| Image Upright: | 1.13 | ||||||||||
| Module1: |
| ||||||||||
| Network: | Antena 1 |
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.[1]
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.
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 Galați[2] and concluded on June 7, 2013 in Bucharest.[3]
| City | Auditions date | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| May 24, 2014 | Craiova University | |
| May 26, 2014 | ||
| May 28, 2014 | Hotel Parc | |
| May 30, 2014 | Iulius Mall | |
| Iași | June 2, 2014 | Palas Mall |
| Galați | June 5, 2014 | Hotel Faleza By Vega |
| Bucharest | June 7, 2014 | Children's Palace |
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. [4] [5]
Complete Teams
| Category (mentor) | Top 38 acts | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under 20s (Brenciu) | |||||||||||||
| text-align:center; style="width:22%;" style="background:lightgreen;" | Adina Răducanu | text-align:center; style="width:22%;" style="background:lightgreen" | Cristian Goaie | text-align:center; style="width:22%;" style="background:lightgreen" | Monica Sannino | text-align:center; style="width:22%;" style="background:lightblue" | Denis Borovină | text-align:center; style="width:22%;" style="background:lightblue" | Diana Căldăraru | text-align:center; style="width:22%;" style="background:lightblue" | Nicholas Sealey | text-align:center; style="width:22%;" style="background:pink" | Sabrina Stroe |
| text-align:center; style="width:22%;" style="background:pink" | Sorina Rostaș | text-align:center; style="width:22%;" style="background:pink" | Rafaelo Varga | text-align:center; style="width:22%;" style="background:pink" | Melisa Tolea | text-align:center; style="width:22%;" style="background:pink" | Sergiu Vonvea | text-align:center; style="width:22%;" style="background:pink" | Octavian Broșteanu | text-align:center; style="width:22%;" style="background:orange" | Miruna Buză | text-align:center; style="width:22%;" style="background:pink" | Teodora Ciocănea |
| Groups (Matache) | |||||||||||||
| text-align:center; style="width:22%;" style="background:lightgreen;" | Contrast | text-align:center; style="width:22%;" style="background:lightgreen" | R-Twins | text-align:center; style="width:22%;" style="background:lightgreen" | Trupa 69 | Adelina Damian & Victor Sas | Afina & Daniel | ||||||
| Black & White | text-align:center; style="width:22%;" style="background:pink" | Studio 7 | text-align:center; style="width:22%;" style="background:pink" | Divas | Diana & Andrei Liță | text-align:center; style="width:22%;" style="background:pink" | Envi | ||||||
| Over 20s (Bănică) | |||||||||||||
| text-align:center; style="width:22%;" style="background:lightgreen;" | Alexandra Crișan | text-align:center; style="width:22%;" style="background:lightgreen" | Alex Florea | text-align:center; style="width:22%;" style="background:lightgreen" | Nicoleta Nucă | text-align:center; style="width:22%;" style="background:orange" | Sergiu Braga | text-align:center; style="width:22%;" style="background:lightblue" | Pavel Denisiuc | text-align:center; style="width:22%;" style="background:lightblue" | Iuliana Dobre | text-align:center; style="width:22%;" style="background:orange" | Alessio Paddeu |
| text-align:center; style="width:22%;" style="background:pink" | Helena Abegaz | text-align:center; style="width:22%;" style="background:pink" | Maria Cojocaru | text-align:center; style="width:22%;" style="background:pink" | Ovidiu Anton | text-align:center; style="width:22%;" style="background:pink" | Dorina Vasilashkco | text-align:center; style="width:22%;" style="background:pink" | Stela Boțan | text-align:center; style="width:22%;" style="background:pink" | Florin Șchiopu | text-align:center; style="width:22%;" style="background:pink" | Mihaela Belous |
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".[6]
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.[7]
| + Contestants performances on the six-chair challenge | Episode | Category (mentor) | Act | Order | Song | Mentor's decision | Switched with |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Episode 10 | Under 20s (Brenciu) | Cristian Goaie | 1 | "Feeling Good" | Put in chair 1 | — | |
| Diana Căldăraru | 2 | "Yesterday" | Put in chair 2 | — | |||
