X Factor is a Romanian television music competition that aims to find a new music talent to become a star. The fourth season began airing on 19 September 2014 on Antena 1.http://www.infoziare.ro/stire/638716/Gata!+%C3%8Encepe+X+Factor!+Horia+Brenciu:+%E2%80%9CDe+mult+visez+s%C4%83+fiu+coleg+de+banc%C4%83+cu+B%C4%83nic%C4%83+%C3%AEnc%C4%83+de+pe+vremea+melodiei+%E2%80%9CAni+de+liceu%E2%80%9D%E2%80%9D.
The hosts are the same as in the first three seasons: Răzvan Simion and Dani Oțil, who are also known for hosting a well known morning show on Antena 1. Singer Delia Matache returned to the judging panel, while Horia Brenciu and Ștefan Bănică, Jr. joined the panel as replacements for the departing judges.
On December 26, 2014, the season concluded with Adina Răducan winning the Final, she was mentored by Brenciu. Alexandra Crișan, mentored by Bănică finished in second place.
Auditions
Audition process was based on the British and American version. First up were "The Producer's Audition", where the producers chose singers to proceed to the second phase which was "The Audition before the Judging panel". The first auditions took place at Craiova, on 24 May. They then took place in Sibiu, on 26 May, in Arad, on May 28 in Cluj Napoca on May 30, 2014, on June 2 in Iași, on June 5 in Galațihttp://xfactor.a1.ro/stiri/sezonul-4-x-factor-se-apropie-cu-pasi-repezi-vino-la-auditii-daca-simti-ca-ai-factorul-x-id1841.html. and concluded on June 7, 2013 in Bucharest.http://xfactor.a1.ro/stiri/ara-tara-vrem-x-factorrr-incep-preselectiile-pentru-un-nou-sezon-id1804.html.
+Summary of auditions City Auditions date VenueCraiova May 24, 2014Craiova UniversitySibiu May 26, 2014Arad May 28, 2014Hotel ParcCluj Napoca May 30, 2014Iulius MallIași June 2, 2014Palas MallGalați June 5, 2014Hotel Faleza By VegaBucharest June 7, 2014Children's Palace
Judges In February 2014, rumours began circulating that Cheloo would not be returning for the fourth series, because of his aggressive behavior. When it was announced that The X Factor would be returning for a fourth season, Dan Bittman was linked to the role. In May 2014, it was confirmed that Delia Matache would return. Before the auditions began, Cheloo and Bittman were replaced by pop singer Horia Brenciu and rock star Ștefan Bănică, Jr. http://xfactor.a1.ro/stiri/asteptarea-a-luat-sfarsit-delia-horia-brenciu-si-stefan-banica-jr-sunt-juratii-x-factor-2014-id1845.html.
Bootcamp
Complete Teams
Color key – Eliminated in Six-chair challenge – Eliminated in Duels – Finalist – Wildcard
Category (mentor) Top 38 acts Under 20s (Brenciu) Adina Răducanu Cristian Goaie Monica Sannino Denis Borovină Diana Căldăraru Nicholas Sealey Sabrina Stroe Sorina Rostaș Rafaelo Varga Melisa Tolea Sergiu Vonvea Octavian Broșteanu Miruna BuzăTeodora Ciocănea Groups (Matache) Contrast R-Twins Trupa 69 Adelina Damian & Victor Sas Afina & Daniel Black & White Studio 7 Divas Diana & Andrei Liță Envi Over 20s (Bănică) Alexandra Crișan Alex Florea Nicoleta Nucă Sergiu Braga Pavel Denisiuc Iuliana Dobre Alessio Paddeu Helena Abegaz Maria Cojocaru Ovidiu Anton Dorina Vasilashkco Stela Boțan Florin ȘchiopuMihaela Belous
Six-chair challenge For this season of The X Factor, the producers confirmed that the boot camp and judges' houses sections of the competition, which traditionally followed the audition rounds, had been dropped and replaced with a brand new stage called "The Six-Chair challenge".
This season, the categories follow the age-based format from season three. Brenciu mentored the Under 20s, Bănică the Over 20s and for the second time, Matache mentored the Groups.
Before the Six-chair challenge began, Vlad Simon left the competition because of health problems. Simon was replaced by Florin Șchiopu.http://www.exclusivnews.ro/mass-media/vlad-simon-s-a-retras-de-la-x-factor-din-motive-de-sanatate.html.
