X Factor is an Italian television music competition to find new singing talent; the winner receives a € 300,000 recording contract with Sony Music. Before the start of the auditions process it was announced that Morgan and Mika would be confirmed as judges and mentors, whilst Victoria Cabello and Fedez have been chosen for replacing Simona Ventura and Elio in the role; also Alessandro Cattelan returned as host. The eighth season has been airing on Sky Uno since 18 September 2014.
Auditions for season 8 took place in Rome, Turin and Bologna in June 2014; bootcamp took place in Milan for two days, on 1 and 2 July. Unconfirmed rumors revealed that Mika will mentor the Over-25s, Fedez the boys, Cabello the girls and Morgan the groups; they selected their final three acts during judges' houses.
Lorenzo Fragola, a member of the category Boys and mentored by Fedez, was announced the winner of the competition on 11 December 2014. His winner's single, "The Reason Why", released at the end of the Semi-Final on 4 December, won a Gold Certification of sales.
Cast
Category Mentor Musical Producer Under Girls (16-24) Victoria Cabello Gioni Barbera Under Boys (16-24) Fedez Fausto Cogliati Over 25+ Mika Alessandro Raina Groups Morgan Lele Battista
Vocal coaches: Paola Folli e Rossana Casale.
Applications and auditions
A preliminary phase of auditions was held: at PalaLottomatica, Rome, from 10 to 12 May 2014; at Lingotto, Turin, from 24 to 26 May 2014.
The judges auditions was held: at Unipol Arena, Bologna, on 7 and 9 June 2014; at PalaLottomatica, Rome, from 21 to 22 June 2014. The auditions were then broadcast on Sky Uno from 18 September to 2 October, and on Cielo from 21 September to 5 October.
Bootcamp Bootcamp took place at Mediolanum Forum, Assago, over two days, on Tuesday 1 July and Wednesday 2 July; it was broadcast on 9 October on Sky Uno and on 12 October on Cielo. Before Bootcamp, all the contestants who passed the auditions, were divided into two groups: the first one passed directly to the Bootcamp, since it was made by singers who fully convinced the judges; the other one was made by singers who didn't fully convince the judges, thus they had to face the “Room Auditions”. These were held in the Forum; the ones who succeeded in the Room Auditions, passed to the Bootcamp. For the first time in Italy, besides the presence of spectators at the Bootcamp, to pick the six contestants from each category, the “Six Chair Challenge” was introduced: each judge has six chairs at their disposal and they can decide to make a contestant sit (thus passing them to the “Home Visit”) or not (eliminating them); if the chairs are all occupied, the judge of the specific category can decide to make a contestant stand up (eliminating them) and make the other sit on the chair. After the Bootcamp, 24 contestants passed to the Home Visit.
Judges' houses The “Home Visit” is the final phase before the Live Shows. In this phase, the contestants who passed the Bootcamp had to perform one last time in front of their specific judge, in four different locations. At the end of this audition, the top twelve contestants were chosen.
The Home Visit took place in four different locations decided by each judge: Cabello chose London, Fedez chose Milan, Mika chose Motya and Morgan chose Vienna. Each judge was also helped by a guest to choose: The Bloody Beetroots for Cabello, Raphael Gualazzi for Fedez, Elio for Mika and Eugenio Finardi for Morgan. The Homevist took place around the end of July 2014.
Between the eliminated in this phase, those written in bold in the following chart were chosen by the judges for re-proposal. The four ones were then voted by the public who decided to bring Riccardo Schiara back in the competition during the second Liveshow. The twelve eliminated acts were: Boys: Dirty, Riccardo Schiara, Dario Guidi Girls: Giorgia Bertolani, Carolina Faroni, Maria Faiola 25+: Alessio Bersaglini, Jade Angiolina Canali, Sarah Fargion Groups: Fading Memories, Aula 39, Les Babettes
Contestants and categories Key: – Winner – Runner-up – Third place
Category (mentor)Acts Boys (Fedez)Lorenzo Fragola Madh Leiner Riflessi Riccardo Schiara Girls (Cabello) Vivian Grillo Camilla Andrea Magli Ilaria Rastrelli 25+ (Mika) Diluvio Mario Gavino Garrucciu Emma Morton Groups (Morgan) Komminuet Spritz for Five The Wise
Live shows
Results summary The number of votes received by each act were released by Sky Italia after the final.