| Teodora Ciocănea | 3 | "Believe" | Eliminated | — | |||
| Sergiu Vonvea | 4 | "I Can't Stop Loving You" | Put in chair 3 | — | |||
| scope=row | Sorina Rostaş | 5 | "You Raise Me Up" | Put in chair 4 | — | ||
| scope=row | Nicholas Sealey | 6 | "Unchained Melody" | Put in chair 5 | — | ||
| scope=row | Miruna Buză | 7 | "Skinny Love" | Eliminated | — | ||
| scope=row | Octavian Broşteanu | 8 | "Cât De Frumoasă Ești" | Eliminated | — | ||
| scope=row | Monica Sannino | 9 | "In Assenza Di Te" | Put in chair 6 | — | ||
| scope=row | Sabrina Stroe | 10 | "Ain't No Sunshine" | Put in chair 3 | Sergiu Vonvea | ||
| Episode 11 | scope=row | Melisa Tolea | 11 | "L-O-V-E" | Eliminated | — | |
| scope=row | Rafaelo Varga | 12 | "O Fată Ca Ea" | Eliminated | — | ||
| scope=row | Adina Răducan | 13 | "I Can't Make You Love Me" | Put in chair 4 | Sorina Rostaş | ||
| scope=row | Denis Borovină | 14 | "Set Fire to the Rain" | Put in chair 3 | Sabrina Stroe | ||
| Groups (Matache) | scope=row | Adelina Damian & Victor Sas | 15 | "Apologize" | Put in chair 1 | — | |
| scope=row | Studio 7 | 16 | "Fell in Love with an Alien" | Put in chair 2 | — | ||
| scope=row | Envi | 17 | "I Will Always Love You" | Eliminated | — | ||
| scope=row | Black & White | 18 | "Just the Way You Are"/"Marry You" | Put in chair 3 | — | ||
| scope=row | Trupa 69 | 19 | "Taxi" | Put in chair 4 | — | ||
| scope=row | Divas | 20 | "Survivor" | Put in chair 5 | — | ||
| scope=row | Diana & Andrei Liță | 21 | "Let Her Go" | Eliminated | — | ||
| scope=row | Afina & Daniel | 22 | "New York, New York" | Put in chair 6 | — | ||
| scope=row | Contrast | 23 | "Stand by Me" | Put in chair 5 | Divas | ||
| scope=row | R-Twins | 24 | "With You" | Put in chair 2 | Studio 7 | ||
| Over 20s (Bănică) | scope=row | Mihaela Belous | 25 | "Stop!" | Eliminated | — | |
| scope=row | Iuliana Dobre | 26 | "I'll Stand By You" | Put in chair 3 | — | ||
| scope=row | Dorina Vasilashkco | 27 | "Amado Mio" | Put in chair 1 | — | ||
| scope=row | Ovidiu Anton | 28 | "All by Myself" | Put in chair 2 | — | ||
| scope=row | Florin Şchiopu | 29 | "Boyfriend" | Eliminated | — | ||
| scope=row | Alexandra Crișan | 30 | "Angel" | Put in chair 4 | — | ||
| scope=row | Pavel Denesiuc | 31 | "My Heart Is Refusing Me" | Put in chair 5 | — | ||
| scope=row | Stela Boțan | 32 | "Someone like You" | Eliminated | — | ||
| scope=row | Alexandru Florea | 33 | "Here Without You" | Put in chair 6 | — | ||
| scope=row | Nicoleta Nucă | 34 | "Say Something" | Put in chair 1 | Dorina Vasilashkco | ||
| Episode 12 | scope=row | Maria Cojocaru | 35 | "One" | Eliminated | — | |
| scope=row | Alessio Paddeu | 36 | "When You Say Nothing at All" | Put in chair 2 | Ovidiu Anton | ||
| scope=row | Helena Abegaz | 37 | "Run" | Eliminated | — | ||
| scope=row | Sergiu Braga | 38 | "O Sole Mio" | Put in chair 2 | Alessio Paddeu |
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.
- 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 1 | Alexandra Crișan | 1 | "One and Only" | Finalist | |
| Iuliana Dobre | 2 | "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" | Eliminated | ||||
| Duel 4 | Alexandru Florea | 7 | "You Give Love a Bad Name" | Finalist | |||
| Pavel Denesiuc | 8 | "All of Me" | Eliminated | ||||
| Duel 6 | Sergiu Braga | 11 | "Con Te Partirò" | Eliminated | |||
| Nicoleta Nucă | 12 | "Hallelujah" | Finalist | ||||
| Groups (Matache) | Duel 2 | Black & White | 3 | "We Are Young" | Eliminated | ||
| R-Twins | 4 | "The Lazy Song" | Finalist | ||||
| Duel 5 | Afina & Daniel | 9 | "Halo" | Eliminated | |||
| Trupa 69 | 10 | "Dark Horse" | Finalist | ||||
| Duel 8 | Contrast | 15 | "My Kind of Love" | Finalist | |||
| Adelina Damian & Victor Sas | 16 | "This Love" | Eliminated | ||||
| Under 20s (Brenciu) | Duel 3 | Nicholas Sealey | 5 | "Blurred Lines" | Eliminated | ||
| Cristian Goaie | 6 | "Love Me Again" | Finalist | ||||
| Duel 7 | Monica Sannino | 13 | "Hit the Road Jack" | Finalist | |||
| Adina Răducan | 14 | "Trurli" | Finalist | ||||
| Duel 9 | Diana Căldăraru | 17 | "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" | Eliminated | |||
| Denis Borovină | 18 | "La La La" | Eliminated |
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.