Color key – Contestant was immediately eliminated after performance without switch – Contestant was switched out later in the competition and eventually eliminated – Contestant was not switched out and made the final six of their own category
+ Contestants performances on the six-chair challenge Episode Category (mentor) Act Order Song Mentor's decision Switched with Episode 10 Under 20s (Brenciu)Cristian Goaie1"Feeling Good"Put in chair 1 — Diana Căldăraru2"Yesterday" Put in chair 2 —Teodora Ciocănea3"Believe" Eliminated —Sergiu Vonvea4"I Can't Stop Loving You" Put in chair 3 —Sorina Rostaş5 "You Raise Me Up" Put in chair 4 —Nicholas Sealey6"Unchained Melody" Put in chair 5 —Miruna Buză 7 "Skinny Love" Eliminated —Octavian Broşteanu8 "Cât De Frumoasă Ești" Eliminated —Monica Sannino9 "In Assenza Di Te" Put in chair 6 —Sabrina Stroe10"Ain't No Sunshine" Put in chair 3 Sergiu Vonvea Episode 11 Melisa Tolea11 "L-O-V-E" Eliminated — Rafaelo Varga12 "O Fată Ca Ea" Eliminated — Adina Răducan13 "I Can't Make You Love Me" Put in chair 4 Sorina Rostaş Denis Borovină14 "Set Fire to the Rain" Put in chair 3 Sabrina Stroe Groups (Matache) Adelina Damian & Victor Sas15 "Apologize" Put in chair 1 — Studio 716 "Fell in Love with an Alien" Put in chair 2 — Envi17 "I Will Always Love You"Eliminated — Black & White18 "Just the Way You Are"/"Marry You" Put in chair 3 — Trupa 6919 "Taxi" Put in chair 4 — Divas20 "Survivor" Put in chair 5 — Diana & Andrei Liță21 "Let Her Go" Eliminated — Afina & Daniel 22 "New York, New York" Put in chair 6 — Contrast 23 "Stand by Me" Put in chair 5 Divas R-Twins24 "With You" Put in chair 2 Studio 7 Over 20s (Bănică) Mihaela Belous25 "Stop!" Eliminated — Iuliana Dobre26 "I'll Stand By You" Put in chair 3 —Dorina Vasilashkco 27 "Amado Mio" Put in chair 1 —Ovidiu Anton 28 "All by Myself" Put in chair 2 — Florin Şchiopu29 "Boyfriend" Eliminated — Alexandra Crișan30 "Angel" Put in chair 4 — Pavel Denesiuc31 "My Heart Is Refusing Me" Put in chair 5 — Stela Boțan32 "Someone like You" Eliminated — Alexandru Florea33 "Here Without You" Put in chair 6 — Nicoleta Nucă34 "Say Something" Put in chair 1 Dorina Vasilashkco Episode 12 Maria Cojocaru35 "One" Eliminated — Alessio Paddeu36 "When You Say Nothing at All" Put in chair 2 Ovidiu Anton Helena Abegaz37 "Run" Eliminated — Sergiu Braga38 "O Sole Mio" Put in chair 2 Alessio Paddeu
The Duels After the Six-chair challenge, each mentor had six contestants for the Duels. The contestants were not told who they were up against until the day of the Duels. Each contestant sang a song of their own choice, back to back, and each duel concluded with the respective mentor eliminating one of the two contestants; the three winners for each mentor advanced to the Live shows.
