''Factor X'' is the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

version of the

British television Television broadcasts in the United Kingdom began in 1932, however, regular broadcasts would only begin four years later. Television began as a public service which was free of advertising, which followed the first demonstration of a transm ...

music competition ''

The X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for '' Pop Idol'' (2001–200 ...

'', created by

Simon Cowell Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality and businessman. He has judged on the British television talent competition shows ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003), ''The X Factor (British TV series), The X Factor UK ...

. The show, first aired on

Cuatro Cuatro, Spanish (and other Romance languages) for the 4, number 4, may refer to: * Cuatro (instrument), a family of Latin American string instruments, including: ** Cuatro (Venezuela) ** Puerto Rican cuatro * Cuatro (TV channel), a Spanish free-to ...

between 2007 and 2008, following the British format from 2005 to 2006, with three categories, mentored by one judge each, whom choose the acts to represent the category in the live shows. The judges were singer and DJ Miqui Puig, music manager and headhunter

Eva Perales Eva Perales (born 1973) is a Spanish TV personality. She is a music manager and headhunter, and also organises many live festivals and musical events, both in Spain and overseas. In 2007 and 2008, she was a judge on ''Factor X'', the Spanish ve ...

and music radio producer Jorge Flo.

Nuria Roca Nuria Roca Granell (born 23 March 1972 in Moncada, Valencia) is a Spanish writer, TV presenter, actress, radio announcer and architect. In 1993 she finished her studies at the Universidad Politécnica de Valencia In 1999 she hosted the TV prog ...

hosted the show. The first season was won by

María Villalón María Villalón Sánchez (born 1 April 1989 in Ronda, Málaga, Spain), is a Spanish singer and most notably the winner of the first series of the Spanish version of ''The X Factor'' in 2007. Biography Villalón grew up singing from an early ag ...

. The second season was won by

Vocal Tempo Vocal Tempo is a Cuban vocal group that won in 2008 the second series of ''Factor X'', the Spanish version of The X Factor. The music contest was broadcast on the Spanish Cuatro television station. The 6-member group, with all members from Cuba, ...

. On 27 September 2017,

Telecinco Telecinco is a Spanish free-to-air television channel operated by Mediaset España. The channel was previously known as Tele 5, because it had first begun its experimental transmissions on 10 March 1989, and a year later, it was officially laun ...

announced the revival of the series with the production of a new season. It was hosted by Jesús Vázquez. On 19 December 2017, it was announced that the panel of mentors would consist of singer

Laura Pausini Laura Pausini (; born 16 May 1974) is an Italian Pop music, pop singer. She rose to fame in 1993, winning the newcomer artists' section of the Sanremo Music Festival 1993, 43rd Sanremo Music Festival with the song "La solitudine", which becam ...

, publicist and television personality

Risto Mejide Risto Mejide Roldán (born 29 November 1974 in Barcelona; born Ricardo Mejide Roldán), is a Spanish publicist, author, music producer, talent show judge, TV presenter and songwriter, best known as a judge on the television talent shows ''Operaci ...

, radio host Xavi Martínez, and musician and music producer Fernando Montesinos. Nando Escribano hosted the side show ''Xtra Factor'', which aired on

Divinity Divinity (from Latin ) refers to the quality, presence, or nature of that which is divine—a term that, before the rise of monotheism, evoked a broad and dynamic field of sacred power. In the ancient world, divinity was not limited to a single ...

. In 2019 it was initially announced that Telecinco renewed the series for a fourth season, but Fremantle España CEO Nathalie García stated later in the year that there were no plans for a new season. In January 2024, it was reported that Telecinco was once again planning to relaunch the format, with a fourth season due to begin in the spring.

Season summary

"16-24s" category
"Boys" category
"Girls" category
"Over 25s" category
"Groups" category
Categories not used in this season

Judges' categories and their contestants

In each season, each judge is allocated a category to mentor and chooses acts to progress to the live shows. This table shows, for each season, which category each judge was allocated and which acts he or she put through to the live shows. Key: : – Winning judge/category. Winners are in bold, eliminated contestants in small font. (*) Categories were not used in this season.

Season 1 (2007)

The first season started its run on Sunday 13 May 2007. The show was then broadcast nightly with 'Los Castings' (the auditions), which lasted until 20 May 2007. From the 21 May until 27 May 2007 'La Selección Final' (final selection) was shown, again nightly. On 28 May 'Las Galas' (live shows) began. ''Factor X'' proved successful for TV channel Cuatro. It achieved an average rating of 12.3%. ''Factor X'' live shows were shown at 10pm every Monday evening.

