The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. The second series ran from 20 August to 17 December 2005. Shayne Ward became the winner and Louis Walsh emerged as the winning mentor. The second series was longer than the first, with seven acts in each of the three categories going to the judges' homes, and 12 acts in the live shows instead of 9. Kate Thornton returned as presenter of the main show on ITV and Ben Shephard presented the spin-off show The Xtra Factor on ITV2, while Simon Cowell, Sharon Osbourne and Walsh returned as judges. 75,000 people auditioned for the series.
On the back of their performances and popularity in the competition, Ward (winner), Andy Abraham (runner-up), Journey South (last contestant eliminated) and Maria Lawson (second contestant eliminated) landed recording contracts. Chico Slimani (fifth contestant eliminated) also released a single which topped the UK Singles Chart.
Aired on 24 September 2005, the mentoring selection was made, with Cowell in charge of Groups, Osbourne with the 25 and overs and Walsh managing the 16–24s. The bootcamp stages were shown on 1 October 2005, and those who got through were taken to the "judges' homes".
Judges, Presenters and Other Personnel
Simon Cowell, Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh returned as judges, quashing rumours that Osbourne and Walsh might not return for financial reasons. Kate Thornton also returned as presenter of the main show on ITV and Ben Shephard returned as presenter of spin-off show The Xtra Factor on ITV2. Yvie Burnett joined the show as vocal coach.
Selection process The auditions episodes were broadcast on 20 August 27 August 3 September 10 September 17 and 24 September 2005. The first two episodes of Bootcamp aired on 1 October 2005 and the last two the following week on 8 October 2005.
Bootcamp Tasks per Category
16-24s:
Location: artsdepot
Task 1 Songs: "Unchained Melody" "Careless Whisper" "To Love Somebody" "From This Moment On" "Beautiful"
Task 2 Songs: The 21 remaining contestants in the 16-24s category were divided into three groups of 7 with one song in each of the groups. Each contestant then performed their chosen song solo in front of Louis and his team. The songs were.
"I'll Be There" "End of the Road" "Always on My Mind"
Groups:
Location: An Manor House within the Oxfordshire countryside.
Task 1: Perform both an uptempo and a slow song to show versatility.
Task 2: Learn one song of their choice within an hour and then perform it to Simon and his team.
Over 25s:
Location: Café de Paris
Task 1: Perform a song of their choice to Sharon and the rest of the contestants.
Task 2: Choose a song from a list of five and learn it overnight to perform for a place in Judges Houses. The songs performed during this round were:
"Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" "Walk on By" "I Only Want to Be with You" Last song Not mentioned
Judges Houses Performances
Contestant highlighted in bold advanced.
Over 25s: Maria: "Since U Been Gone" Richie: "One" Haifa: "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher" Andy: "My Cherie Amour" Brenda: "I Just Want to Make Love to You" Joanne: "Right Here Waiting" Chico: "Livin' la Vida Loca"
Groups: The Brothers: "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted" 4Tune: "I Don't Want to Talk About It" 4th Base: "Your Song" The Conway Sisters: "You Raise Me Up" Eskimo Blonde: "Total Eclipse of the Heart" Journey South: "Desperado" Addictiv Ladies: "Wishing on a Star"
16-24s Shayne: "The Air That I Breathe" James: "Lately" Alexandra: "Almaz" Chenai: "I'm Still Waiting" Phillip: "Don't Forget to Remember" Nicholas: "You Make Me Feel Brand New" Trevor: "This Is the Moment"
+Summary of judges' houses Judge Category Location Acts Eliminated Cowell Groups Marbella 4th BaseEskimo BlondeThe Brothers Osbourne Over 25s Beverly Hills Richie GlynnJoanne HindleyHaifa Kayali Walsh 16-24s Dublin James BellamyAlexandra BurkeTrevor Hodgson
Acts Key: – Winner – Runner-up
ActAge(s)HometownCategory (mentor)ResultShayne Ward21Manchester 16-24s (Walsh)WinnerAndy Abraham 41North LondonOver 25s (Osbourne)Runner-upJourney South25 & 30Middlesbrough, North YorkshireGroups (Cowell)3rd placeBrenda Edwards36 Luton Over 25s (Osbourne)4th placeChico Slimani34Bridgend5th placeThe Conway Sisters 17-28County Sligo, Ireland Groups (Cowell)6th placeNicholas Dorsett18London Borough of Enfield16-24s (Walsh)7th placeMaria Lawson26LondonOver 25s (Osbourne)8th placeChenai Zinyuku 19Bradford16-24s (Walsh)9th placePhillip Magee21Larne10th place4Tune18-21SouthamptonGroups (Cowell)11th placeAddictiv Ladies 16-17London12th place
Live shows The live shows began on 15 October 2005, and the final was broadcast live on 17 December 2005.
