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The first season of the American version of the music competition show The X Factor began airing on Fox on September 21, 2011.
Based on the UK format, the competition consists of auditions, in front of producers and then the judges with a live audience; boot camp; judges' houses and then the live finals. Auditions for the show began in March 2011 and concluded in June 2011. The show was hosted by Welsh TV presenter Steve Jones, while the original judging panel consisted of Cowell, Cheryl Cole, Paula Abdul and L.A. Reid. Cole later departed from the show after just two audition rounds and was replaced by Nicole Scherzinger, who originally co-hosted with Jones.
An early preview of The X Factor aired during the 2011 Major League Baseball All-Star Game on July 12, 2011. Another preview was shown following NFL on Fox on September 11. The show was simultaneously broadcast in Canada on CTV or CTV Two, depending on schedule.
Season one's finale aired on December 22, 2011, resulting in Melanie Amaro as the winner, and Simon Cowell as the winning mentor.
At the time of announcing the USA show of The X Factor, Cowell was the only confirmed judge.[1] Eventually, Grammy Award-winning record executive, songwriter, and record producer L.A. Reid,[2] [3] The X Factor UK judge Cheryl Cole,[4] [5] and Cowell's former American Idol colleague Paula Abdul[6] [7] Numerous people were speculated to host the series, including High School Musical star Corbin Bleu and The X Factor UK host Dermot O'Leary.[8] On May 8, 2011, Nicole Scherzinger and Welsh presenter Steve Jones were announced as co-hosts of the show.[9] [10]
On May 26, 2011, it was reported that Cole had been dropped from the show and was set to be replaced by Scherzinger. Reports varied over whether she was fired because American audiences had trouble understanding her accent, because of a lack of chemistry between her and Abdul, because Cole is unknown to American audiences, because Cole was confused with Sheryl Crow by American audiences, or that she had stepped down herself due to homesickness.[11] [12] Cole's departure was officially confirmed on June 6 in a statement from Fox, which also confirmed Scherzinger as her replacement. Jones would then serve as the sole presenter.[13] On August 5, 2011, Cowell announced that the reason why Cole left was because he gave her the option to be a judge on the 2011 series of the UK show as he felt that she would have been comfortable there. He said that if her departure had anything to do with her not getting along with Abdul then he would not be judging the show.[14] Cole later revealed in a 2012 interview that she had decided to quit the show of her accord and rejected Cowell's offer to return to the UK show after Tulisa already replaced her on the UK panel and her unwillingness to judge the UK show without Cowell. Cole later patched things up with Cowell in 2014 and she along with Cowell would both return as judges on the UK show for the 2014 UK series.[15] [16]
Auditions for producers began in Los Angeles, California, on March 27, 2011, at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. They then took place in Miami, Florida, on April 7, 2011, at the BankUnited Center and continued in Newark, New Jersey's Prudential Center on April 14, 2011. More auditions took place in Seattle, Washington's KeyArena on April 20, 2011, and Chicago, Illinois's Sears Centre on April 27, 2011, and finished in Dallas, Texas's American Airlines Center on May 26, 2011.[17] [18]
It was reported that The X Factor had broken the auditions record in Los Angeles, California on March 27.[19]
The MyStudio HD audition booths opened in Honolulu, Hawaii; Phoenix, Arizona; Nashville, Tennessee; Anchorage, Alaska; Kansas City, Kansas; and Denver, Colorado.[20] Originally scheduled to end on April 30, 2011, the booths' opening ended up being extended until May 8, 2011. After it was announced that people auditioning through this method was in such high demand, auditions at the booths' ended up being extended until May 15, 2011.
On June 3, Cowell announced that applicants could upload a video of them singing onto YouTube and it was opened for one week only (June 9).[21] Selected applicants would appear in front of the judges.