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.
The final 12 finalists were confirmed as follows:[6]
| Category (mentor) | Acts | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under 20s (Brenciu) | Sergiu Braga | Cristian Goaie | Adina Răducan | Monica Sannino | |
| Over 20s (Bănică) | Miruna Buză | bgcolor=pink | Alexandra Crișan | Alexandru Florea | Nicoleta Nucă |
| Groups (Matache) | Contrast | Alessio Paddeu | R-Twins | Trupa 69 | |
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.
| – | Winner | |||
| - | – | Contestant was eliminated by their mentor (no public vote or final showdown)--> | ||
| – | Contestant was in the bottom two 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--> |
| 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 | Safe | Winner | ||
| Alexandra Crișan | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Runner-Up | ||
| Trupa 69 | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | 3rd | Eliminated (Week 4) | ||
| Alessio Paddeu | Returned Week 1 | Safe | Bottom two | Safe | Safe | 4th | ||
| Nicoleta Nucă | Safe | Bottom two | Safe | 5th | Eliminated (Week 3) | |||
| Sergiu Braga | Returned 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 Buză | Returned 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 | ||||||
| Eliminated | Monica Sannino by Brenciu | Cristian Goaie by Brenciu | Sergiu Braga Public vote | Nicoleta Nucă Public vote | Alessio Paddeu Public vote | Alexandra Crișan Public vote to win | ||
| R-Twins by Matache | Contrast by Matache | |||||||
| Trupa 69 Public vote | Adina Răducan Public vote to win | |||||||
| Miruna Buză by Bănică | Alexandru Florea by Bănică | |||||||
| Reference(s) | [8] [9] [10] [11] | [12] [13] [14] | [15] [16] [17] | [18] | [19] | [20] | [21] [22] | |
| Order | Song | Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monica Sannino | 1 | "Acasă" | Bottom two | |
| Cristian Goaie | 2 | "Mă-ntorc La Tine Mare Albastră" | Bottom two | |
| Adina Răducan | 3 | "Iartă" | Safe | |
| Sergiu Braga | 4 | "Eminescu" | Safe | |
| R-Twins | 5 | "Dana" | Bottom two | |
| Contrast | 6 | "Îți Arăt Că Pot" | Bottom two | |
| Trupa 69 | 7 | "Vreau Sărutarea Ta" | Safe | |
| Alessio Paddeu | 8 | "Caruso" | Safe | |
| Alexandra Crișan | 9 | "Ochii Tăi" | Safe | |
| Alexandru Florea | 10 | "Numai Una" | Bottom two | |
| Nicoleta Nucă | 11 | "România" | Safe | |
| Miruna Buză | 12 | "Cântă Cucu" | Bottom two | |
| Final showdown details | ||||
| Under 20s | ||||
| Cristian Goaie | 1 | "Sărutări Criminale" | Safe | |
| Monica Sannino | 2 | "Beautiful" | Eliminated | |
| Groups | ||||
| R-Twins | 1 | "Rude" | Eliminated | |
| Contrast | 2 | "The Monster" | Safe | |
| Over 20s | ||||
| Alexandru Florea | 1 | "Bed of Roses" | Safe | |
| Miruna Buză | 2 | "Ploaie În Luna Lui Martie" | Eliminated | |
| Order | Song | Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adina Răducan | 1 | "Clown" | Safe | |
| Cristian Goaie | 2 | "Jelem, Jelem" | Bottom two | |
| Sergiu Braga | 3 | "Ploaia" | Bottom two | |
| Contrast | 4 | "Noi Simţim La Fel" | Bottom two | |
| Alessio Paddeu | 5 | "I'm Not the Only One" | Bottom two | |
| Trupa 69 | 6 | "Locul Potrivit" | Safe | |
| Nicoleta Nucă | 7 | "Chandelier" | Bottom two | |
| Alexandru Florea | 8 | "Let Me Entertain You" | Bottom two | |
| Alexandra Crișan | 9 | "Say You Love Me" | Safe | |
| Final showdown details | ||||
| Under 20s | ||||
| Cristian Goaie | 1 | "Billionaire" | Eliminated | |
| Sergiu Braga | 2 | "All by Myself" | Safe | |
| Groups | ||||
| Alessio Paddeu | 1 | "Love of My Life" | Safe | |