Results summary Colour key Act in 16-24s
Act in Over 25s
Act in Groups –Act was in the bottom two and had to sing again in the final showdown –Act received the fewest public votes and was immediately eliminated (no final showdown) –Act received the most public votes
+Weekly results per actAct Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Quarter-Final Semi-Final Final First Vote Second Vote Shayne Ward Safe 1st Safe Safe Safe 2nd Safe Safe Safe Safe Winner50.6% Andy Abraham 1st Safe 1st Safe Safe 1st Safe Safe Safe Safe Runner-Up49.4% Journey South Safe Safe Safe Safe 2nd 4th Safe Safe Safe 3rd Eliminated(final) Brenda Edwards Safe Safe Safe Safe 3rd 5th Safe Safe 4th Eliminated(semi-final) Chico Slimani Bottom Two Safe Bottom Two Safe Safe 3rd Bottom Two 5th Eliminated(quarter-final) The Conway Sisters Safe Safe Safe Safe 8th 7th Bottom Two Eliminated(week 7) Nicholas Dorsett Safe Safe Safe Bottom Two 1st 6th Eliminated(week 6) Maria Lawson Safe Safe Safe 1st 7th Eliminated(week 5) Chenai Zinyuku Safe Bottom Two Safe Bottom Two Eliminated(week 4) Phillip Magee Safe Safe Bottom Two Eliminated(week 3) 4Tune Safe Bottom Two Eliminated(week 2) Addictiv Ladies Bottom Two Eliminated(week 1) Final Showdown Addictiv Ladies,Slimani 4Tune,Zinyuku Magee,Slimani Dorsett,Zinyuku The Conway Sisters,Lawson The Conway Sisters,Dorsett The Conway Sisters,Slimani No final showdown or judges' votes; results were based on public votes alone Walsh's vote to eliminate (16-24s) Addictiv Ladies 4Tune Slimani Zinyuku Lawson The Conway Sisters N/A Osbourne's vote to eliminate (Over 25s) Addictiv Ladies 4Tune Magee Dorsett The Conway Sisters Dorsett The Conway Sisters Cowell's vote to eliminate (Groups) Slimani Zinyuku Magee Zinyuku Lawson Dorsett The Conway Sisters Eliminated Addictiv Ladies2 of 3 votesMajority 4Tune2 of 3 VotesMajority Phillip Magee2 of 3 votesMajority Chenai Zinyuku2 of 3 votesMajority Maria Lawson2 of 3 votesMajority Nicholas Dorsett2 of 3 votesMajority The Conway Sisters2 of 2 votesMajority Chico SlimaniPublic voteto save Brenda EdwardsPublic voteto save Journey SouthPublic voteto save Andy AbrahamPublic voteto win For the only time in The X Factor history, a judge made an unforced decision to eliminate one of their own acts over another judge's act. Walsh was not required to vote as there was a majority. In Lawson's 2008 autobiography, Life Starts Now, she revealed she had topped the vote the week before her elimination. According to voting figures published in the Sunday Mirror, Lawson turned out to have received twice as many public votes as the Conway Sisters. Some of the voting results were also published in the same edition of the Sunday Mirror, the full voting results of the sixth week, Dorsett turned out to have topped the fifth week, Abraham topped the first, third and sixth weeks and Ward topped the second week. Thornton said just before the winner was announced, that there was a 1.2% voting difference between Ward and Abraham.