The last set of auditions took place during May and June 2011. These auditions individually occur simultaneously before both the judges and a live studio audience; and with such audience in attendance able to applaud/cheer approval or disapproval and perhaps influencing the judges.[22]
| City | Date | Venue | Date aired | Judges | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles, California | May 8–9, 2011 | Galen Center | September 21, 2011 | Reid | Cole | Abdul | Cowell |
| Chicago, Illinois | May 19–20, 2011 | Sears Centre | September 28, 2011 | ||||
| Newark, New Jersey | June 8–9, 2011 | Prudential Center | September 29, 2011 | Scherzinger | |||
| Miami, Florida | June 14–15, 2011 | BankUnited Center | September 22, 2011 | ||||
| Dallas, Texas | June 21–22, 2011 | American Airlines Center | September 22, 2011 | ||||
| Seattle, Washington | June 28–30, 2011 | KeyArena | September 21 & 28, 2011 | ||||
Auditions footage first aired on September 21, though they were not aired in the same order that they occurred.[23]
Day one of boot camp started with dance training with choreographer Brian Friedman and then the acts were called to the stage in groups of 10 to sing in front of the judges. After all of them performed, the acts were brought in front of the judges as part of one of three groups. Two of these groups made it through and one was eliminated, leaving 100 acts still in the competition. The judges threw a party for the remaining acts that for many lasted late into the night.
Day two started with everyone getting woken up at 6:00am and heading to meet Reid. He informed them that they would be put into "ensembles" and groups, and would be working with stylists, choreographers, and vocal coaches. They were given five hours to learn the songs they were given. One third of the acts would be eliminated by the end of the second day. Several of the ensembles performances were aired. The first ensemble performed "Creep", the second ensemble performed "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For", the third ensemble performed "Desperado", the fourth ensemble performed "Wishing on a Star", the fifth ensemble performed "Superman (It's Not Easy)", the sixth ensemble performed "Feeling Good", the seventh ensemble performed "I Have Nothing" and the eighth ensemble performed "Run".
Day two continued with more ensembles performing for the judges. The ninth ensemble performed "What's Going On". Next, they showed a couple of quick shots of some ensembles, presumably consisting of all people that would not make it through to the end. The tenth ensemble that was covered in detail performed "I Won't Let Go". The eleventh (and final) ensemble performed "Chasing Cars". Next, the judges deliberated, and decided on which a third of the acts would be eliminated. Once again, three groups were brought in. Group 1 was eliminated, meaning groups 2 and 3 made it through to the next round of boot camp.
Day three had all 64 acts perform for the judges. They were given a list of 35 songs at the end of the day two and were told to choose one that best represented them. At the end of this final boot camp round, 32 acts would go through to judges' houses. This final performance was done in front of a crowd of 3,000 people. After each of the performances, the judges gave no feedback.
The first boot camp episode aired on October 5, 2011, and covered the first two days of boot camp.[23] The second bootcamp episode aired on October 6 and covered the rest of day two and the remainder of bootcamp. By the end of bootcamp, 162 acts were cut to 32, 8 acts in each category. The judges later found out which category they would mentor and their acts joined them at their house.
Enrique Iglesias helped Scherzinger select her contestants in Malibu, California and Pharrell Williams acted as a guest judge helping Abdul to pick her contestants in Santa Barbara, California. Rihanna helped Reid choose his contestants in The Hamptons, New York. Mariah Carey was contracted to aid Cowell in France, but was unable to attend due to Hurricane Irene grounding her flight to Paris, so Cowell was instead assisted by three vocal coaches.[24]
In the United States, footage from judges' houses was originally scheduled to air on October 12, 13 and 18. However, due to weather delaying the start of the 2011 American League Championship Series, the footage from judges' houses 1 was moved to October 13, with footage from judges' houses 2 seen instead on October 16. The footage from judges' houses 3 aired on October 18 as scheduled and featured footage of the judges revealing their four finalists (or five in the case of Cowell) in each category to take through to the live shows. In Canada, the judges' houses 1 episode was broadcast as originally scheduled on October 12.[25] No episode was shown in Canada on October 13, with CTV and CTV Two opting to follow Fox's scheduling changes to take advantage of simultaneous substitution rules.