Colour key –Contestant was in the bottom two/three and had to sing again in the final showdown –Contestant was in the bottom three but received the fewest votes and was immediately eliminated –Contestant received the fewest public votes and was immediately eliminated (no final showdown) –Contestant received the most public votes
+ Weekly results per contestant Contestant Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Quarter-Final Semi-Final Final Part 1 Part 2 Part 1 Part 2 Part 1 Part 2 Part 1 Part 2 Round 1 Round 2 Round 1 Round 2 Round 1 Round 2 Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Lorenzo Fragola 1st30.60% 1st31.62% 1st31.17% 1st30.74% 1st16.43% 1st17.93% 2nd17.83% 1st21.26% 1st24.01% 1st24.63% 1st31.83% 1st37.70% Winner51.74% Madh 5th9.97% 5th16.09% 3rd19.37% 2nd22.50% 2nd13.23% 3rd13.48% 1st18.42% 2nd20.29% 2nd19.46% 2nd22.60% 2nd26.84% 2nd33.81% Runner-Up48.26% Ilaria Rastrelli 2nd21.86% 4th18.11% 4th14.96% 3rd20.89% 7th9.89% 2nd14.10% 5th11.95% 5th13.82% 4th15.74% 4th17.86% 3rd24.88% 3rd28.49% Eliminated(final) Mario Gavino Garrucciu 2nd27.88% 2nd19.38% 2nd22.05% 3rd20.10% 5th11.11% 5th11.82% 6th11.46% 6th13.29% 3rd17.10% 3rd19.70% 4th16.45% Eliminated(final) Emma Morton1st30.39% 2nd24.62% 1st21.60% 1st23.89% 3rd12.15% 6th11.59% 4th13.78% 4th14% 5th14.42% 5th15.22% Eliminated(semi-final) Leiner Riflessi 3rd20.39% 1st22.03% 2nd21.53% 2nd23.62% 4th12.09% 7th10.24% 3rd15.42% 3rd17.33% 6th9.27% Eliminated(semi-final) Komminuet 4th11.60% 6th6.56% 5th13.27% 5th15.15% 6th9.95% 4th12.14% 7th11.15% Eliminated(quarter-final) Vivian Grillo 3rd15.28% 3rd18.31% 6th12.45% 4th17.72% 8th8.46% 8th8.71% Eliminated(Week 5) Riccardo Schiara Not in live show 3rd14.08% 3rd16.92% 4th16.45% 9th6.59% Eliminated(Week 5) Spritz for Five 4th11.53% 5th9.81% 4th14.96% 5th12.45% Eliminated(Week 4) Camilla Andrea Magli 5th11.12% 4th13.31% 5th11.71% Eliminated(Week 3) The Wise 6th3.58% 6th6.08% Eliminated(Week 2) Diluvio 6th5.80% Eliminated(Week 1) Sarah Fargion Not in live shows Not returned(Week 2) Final showdown Diluvio,The Wise The Wise,Komminuet Vivian Grillo,Camilla Andrea Magli Spritz for Five,Komminuet Leiner Riflessi,Vivian Grillo Komminuet,Mario Gavino Garrucciu Emma Morton,Ilaria RastrelliNo final showdownor judges' vote:results will be basedon public votes alone Judges' vote to eliminate Morgan's vote Diluvio The Wise Camilla Andrea Magli Spritz for Five Leiner Riflessi Mario Gavino Garrucciu Emma Morton Cabello's vote Diluvio The Wise Vivian Grillo Spritz for Five Leiner Riflessi Komminuet Emma Morton Mika's vote The Wise The Wise Vivian Grillo Komminuet Vivian Grillo Komminuet Ilaria Rastrelli Fedez's vote Diluvio The Wise Camilla Andrea Magli Komminuet Vivian Grillo Mario Gavino Garrucciu Emma Morton Eliminated Dilvuio3 of 4 votesmajority The Wise4 of 4 votesmajority Camilla Andrea Magli2 of 4 votes Deadlock Spritz for Five2 of 4 votesDeadlock Riccardo Schiara Public voteto save Komminuet 2 of 4 votesDeadlock Leiner Riflessi Public voteto save Mario Gavino Garrucciu Public voteto save Ilaria Rastrelli Public voteto save Madh Public voteto win Vivian Grillo2 of 4 votesDeadlockEmma Morton3 of 4 votesmajority Lorenzo Fragola Public voteto win
Live show details
Week 1 (23 October 2014) Group performance: Medley of famous songs performed by the twelve contestants ("Try" / "Wrecking Ball" / "Paparazzi" / "No Woman No Cry" / "Forever Young" / "With or Without You" / "Someone Like You" / "Penso Positivo" / "Happy Ending") Celebrity performers: Tiziano Ferro ("Senza Scappare Mai Più") and Robin Schulz & Lilly Wood and the Prick ("Prayer in C") + Contestants' performances on the first live show Part 1 Act Order Song Result Emma Morton 1 "Blurred Lines" Safe Komminuet 2 "Air on the G String" Safe Leiner Riflessi 3 "What Goes Around...Comes Around" Safe Ilaria Rastrelli 4 "The Scientist" Safe Diluvio 5 "Alors On Danse" Bottom two Madh 6 "Take Care" SafePart 2 Act Order Song Result Spritz For Five 7 "Just Can't Get Enough" Safe Mario Gavino Garrucciu 8 "E non andar più via" Safe Camilla Andrea Magli 9 "Toxic" Safe The Wise 10 "Giovanni Telegrafista" Bottom two Lorenzo Fagola 11 "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" Safe Vivian Grillo 12 "We Found Love" SafeFinal showdown details Act Order Songs Result Diluvio 13 "La Notte" Eliminated The Wise 14 "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away" Safe
Judges' votes to eliminate Morgan: Diluvio – backed his own act, The Wise. Mika: The Wise – backed his own act, Diluvio. Fedez: Diluvio – considered him inappropriate for the show. Cabello: Diluvio – agreed with Fedez.