Live show details
Week 1 (15 October)
Best bits song: "That's What Friends Are For"
+ Acts' performances on the first live show Act Order Song Result Addictiv Ladies1"Superstar" (Jamelia) Eliminated Shayne Ward2"Right Here Waiting" (Richard Marx)Safe Chico Slimani3"Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" (Rod Stewart)Bottom Two Journey South4"Something About the Way You Look Tonight" (Elton John) Safe Phillip Magee5"Amazed" (Lonestar) Brenda Edwards6"Son of a Preacher Man" (Dusty Springfield) The Conway Sisters7"SOS" (ABBA) Nicholas Dorsett8"On the Wings of Love" (Jeffrey Osborne) Maria Lawson9"Emotion" (Destiny’s Child) 4Tune10"I Want It That Way" (Backstreet Boys) Chenai Zinyuku11"The Closest Thing to Crazy" (Katie Melua) Andy Abraham12"Greatest Love of All" (George Benson)Safe (Highest Votes)
Judges' votes to eliminate Cowell: Chico Slimani – said that the judges had to pick the real talent over a "joke act", effectively backing his own act, Addictiv Ladies. Osbourne: Addictiv Ladies – backed her own act, Chico Slimani, whose performance she said was more exciting. Walsh: Addictiv Ladies – said that Slimani had the whole entertainment package.
Week 2 (22 October)
Best bits song: "You Are Not Alone"
+ Contestants' performances on the second live show Act Order Song Result Andy Abraham1"You to Me Are Everything" (The Real Thing)Safe Chenai Zinyuku2"Young Hearts Run Free" (Candi Staton)Bottom Two 4Tune3"I'll Be There" (Jackson 5)Eliminated Chico Slimani4"Play That Funky Music" (Wild Cherry) Safe Nicholas Dorsett5"Let's Get It On" (Marvin Gaye) The Conway Sisters6"You Raise Me Up" (Westlife) Maria Lawson7"The Way You Make Me Feel" (Michael Jackson) Phillip Magee8"Wind Beneath My Wings" (Roger Whittaker) Journey South9"Desperado" (Eagles) Brenda Edwards10"Rescue Me" (Fontella Bass) Shayne Ward11"If You're Not the One" (Daniel Bedingfield)Safe (Highest Votes)
Judges' votes to eliminate Cowell: Chenai Zinyuku – gave no reason, though effectively backed his own act, 4Tune. Walsh: 4Tune – gave no reason, though effectively backed his own act, Chenai Zinyuku. Osbourne: 4Tune – appeared to have a hard time deciding which act to eliminate, especially since she had previously eliminated Zinyuku at judges' houses in series 1. Thornton told Osbourne that if she did not vote within the allotted time, the result would go to deadlock and revert to the public vote to decide who would be eliminated. At the last second, Osbourne said Zinyuku's name, but when asked by Thornton to clarify if she was voting to eliminate Zinyuku, she said that she was in fact voting to save Zinyuku.
Week 3 (29 October)
Best bits song: "Amazed"
+ Acts' performances on the third live show Act Order Song Result Phillip Magee1"Johnny B. Goode" (Chuck Berry)Eliminated Brenda Edwards2"Midnight Train to Georgia" (Gladys Knight & the Pips) Safe Shayne Ward3"Summer of '69" (Bryan Adams) Chico Slimani4"Livin' la Vida Loca" (Ricky Martin)Bottom Two The Conway Sisters5"Total Eclipse of the Heart" (Bonnie Tyler) Safe Chenai Zinyuku6"Hero" (Mariah Carey) Andy Abraham7"Unforgettable" (Nat King Cole)Safe (Highest Votes) Journey South8"Angel of Harlem" (U2) Safe Nicholas Dorsett9"Let's Stay Together" (Al Green) Maria Lawson10"Piece of My Heart" (Janis Joplin)
Judges' votes to eliminate Osbourne: Phillip Magee – gave no reason, though effectively backed her own act, Chico Slimani. Walsh: Chico Slimani – gave no reason, though effectively backed his own act, Phillip Magee. Cowell: Phillip Magee – he thought the public would want to see Slimani more.
Week 4 (5 November)
Best bits song: "Wishing on a Star"