| Judge | Category | Location | Assistant(s) | Acts Eliminated | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abdul | Groups | Santa Barbara, California | Pharrell Williams | 2Squar'd 4Shore The Anser Illusion Confusion[26] | |
| Cowell | Girls | France | Three vocal coaches | Melanie Amaro Caitlin Koch Jazzlyn Little Tora Woloshin | |
| Reid | Boys | The Hamptons, New York | Rihanna | Skyelor Anderson Tim Cifers Brennin Hunt Nick Voss | |
| Scherzinger | Over 30s | Malibu, California | Enrique Iglesias | Tiger Budbill Christa Collins Elaine Gibbs James Kenney |
Melanie Amaro was initially eliminated from the Girls' category, but was invited back to the competition after Cowell decided he had made a mistake in not including her, bringing the total number of contestants to 17.[27]
The top seventeen acts were confirmed as follows;
Key:
– Winner
– Runner-Up
Wildcard (Live Shows)
| Act | Age(s) | Hometown | Category (mentor) | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Melanie Amaro | 18 | Fort Lauderdale, Florida | Girls (Cowell) | Winner | |
| Josh Krajcik | 30 | Wooster, Ohio | Over 30s (Scherzinger) | Runner-Up | |
| Chris Rene | 29 | Santa Cruz, California | Boys (Reid) | 3rd Place | |
| Marcus Canty | 20 | Bowie, Maryland | Boys (Reid) | 4th Place | |
| 13 | Mead, Colorado | Girls (Cowell) | 5th Place | ||
| Drew | 14 | Chino Valley, Arizona | 6th Place | ||
| Astro | 15 | Brooklyn, New York | Boys (Reid) | 7th Place | |
| LeRoy Bell | 60 | Tacoma, Washington | Over 30s (Scherzinger) | 8th Place | |
| Lakoda Rayne | 17-23 | Various | Groups (Abdul) | 9th Place | |
| Stacy Francis | 42 | Los Angeles, California | Over 30s (Scherzinger) | 10th Place | |
| The Stereo Hogzz | 24-25 | Houston, Texas | Groups (Abdul) | 11th Place | |
| InTENsity | 12-17 | Various | 12th Place | ||
| Simone Battle | 22 | Los Angeles, California | Girls (Cowell) | 13th Place | |
| Tiah Tolliver | 20 | Chula Vista, California | 14th Place | ||
| Dexter Haygood | 49 | Memphis, Tennessee | Over 30s (Scherzinger) | 15th Place | |
| The Brewer Boys | 15 & 18 | Temecula, California | Groups (Abdul) | 16th Place | |
| Phillip Lomax | 22 | Seattle, Washington | Boys (Reid) | 17th Place |
The first two-and-a-half hour live show aired on a special Tuesday time slot on October 25; which followed the same format as the 2011 series of the UK show with each of the judges narrowing their number of acts down to three, without a public vote. The public vote started with the following performance and results shows starting November 2, which aired on Wednesdays and Thursdays respectively (except for the live shows on November 22 and 23, that aired on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively during Thanksgiving). The two-part finale was held on December 21 and 22.[28] [29]
There was no guest performance during the first week. The second live result show featured a performance from Outasight. Jessie J and Willow Smith performed on the third live results show, while the fourth live results show featured a performance from Rihanna. Kelly Clarkson and Bruno Mars performed on the fifth live result show while Tinie Tempah performed on the sixth live result show. Mary J. Blige and Lenny Kravitz performed on the seventh live results show while Florence + The Machine and The X Factor USA judge Nicole Scherzinger performed on the semi-final results show. The final featured performances from Justin Bieber, Leona Lewis, 50 Cent, Stevie Wonder, Pitbull and Ne-Yo.
