley, Redfoo chose Ryan Imlach, and Minogue chose Brothers3. The public then voted for which of the four wildcards would become the thirteenth contestant. Brothers3 were announced as the wildcard winners during the first live show on 10 August 2014.
Acts
Key: – Winner – Runner-Up – Wildcard (Live Shows)
ActAge(s)HometownCategory (mentor)ResultMarlisa Punzalan15Glendenning, New South WalesGirls (Keating)WinnerDean Ray22Narromine, New South WalesBoys (Bassingthwaighte)Runner-UpBrothers3 16–18MudgeeGroups (Minogue)3rd PlaceReigan Derry26Maida Vale, Western AustraliaOver 25s (Redfoo)4th PlaceCaitlyn Shadbolt19Gympie, QueenslandGirls (Keating)5th PlaceJason Heerah31Melbourne, VictoriaOver 25s (Redfoo)6th PlaceTee24Sydney, New South WalesBoys (Bassingwaighte)7th PlaceRochelle Pitt41Cairns, QueenslandOver 25s (Redfoo)8th PlaceSydnee Carter16WannerooGirls (Keating)9th PlaceXOX18–21VariousGroups (Minogue)10th PlaceAdrian Nookadu17Sydney, New South WalesBoys (Bassingthwaighte)11th PlaceYounger Than Yesterday16Various Groups (Minogue)12th PlaceTrill14–15Various13th Place
Live shows
Results summary Colour key Act in Team Dannii Act in Team Redfoo Act in Team Natalie Bassingthwaighte Act in Team Ronan
– Act with the most votes – Act in the bottom two or three and had to perform in the final showdown – Act received the fewest public votes and was automatically eliminated + Weekly results per act Act Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 52 Week 6 Week 74 Week 8 Quarter-Final Semi-Final Final Sunday Vote Monday Vote Marlisa Punzalan Safe Safe Safe Safe 5th Safe Safe Safe Safe 3rd Safe Winner Dean Ray Safe Safe Safe Safe 2nd Safe Safe Safe Bottom Two Safe Safe Runner-Up Brothers3 Safe Safe Safe Safe 1st Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe 3rd Eliminated(Final) Reigan Derry Safe Safe Safe Safe 3rd Safe Safe 5th Safe 4th Eliminated(Semi-Final) Caitlyn Shadbolt Safe Safe Safe Safe 6th 7th Bottom Three Safe Bottom Two Eliminated(Quarter-Final) Jason Heerah Safe Safe Safe Safe Bottom Two Safe Bottom Three 6th Eliminated(Week 8) Tee Safe Safe Safe Bottom Two 7th Safe Bottom Three Eliminated(Week 7) Rochelle Pitt Safe Safe Safe Safe 4th 8th Eliminated(Week 6) Sydnee Carter Safe Safe 10th Safe Bottom Two Eliminated(Week 5) XOX Safe Bottom Two Safe Bottom Two Eliminated(Week 4) Adrien Nookadu Bottom Two Safe 11th Eliminated(Week 3) Younger Than Yesterday Safe Bottom Two Eliminated(Week 2) Trill Bottom Two Eliminated(Week 1) Final Showdown Trill, Nookadu XOX, Younger Than Yesterday Carter, Nookadu XOX, Tee Carter, Heerah Shadbolt, Pitt Shadbolt, Tee, Heerah Heerah, Derry Shadbolt, Ray Derry, Punzalan No final showdown/judges' vote; public votes alone decide who wins Judges voted to EliminateSend Through Keating's vote (Girls) Trill Younger Than Yesterday Nookadu XOX Heerah Pitt Tee Heerah Ray Punzalan Bassingthwaighte's vote (Boys) Trill Younger Than Yesterday Carter XOX Carter 3 Shadbolt Heerah Shadbolt Derry Minogue's vote (Groups) Nookadu 1 Carter Tee Carter None (abstained) Shadbolt Derry Shadbolt Punzalan Redfoo's vote (Over 25s) Trill Younger Than Yesterday Nookadu XOX Carter Shadbolt Tee Derry Shadbolt Derry Eliminated Trill 3 of 4 votesMajority Younger Than Yesterday 3 of 3 votesMajority Adrien Nookadu 2 of 4 votesDeadlock XOX 3 of 4 votesMajority Sydnee Carter 3 of 4 votesMajority Rochelle Pitt 1 of 2 votesDeadlock3 Tee 2 of 4 votesDeadlock Jason Heerah 2 of 4 votesDeadlock Caitlyn Shadbolt 3 of 4 votesMajority Reigan Derry 2 of 4 votesDeadlock Brothers3 Public Vote To Win Dean Ray Public Vote To Win
Notes 1 Minogue was not required to vote as there was already a majority. 2 For the first time in the show's history and only for week five, the positions of the public votes were revealed in the order that the public voted based on the live performances that week. 3 Bassingthwaighte was absent for the week six showdown. As a result, three unanimous votes were required for an act to be eliminated. However, as Redfoo and Keating voted to save their own acts, Minogue abstained and the public vote was counted, resulting in Pitt's elimination. 4 For the first time in the show's history and only for week seven, a bottom three was featured.
Live show details
Week 1 (10/11 August) Theme: Judges' choice Group performance: "Geronimo" Celebrity performers: Dami Im ("Gladiator") and Guy Sebastian ("Come Home With Me")