Colour key:
- Artist won the Duel and advanced to the Live shows
- Artist lost the Duel and was eliminated
+ Contestants performances on the duels challenge Episode Category (mentor) Duel Act Order Song Result Episode 12 Over 20s (Bănică)Duel 1Alexandra Crișan1"One and Only"FinalistIuliana Dobre 2"Are You Gonna Be My Girl"EliminatedDuel 4Alexandru Florea 7"You Give Love a Bad Name"FinalistPavel Denesiuc 8 "All of Me"EliminatedDuel 6 Sergiu Braga 11 "Con Te Partirò"EliminatedNicoleta Nucă 12 "Hallelujah"Finalist Groups (Matache)Duel 2Black & White 3"We Are Young"EliminatedR-Twins4"The Lazy Song"FinalistDuel 5 Afina & Daniel 9"Halo"Eliminated Trupa 69 10"Dark Horse"FinalistDuel 8 Contrast 15"My Kind of Love"FinalistAdelina Damian & Victor Sas 16 "This Love"Eliminated Under 20s (Brenciu)Duel 3Nicholas Sealey 5"Blurred Lines"EliminatedCristian Goaie 6"Love Me Again"FinalistDuel 7 Monica Sannino 13"Hit the Road Jack"FinalistAdina Răducan 14 "Trurli"FinalistDuel 9 Diana Căldăraru 17"Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word"EliminatedDenis Borovină 18"La La La"Eliminated Notes 1. Daniel was not present in the "Six-Chair Challenge", due to a personal problem. 2. After the performances of Monica and Adina from the Under 20s category, their mentor, Brenciu couldn't decide between both of them, so the producers decided that Brenciu's decision will be taken after all his acts perform.
Wildcard It was announced on 3 December 2014 that there would be a wildcard twist on the live shows. The judges selected the wildcard acts from other categories. The wildcard acts were announced in the first live show with Sergiu Braga chosen by Brenciu for the Under 20s category, Alessio Paddeu chosen by Matache for the Groups and Miruna Buză chosen by Bănică for the Over 20s category.
Finalists
The final 12 finalists were confirmed as follows:
Color Key – Winner – Runner-up – Third place
Category (mentor)Acts Under 20s (Brenciu) Sergiu Braga Cristian Goaie Adina Răducan Monica Sannino Over 20s (Bănică) Miruna Buză Alexandra CrișanAlexandru Florea Nicoleta Nucă Groups (Matache) ContrastAlessio Paddeu R-Twins Trupa 69
Live shows The live shows will have a change in this season. Only four live shows will take place. In the first two live shows, each category will have its own final showdown, the result of which is decided solely by its mentor. The outcome of the third show will only rely on the public vote and will have two eliminations (one of which will happen halfway through of the show, when the voting will have been frozen). The final will have four contestants. Two of the finalists will be eliminated halfway through the final show, when the voting will have been frozen. The winner is still determined by the public vote.
Results summary
Color key –Winner –Contestant was in the bottom two and had to sing again in the final showdown –Contestant received the fewest public votes and was immediately eliminated (no final showdown)
+ Weekly results per contestant Contestant Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Wildcard Elimination Round 1 Round 2 Round 1 Round 2 Adina Răducan Safe Safe Safe Safe SafeWinner Alexandra CrișanSafe Safe SafeSafe SafeRunner-Up Trupa 69 Safe Safe SafeSafe 3rd Eliminated (Week 4) Alessio PaddeuReturned Week 1 Safe Bottom two Safe Safe 4th Nicoleta Nucă Safe Bottom two Safe5th Eliminated (Week 3) Sergiu BragaReturned Week 1 Safe Bottom two 6th Eliminated (Week 3) Alexandru Florea Bottom two Bottom two Eliminated (Week 2) Contrast Bottom two Bottom two Cristian Goaie Bottom two Bottom two Miruna BuzăReturned Week 1 Bottom two Eliminated (Week 1) R-Twins Bottom two Monica Sannino Bottom two Final showdown None Cristian Goaie, Monica Sannino Cristian Goaie, Sergiu Braga No judges' vote or final showdown: public votes alone decide who is eliminated R-Twins,Contrast Contrast,Alessio Paddeu Alexandru Florea, Miruna Buză Alexandru Florea, Nicoleta Nucă Brenciu's vote to eliminate Monica Sannino Cristian Goaie Matache's vote to eliminate R-Twins Contrast Bănică's vote to eliminate Miruna Buză Alexandru Florea EliminatedMonica Sannino by BrenciuCristian Goaie by Brenciu Sergiu BragaPublic voteNicoleta Nucă Public voteAlessio PaddeuPublic voteAlexandra Crișan Public voteto winR-Twinsby MatacheContrastby Matache Trupa 69Public vote Adina Răducan Public voteto winMiruna Buzăby BănicăAlexandru Floreaby Bănică Reference(s)
Live show details
Week 1 (December 5) Theme: Romanian music Musical guests: Ștefan Bănică, Jr. (Medley from: ( "Am Uitat", "Ziua", "Bubulina Gospodina", "O Seară De Mai"), "Alerg Printre Stele", "S-o Facem Lată")