Act in team Simon Cowell
Act in team Nicole Scherzinger
Act in team L.A. Reid
| – | Act was eliminated by their mentor (no public vote or final showdown) | |
| – | Act was in the bottom two/three and had to sing again in the final showdown | |
| – | Act was in the bottom three but received the fewest votes and was immediately eliminated | |
| – | Act received the fewest public votes and was immediately eliminated (no final showdown) | |
| – | Act received the most public votes |
| Act | Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Quarter-Final | Semi-Final | Final | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Vote | Second Vote | ||||||||||
| Melanie Amaro | Saved | 4th | 2nd | 2nd | 2nd | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | Winner | |
| Josh Krajcik | 3rd | 6th | 3rd | 1st | 4th | 3rd | 3rd | 2nd | |||
| Chris Rene | 7th | 7th | 4th | 5th | 3rd | 2nd | 2nd | 3rd | |||
| Marcus Canty | 5th | 9th | 8th | 7th | 6th | 4th | 4th | Eliminated (semi-final) | |||
| Rachel Crow | 2nd | 1st | 1st | 3rd | 2nd | 5th | Eliminated (quarter-final) | ||||
| Drew | 1st | 3rd | 5th | 4th | 5th | Eliminated (week 6) | |||||
| Astro | 10th | 4th | 10th | 6th | 7th | ||||||
| LeRoy Bell | 8th | 5th | 6th | 8th | Eliminated (week 5) | ||||||
| Lakoda Rayne | 9th | 10th | 7th | 9th | |||||||
| Stacy Francis | 6th | 8th | 9th | Eliminated (week 4) | |||||||
| 12th | 11th | Eliminated (week 3) | |||||||||
| InTENsity | 11th | Eliminated (week 2) | |||||||||
| Simone Battle | Eliminated | Eliminated (week 1) | |||||||||
| Tiah Tolliver | |||||||||||
| Dexter Haygood | |||||||||||
| The Brewer Boys | |||||||||||
| Phillip Lomax | |||||||||||
| Final Showdown | None | InTENsity, The Stereo Hogzz | Lakoda Rayne, The Stereo Hogzz | Astro, Francis | Bell, Canty | Canty, Drew | Canty, Crow | No final showdown or judges' votes; results were based on public votes alone | |||
| Judges voted to | Send Through | Eliminate | |||||||||
| Reid's vote (Boys) | Astro, Canty, Rene | InTENsity | The Stereo Hogzz | Francis | Bell | Drew | Crow | ||||
| Scherzinger's vote (Over 30s) | Francis, Krajcik, Bell | InTENsity | The Stereo Hogzz | Astro | Canty | Drew | Crow | ||||
| Abdul's vote (Groups) | The Stereo Hogzz, Lakoda Rayne, InTENsity | InTENsity | Lakoda Rayne | Francis | Canty | Drew | Canty | ||||
| Cowell's vote (Girls) | Drew, Crow, Amaro | The Stereo Hogzz | The Stereo Hogzz | Francis | Bell | Canty | Canty | ||||
| Eliminated | Phillip Lomax by Reid | InTENsity 3 of 4 votes Majority | The Stereo Hogzz 3 of 4 votes Majority | Stacy Francis 3 of 4 votes Majority | Lakoda Rayne Public vote to save | Astro Public vote to save | Rachel Crow 2 of 4 votes Deadlock | Marcus Canty Public vote to save | Chris Rene Public vote to win | Josh Krajcik Public vote to win | |
| The Brewer Boys by Abdul | |||||||||||
| Dexter Haygood by Scherzinger | |||||||||||
| LeRoy Bell 2 of 4 votes Deadlock | Drew 3 of 4 votes Majority | ||||||||||
| Simone Battle by Cowell | |||||||||||
| Tiah Tolliver by Cowell | |||||||||||
| Reference(s) | [30] | [31] | [32] | [33] | [34] | [35] | [36] | [37] | |||
| Category (mentor) | Order | Song[39] | Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Astro | Boys (Reid) | 1 | "Jump" | Safe | |
| Chris Rene | 2 | "Love Don't Live Here Anymore" | |||
| Phillip Lomax | Boys (Reid) | 3 | "I'm a Believer" | Eliminated | |
| Marcus Canty | Boys (Reid) | 4 | "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" | Safe | |
| The Stereo Hogzz | Groups (Abdul) | 5 | "Try a Little Tenderness" | ||
| The Brewer Boys | Groups (Abdul) | 6 | "Rich Girl"/"Faith" | Eliminated | |
| InTENsity | Groups (Abdul) | 7 | "The Clapping Song"/"Footloose" | Safe | |
| Lakoda Rayne | 8 | "Come On Eileen" | |||
| Dexter Haygood | Over 30s (Scherzinger) | 9 | "Womanizer"/"I Kissed a Girl" | Eliminated | |
| LeRoy Bell | Over 30s (Scherzinger) | 10 | "Nobody Knows" | Safe | |
| Stacy Francis | 11 | "One More Try" | |||
| Josh Krajcik | 12 | "Forever Young" | |||
| Simone Battle | Girls (Cowell) | 13 | "Just Be Good to Me" | Eliminated | |
| Rachel Crow | Girls (Cowell) | 14 | "Where Did Our Love Go"/"Baby" | Safe | |
| Drew | 15 | "Flashdance... What a Feeling" | |||