| Contrast | 2 | "Wrecking Ball" | Eliminated | |
| Over 20s | ||||
| Alexandru Florea | 1 | "One" | Eliminated | |
| Nicoleta Nucă | 2 | "The Edge of Glory" | Safe | |
First Round
| Order | Song | Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alexandra Crişan | 1 | "Empire State of Mind" (with CRBL) | Safe | |
| Trupa 69 | 2 | "Ipotecat" (with Dragoş Udilă) | Safe | |
| Adina Răducan | 3 | "Colaj De Sâmbătă Seara" (with Daniel Buzdugan) | Safe | |
| Nicoleta Nucă | 4 | "One Sweet Day" (with Florin Ristei) | Safe | |
| Sergiu Braga | 5 | "Zaraza" (with Nelu Ploieșteanu) | Eliminated | |
| Alessio Paddeu | 6 | "Say Something" (with Lora) | Safe |
Second Round
| Order | Song | Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alexandra Crişan | 1 | "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" | Safe | |
| Trupa 69 | 2 | "Price Tag" | Safe | |
| Adina Răducan | 3 | "Bună Seara, Iubite" | Safe | |
| Nicoleta Nucă | 4 | "Something's Got a Hold on Me" | Eliminated | |
| Alessio Paddeu | 5 | "When I Was Your Man" | Safe |
| Order | Song | Order | Song | Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alessio Paddeu | 1 | "Meravigliosa Creatura" (with Delia Matache) | 6 | "Oameni" | 4th Place | |
| Alexandra Crişan | 2 | "Mai Frumoasă" | 5 | "Strânge-mă În Brațe" (with Ștefan Bănică, Jr.) | Safe | |
| Adina Răducan | 3 | "Mi-e Dor De Tine" (with Horia Brenciu) | 8 | "Galbenă Gutuie" | Safe | |
| Trupa 69 | 4 | "Te Pup, Pa Pa!" | 7 | "Prietena Ta" (with Delia Matache) | 3rd Place |
| Order | Song | Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adina Răducan | 1 | "One Moment In Time" | Winner | |
| Alexandra Crişan | 2 | "Someone Like You"/"Too Much Love Will Kill You" | Runner-Up |
| Ep | Title | Date | National | Urban | 18-49 | Source | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average (thousands) | Rating (%) | Average (thousands) | Rating (%) | Average (thousands) | Rating (%) | ||||
| 1 | Auditions 1 | 19 September 2014 | 1 413 | 7.6 | 927 | 9.2 | 480 | 9.6 | [23] |
| 2 | Auditions 2 | 26 September 2014 | 1 490 | 8 | 944 | 9.4 | 490 | 9.7 | |
| 3 | Auditions 3 | 3 October 2014 | 1 398 | 7.6 | 843 | 8.4 | 483 | 9.6 | |
| 4 | Auditions 4 | 10 October 2014 | 1 424 | 7.7 | 930 | 9.2 | 498 | 9.9 | |
| 5 | Auditions 5 | 17 October 2014 | 1 424 | 7.7 | 881 | 8.8 | 476 | 9.4 | |
| 6 | Auditions 6 | 24 October 2014 | 1 392 | 7.5 | 912 | 9.1 | 480 | 9.6 | |
| 7 | Auditions 7 | 31 October 2014 | 1 180 | 6.4 | 697 | 6.9 | 416 | 8.2 | |
| 8 | Auditions 8 | 7 November 2014 | 1 187 | 6.4 | 757 | 7.5 | 407 | 8.1 | |
| 9 | Auditions 9 | 14 November 2014 | 1 120 | 6 | 704 | 7 | 353 | 7 | |
| 10 | Auditions 10/Six-chair challenge 1 | 21 November 2014 | 1 072 | 5.8 | 654 | 6.5 | 360 | 7.2 | |
| 11 | Six-chair challenge 2 | 28 November 2014 | 862 | 4.7 | 538 | 5.3 | 310 | 6.2 | |
| 12 | Six-chair challenge 3 /The Duels | 29 November 2014 | 1 233 | 6.7 | 753 | 7.5 | 378 | 7.5 | |
| 13 | First Live Show | 5 December 2014 | 888 | 4.8 | 607 | 6.0 | 310 | 6.2 | |
| 14 | Second Live Show | 12 December 2014 | 895 | 4.8 | 542 | 5.4 | 302 | 6 | |
| 15 | Third Live Show | 19 December 2014 | 892 | 4.8 | 538 | 5.3 | 292 | 5.8 | |
| 16 | Final Live Show | 26 December 2014 | 1 016 | 5.5 | 735 | 7 | 374 | 7.5 | |
In the "Six-chair challenge", Brenciu shocks everyone, even the presenters, by eliminating Miruna Buză, a girl with "excellent vocal technique". Despite getting great reviews from the other mentors, the girl received unexpected criticism from her mentor : "I thought you will surprise us today with something else...Miruna, you have to go home".[24]