Week 2 (30 October 2014) Group performance: "Logico #1" (Cesare Cremonini and the contestants) Celebrity performers: Cesare Cremonini ("Logico #1") and ("Greygoose")
Wildcard Act Order Song Result Riccardo Schiara 1 "Chandelier" Returned Sarah Fargion 2 "Gli Uomini Non Cambiano" Not returned
+ Contestants' performances on the second live show Part 1 Act Order Song Result Madh 1 "No Church in the Wild" Safe Mario Gavino Garrucciu 2 "Ricomincio da qui" Safe Ilaria Rastrelli 3 "Pumped Up Kicks" Safe The Wise 4 "I Will Survive" Bottom two Leiner Riflessi 5 "The First Cut Is the Deepest" Safe Vivian Grillo 6 "Doo Wop (That Thing)/Can't Take My Eyes Off You" SafePart 2 Act Order Song Result Spritz For Five 7 "Bohemian Rhapsody" Safe Emma Morton 8 "I Can't Make You Love Me" Safe Riccardo Schiara 9 "All of Me" Safe Camilla Andrea Magli 10 "Splendido splendente" Safe Komminuet 11 "Come Undone" Bottom two Lorenzo Fagola 12 "Impossible" SafeFinal showdown details Act Order Songs Result The Wise 13 "Mykonos" Eliminated Komminuet 14 "Virtual Insanity" Safe
Judges' votes to eliminate Morgan: The Wise Mika: The Wise Fedez: The Wise Cabello was not required to vote because there was already a majority, but confirmed she would have eliminated The Wise.
Week 3 (6 November 2014) Theme: Dance Celebrity performers: Charli XCX ("Boom Clap") and Kiesza ("Hideaway") Trivia: During the opening of the show, the host and the judges of the new season of Italia's Got Talent came on stage to promote it. + Contestants' performances on the third live show Part 1 Act Order Song Result Ilaria Rastrelli 1 "Get Lucky" Safe Komminuet 2 "Emerge" Safe Leiner Riflessi 3 "If I Die Tomorrow" Safe Emma Morton 4 "Sing It Back" Safe Vivian Grillo 5 "Telephone/You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" Bottom two Riccardo Schiara 6 "Follow the Sun" SafePart 2 Act Order Song Result Spritz For Five 7 "A Fifth of Beethoven" Safe Mario Gavino Garrucciu 8 "Don't Leave Me This Way" Safe Madh 9 "Dancing on My Own" Safe Camilla Andrea Magli 10 "Miss You" Bottom two Lorenzo Fagola 11 "Sweet Nothing" SafeFinal showdown details Act Order Songs Result Vivian Grillo 12 "Starships" Safe Camilla Andrea Magli 13 "Summertime Sadness" Eliminated
Judge's vote to eliminate Cabello: Vivian Grillo - after a moment of hesitation, considered Magli's growth more interesting. Mika: Vivian Grillo - agreed with Cabello's comments. Fedez: Camilla Andrea Magli - considered Grillo more interesting. Morgan: Camilla Andrea Magli - could not decide so chose to take it to deadlock. With both acts receiving two votes each, the result went to deadlock and a new public vote commenced for 200 seconds. Camilla Andrea Magli was eliminated as the act with the fewest public votes.
Week 4 (13 November 2014) Theme: Tolerance (billed as: We are 1) Celebrity performers: Hozier ("Take Me to Church") and Fabi, Silvestri, Gazzè ("L'amore non esiste")