| Tiah Tolliver | Girls (Cowell) | 16 | "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" | Eliminated | |
| Melanie Amaro | Girls (Cowell) | 17 | "I Have Nothing" | Safe |
| Category (mentor) | Order | Song[41] | American Artist | Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Stereo Hogzz | Groups (Abdul) | 1 | "Rhythm Nation" | Janet Jackson | Bottom Two | |
| Chris Rene | Boys (Reid) | 2 | "Superstar" | Delaney and Bonnie | Safe | |
| LeRoy Bell | Over 30s (Scherzinger) | 3 | "I'm Already There" | Lonestar | ||
| Rachel Crow | Girls (Cowell) | 4 | "Walking on Sunshine" | Katrina and the Waves | ||
| Lakoda Rayne | Groups (Abdul) | 5 | "Landslide" | Fleetwood Mac | ||
| Josh Krajcik | Over 30s (Scherzinger) | 6 | "Jar of Hearts" | Christina Perri | ||
| Melanie Amaro | Girls (Cowell) | 7 | "Desperado" | The Eagles | ||
| Astro | Boys (Reid) | 8 | "Hip Hop Hooray"/"Get Ur Freak On" | Missy Elliott | ||
| InTENsity | Groups (Abdul) | 9 | "Kids in America"/"Party Rock Anthem" | LMFAO | Bottom Two | |
| Drew | Girls (Cowell) | 10 | "Just a Dream" | Nelly | Safe (Highest Votes) | |
| Marcus Canty | Boys (Reid) | 11 | "Nothin' on You"/"Every Little Step" | B.O.B / Bobby Brown | Safe | |
| Stacy Francis | Over 30s (Scherzinger) | 12 | "Up to the Mountain" | Patty Griffin | ||
| Final showdown details | ||||||
| The Stereo Hogzz | Groups (Abdul) | 1 | "Emotion" | Safe | ||
| InTENsity | Groups (Abdul) | 2 | "My Life Would Suck Without You" | Eliminated | ||
However, voting statistics revealed that InTENsity received more votes than The Stereo Hogzz which meant that if Reid sent the result to deadlock, InTENsity would have been saved and The Stereo Hogzz would have been eliminated.
| Category (mentor) | Order | Song[43] | Movie | Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stacy Francis | Over 30s (Scherzinger) | 1 | "Queen of the Night" | The Bodyguard | Safe | |
| Marcus Canty | Boys (Reid) | 2 | "I'm Going Down" | Car Wash | ||
| Drew | Girls (Cowell) | 3 | "Fix You" | You, Me and Dupree | ||
| LeRoy Bell | Over 30s (Scherzinger) | 4 | "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" | Runaway Bride | ||
| Lakoda Rayne | Groups (Abdul) | 5 | "Somebody Like You" | How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days | Bottom Two | |
| Astro | Boys (Reid) | 6 | "Lose Yourself" | 8 Mile | Safe | |
| Melanie Amaro | Girls (Cowell) | 7 | "Man in the Mirror" | Michael Jackson's This Is It | ||
| The Stereo Hogzz | Groups (Abdul) | 8 | "Ain't No Other Man" | Get Smart | Bottom Two | |
| Josh Krajcik | Over 30s (Scherzinger) | 9 | "With a Little Help from My Friends" | Across the Universe | Safe | |
| Chris Rene | Boys (Reid) | 10 | "Gangsta's Paradise" | Dangerous Minds | ||
| Rachel Crow | Girls (Cowell) | 11 | "I'd Rather Go Blind" | Cadillac Records | Safe (Highest Votes) | |
| Final showdown details | ||||||
| Lakoda Rayne | Groups (Abdul) | 1 | "No Air" | Safe | ||
| The Stereo Hogzz | Groups (Abdul) | 2 | "You Are Not Alone" | Eliminated | ||
| Category (mentor) | Order | Song | Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LeRoy Bell | Over 30s (Scherzinger) | 1 | "We've Got Tonight" | Safe | |
| Rachel Crow | Girls (Cowell) | 2 | "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" | Safe (Highest Votes) | |
| Chris Rene | Boys (Reid) | 3 | "No Woman, No Cry"/"Everything's Gonna Be Alright" | Safe | |
| Stacy Francis | Over 30s (Scherzinger) | 4 | "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" | Bottom Two | |
| Melanie Amaro | Girls (Cowell) | 5 | "Everybody Hurts" | Safe | |
| Josh Krajcik | Over 30s (Scherzinger) | 6 | "The Pretender" | ||
| Astro | Boys (Reid) | 7 | "I'll Be Missing You" | Bottom Two | |
| Lakoda Rayne | Groups (Abdul) | 8 | "Your Love"/"Go Your Own Way" | Safe | |
| Drew | Girls (Cowell) | 9 | "With or Without You" | ||
| Marcus Canty | Boys (Reid) | 10 | "Piece of My Heart" | ||
| Final showdown details | |||||
| Stacy Francis | Over 30s (Scherzinger) | 1 | "Amazing Grace" | Eliminated | |
| Astro | Boys (Reid) | 2 | "Never Can Say Goodbye" | Safe | |
However, voting statistics revealed that Francis received more votes than Astro which meant that if Cowell sent the result to deadlock, Francis would have been saved and Astro would have been eliminated.
The Pepsi Choice Group performance was chosen by the audience and included circus outfits along with a rotating stage and laser special effects in a hip-hop dance style.
Two acts were eliminated during the results show. The three acts with the fewest public votes were announced, and the act with the fewest votes was automatically eliminated. The remaining two acts then performed in the final showdown and faced the judges' votes.[47]
| Category (mentor) | Order | Song | Dedication | Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rachel Crow | Girls (Cowell) | 1 | "I Believe" | Her parents | Safe | |
| Marcus Canty | Boys (Reid) | 2 | "A Song for Mama" | His mother | Bottom Three | |
| Melanie Amaro | Girls (Cowell) | 3 | "The World's Greatest" | God | Safe | |
| Chris Rene | Boys (Reid) | 4 | "Let It Be" / "Young Homie" | His Drug rehabilitation counsellor Tim | ||
| Lakoda Rayne | Groups (Abdul) | 5 | "You Belong with Me" | Their families | Eliminated | |
| LeRoy Bell | Over 30s (Scherzinger) | 6 | "Angel" | His late mother | Bottom Three | |
| Astro | Boys (Reid) | 7 | "Show Me What You Got" | His fans | Safe | |
| Drew | Girls (Cowell) | 8 | "Skyscraper" | Her best friend, Shelby | ||
| Josh Krajcik | Over 30s (Scherzinger) | 9 | "Wild Horses" | His daughter, Rowan | Safe (Highest Votes) | |
| Final showdown details | ||||||
| Marcus Canty | Boys (Reid) | 1 | "You Lost Me" | Safe | ||
| LeRoy Bell | Over 30s (Scherzinger) | 2 | "Don't Let Me Down" | Eliminated | ||
With the acts in the sing-off receiving two votes each, the result went to deadlock and reverted to the earlier public vote. Bell was eliminated as the act with the fewest public votes.[34]
Michael Jackson's mother, Katherine; his three children Prince, Paris, and Blanket; and his brothers Marlon, Tito, and Jackie were present in the audience during the performance show.[49]
As in the previous week, two acts were eliminated during the results show. The three acts with the fewest public votes were announced, and the act with the fewest votes was automatically eliminated. The remaining two acts then performed in the final showdown and faced the judges' votes.[50]
| Category (mentor) | Order | Song | Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Josh Krajcik | Over 30s (Scherzinger) | 1 | "Dirty Diana" | Safe | |
| Astro | Boys (Reid) | 2 | "Black or White" | Eliminated | |
| Drew | Girls (Cowell) | 3 | "Billie Jean" | Bottom Three | |
| Rachel Crow | Girls (Cowell) | 4 | "Can You Feel It" | Safe | |
| Marcus Canty | Boys (Reid) | 5 | "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" | Bottom Three | |
| Chris Rene | Boys (Reid) | 6 | "I'll Be There" | Safe | |
| Melanie Amaro | Girls (Cowell) | 7 | "Earth Song" | Safe (Highest Votes) | |
| Final showdown details | |||||
| Drew | Girls (Cowell) | 1 | "Listen to Your Heart" | Eliminated | |
| Marcus Canty | Boys (Reid) | 2 | "Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye)" | Safe | |
However, voting statistics revealed that Drew received more votes than Canty which meant that if Abdul sent the result to deadlock, Drew would have advanced to the quarter-final and Canty would have been eliminated.
Nervo served as the house DJs for the first song of the night. Originally, the second song was going to be chosen by the public as part of the Pepsi Challenge,[51] [52] however, due to technical problems that happened with the Pepsi Challenge the night before the performance show, that feature was delayed to the semi-final and executive producers told that the contestants had only 24 hours to choose another song.
| Category (mentor) | Order | First song | Order | Second song | Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Melanie Amaro | Girls (Cowell) | 1 | "Someone Like You" | 6 | "When You Believe" | Safe (Highest Votes) | |
| Marcus Canty | Boys (Reid) | 2 | "Ain't Nobody" | 7 | "A Song for You" | Bottom Two | |
| Rachel Crow | Girls (Cowell) | 3 | "Nothin' on You" | 8 | "Music and Me" | ||
| Josh Krajcik | Over 30s (Scherzinger) | 4 | "We Found Love" | 9 | "Something" | Safe | |
| Chris Rene | Boys (Reid) | 5 | "Live Your Life" | 10 | "Where Do We Go from Here" | ||
| Final showdown details | |||||||
| Marcus Canty | Boys (Reid) | 1 | "I'm Going Down" | Safe | |||
| Rachel Crow | Girls (Cowell) | 2 | "I'd Rather Go Blind" | Eliminated | |||
With the acts in the sing-off receiving two votes each, the result went to deadlock and reverted to the earlier public vote. Crow was eliminated as the act with the fewest public votes.[36]
Each act performed two songs.
| Category (mentor) | Song Choices[54] | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drew | Girls (Cowell) | "Secrets" | N/A (Already Eliminated) |
| "Wherever You Will Go" | |||
| "Breakeven" | |||
| Melanie Amaro | Girls (Cowell) | "Hero" | Chosen |
| "I Didn't Know My Own Strength" | Not Chosen | ||
| "The Voice Within" | |||
| Rachel Crow | Girls (Cowell) | "Forget You" | N/A (Already Eliminated) |
| "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" | |||
| "Valerie" | |||
| Astro | Boys (Reid) | "Gold Digger" | |
| "Mama Said Knock You Out" / "Stop Looking at My Mom" | |||
| "Dirt off Your Shoulder" | |||
| Chris Rene | Boys (Reid) | "My Love Is Your Love" | Not Chosen |
| "Angel" | |||
| "Fly" | Chosen | ||
| Marcus Canty | "We Belong Together" | Not Chosen | |
| "Saving All My Love for You" | |||
| "I'll Make Love to You" | Chosen | ||
| Josh Krajcik | Over 30s (Scherzinger) | "Chasing Pavements" | Not Chosen |
| "Everytime You Go Away" | |||
| "Come Together" | Chosen | ||
| Category (mentor) | Order | First song[55] | Order | Second song | Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marcus Canty | Boys (Reid) | 1 | "I'll Make Love to You" | 5 | "Careless Whisper" | Eliminated | |
| Chris Rene | Boys (Reid) | 2 | "Fly" | 6 | "No One" | Safe | |
| Melanie Amaro | Girls (Cowell) | 3 | "Hero" | 7 | "Feeling Good" | Safe (Highest Votes) | |
| Josh Krajcik | Over 30s (Scherzinger) | 4 | "Come Together" | 8 | "Hallelujah" | Safe |
The final lasted for 1.5 hours on Wednesday, December 21 and 2 hours on Thursday, December 22.
| Category (mentor) | Order | First song (duet) | Order | Second song | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Josh Krajcik | Over 30s (Scherzinger) | 1 | "Uninvited" (with Alanis Morissette) | 4 | "At Last" | |
| Chris Rene | Boys (Reid) | 2 | "Complicated" (with Avril Lavigne) | 5 | "Young Homie" | |
| Melanie Amaro | Girls (Cowell) | 3 | "I Believe I Can Fly" (with R. Kelly) | 6 | "Listen" |
| Category (mentor) | Order | Song | scope-"col" | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Melanie Amaro | Girls (Cowell) | 1 | "All I Want for Christmas Is You" | Winner | |
| Chris Rene | Boys (Reid) | 2 | "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" | Eliminated | |
| Josh Krajcik | Over 30s (Scherzinger) | 3 | "Please Come Home for Christmas" | Runner-Up |
| Ep. # | Episode | Airdate | Rating | Share | Rating/share (18–49) | Viewers (millions) | Rank (timeslot) | Rank (night) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Auditions 1 | September 21 | 7.2[58] | 12 | 4.4/12 | 12.49 |
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| 2 | Auditions 2 | September 22 | 7.0[59] | 11 | 4.3/11 | 12.51[60] |
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| 3 | Auditions 3 | September 28 | 6.9[61] | 11 | 4.1/11 | 11.86 |
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| 4 | Auditions 4 | September 29 | 6.9[62] | 11 | 3.9/11 | 12.17 |
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| 5 | Bootcamp 1 | October 5 | 6.8[63] | 11 | 4.1/11 | 11.93[64] |
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| 6 | Bootcamp 2 | October 6 | 7.0[65] | 11 | 4.0/11 | 11.67[66] |
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| 7 | Judges' houses 1 | October 13 | 6.4 | 10 | 3.7/10 | 11.24[67] |
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| 8 | Judges' houses 2 | October 16 | 10 | 3.4/10 | 8.84[68] |
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| 9 | Judges' houses 3 | October 18 | 10 | 3.9/10 | 10.39[69] |
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| 10 | Live show 1/Finalists revealed | October 25 | 7.0 | 12 | 4.4/12 | 12.09[70] |
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| 11 | Live show 2 | November 2 | 6.8 | 11 | 4.0/11 | 11.76[71] |
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| 12 | Live results 2 | November 3 | 6.4 | 11 | 3.7/11 | 11.64[72] |
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| 13 | Live show 3 | November 9 | 10 | 3.8/10 | 10.25[73] |
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| 14 | Live results 3 | November 10 | 9 | 3.3/9 | 10.13[74] |
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| 15 | Live show 4 | November 16 | 10 | 3.9/10 | 11.31[75] |
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| 16 | Live results 4 | November 17 | 9 | 3.1/9 | 9.71[76] |
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| 17 | Live show 5 | November 22 | 5.8[77] | 9 | 3.2/9 | 9.43[78] |
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| 18 | Live results 5 | November 23 | 8 | 2.5/8 | 8.51[79] |
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| 19 | Live show 6 | November 30 | 10 | 3.7/10 | 11.05[80] |
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| 20 | Live results 6 | December 1 | 6.0[81] | 9 | 3.1/9 | 10.34[82] |
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| 21 | Live show 7 | December 7 | 9 | 3.4/9 | 10.70[83] |
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| 22 | Live results 7 | December 8 | 8 | 2.9/8 | 9.84[84] |
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| 23 | Live show 8 | December 14 | 9 | 3.4/9 | 10.69[85] |
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| 24 | Live results 8 | December 15 | 9 | 2.9/9 | 9.87[86] |
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| 25 | Live final | December 21 | 6.9[87] | 10 | 3.3/10 | 11.23[88] |
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| 26 | Live final results | December 22 | 7.5[89] | 11 | 3.8/11 | 12.59[90] |
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Scherzinger had been proven to be an unpopular judge, with her performance during her one-season stint being panned by critics, as well as early controversy of her replacing Cheryl Cole on the judging panel.[91] [92]
In the quarter-final result show, Scherzinger who had the deciding vote, was clearly upset with the bottom two acts (Rachel Crow and Marcus Canty) because she admired both acts and was undecided about how she would vote. Her vote either meant that if she would eliminate Canty, Canty would be eliminated or if she voted against Crow, the result would go to deadlock and the public vote would determine the result. While Scherzinger was deliberating, she wanted the public vote to decide the outcome that week and sent the result to deadlock. Following this, Crow was voted out which led to Crow breaking down on stage and Scherzinger was booed off the stage and her future on the show was put in jeopardy.[93] She subsequently received death threats from some viewers.[94] Scherzinger was let go at the end of the season and later relocated to the United Kingdom to be a judge on the 2012 series of the UK show to replace Kelly Rowland. On the UK show, Scherzinger became a successful and popular judge.