Contestants

Key: : Winner : Runner-up

Results summary

: – Contestant announced as safe (no particular order) : – 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)

Season 2 (2008)

The second season started its run 1 September 2008 with the auditions. The first "gala" or live show was aired on 22 September, on primetime. In a similar fashion to the last seasons in the original British version, each gala had a different theme (number-one hits or 80's music, for example). Five acts were chosen for the finals in each category, and an additional contestant was chosen in the middle of the season through Internet auditions

Contestants

Key: : Winner : Runner-up

Results summary

: – Contestant did not against public vote : – Contestant announced as safe (no particular order) : – 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)

Season 3 (2018)

The third season premiered on Telecinco on 13 April 2018, ten years after its run on Cuatro.

Contestants

Key: : – Winner : – Runner-up

Results summary

: – Contestant announced as safe (no particular order unless noted otherwise) : – Contestant was in the bottom two/three/four and had to sing again in the final showdown : – Contestant was in the bottom three/four but received the fewest votes and was eliminated : – Contestant was in the bottom four but received the most votes and was saved : – Contestant received the fewest public votes and was immediately eliminated (no final showdown)

Live show details

Week 1 (8 June 2018)

;Judges vote to eliminate *Montesinos: El Niño Bermejo *Pausini: Gema Tomás *Mejide: El Niño Bermejo *Martínez: Gema Tomás

Week 2 (15 June 2018)

;Judges vote to eliminate *Mejide: Oscárboles *Pausini: Oscárboles *Martínez: Oscárboles *Montesinos: Oscárboles (initially tried to refuse to vote because both acts in the sing-off were from his category and, since everyone else had already voted to eliminate Oscárboles, his vote wouldn't really make a difference; only cast a vote when host Jesús Vázquez insisted that he had to because of the show's rules)

Week 3 (22 June 2018)

;Judges vote to eliminate *Montesinos: Poupie *Martínez: Fusa Nocta *Pausini: Fusa Nocta *Mejide: Poupie (both acts in the sing-off were from his category; he requested to be the last to vote so that he could force a deadlock and leave the decision in the audience's hands)

Week 4 (29 June 2018)

;Judges vote to eliminate *Mejide: Poupie (voted in favor of W-Caps, an act from Martínez's category, voting against Poupie from his category) *Pausini: W-Caps *Martínez: Poupie *Montesinos: Poupie

Week 5 (5 July 2018)

Ratings

Season 4 (2024)

Telecinco initially announced a fourth season for 2019.

Alejandro Sanz Alejandro Sánchez Pizarro, better known as Alejandro Sanz (; born 18 December 1968), is a Spanish musician, singer and composer. He has won 22 Latin Grammy Awards and four Grammy Awards. He has received the Latin Grammy for Latin Grammy Award ...

and

Isabel Pantoja María Isabel Pantoja Martín (; born August 2, 1956) is a Spanish singer. She was born in the Triana district of Seville, Spain. She has released more than a dozen albums throughout a career spanning many decades, mostly of '' copla'' genre, ...

were offered a slot in the jury, but both reportedly declined. In November 2019, the CEO of Fremantle Spain, Nathalie García, stated that there were no plans for a new season. After the format stayed dormant for five more years, in January 2024 it was reported that Telecinco was working on bringing back the format for a fourth season, which was tentatively slated to begin in the spring of the same year. In February,

Ion Aramendi Ion Aramendi Urrestarazu (born 11 February 1977) is a Spanish journalist, television presenter and former basketball player. Biography Born in San Sebastián in the Basque Country, Aramendi moved to Salamanca in Castile and León in 1996 to p ...

was announced as the new host. By early March, the new panel of judges was confirmed to be made up of Willy Bárcenas, Lali,

Abraham Mateo Abraham Mateo Chamorro (born 25 August 1998) is a Spaniards, Spanish singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He began his career as a child prodigy, capturing national attention in Spain for his remarkable vocal talent and releasing his ...

and Vanesa Martín. This season abandoned the format's traditional division in categories, meaning the four judges will form their teams including either solo acts or groups, with no gender- or age-based restrictions. Due to poor ratings, the six live shows planned for the competition's final stage were reduced to three, with the final taking place on 10 June.

Contestants

Key: : – Winner : – Runner-up (*) Nacho Nacif replaced Zoe Ravier, who had to withdraw from the competition for personal reasons.

Results summary

: – Contestant announced as safe : – Contestant was in the bottom three : – Contestant received the fewest public votes and was immediately eliminated

Live show details

Semi Final 1 (27 May)

* Group performance: "Maníaca" / "Quiero decirte" (

and his team) * Musical guest: Taburete ("Botines") ;Judges' vote to eliminate * Vanesa: Danel (voted in favor of J Prince from her own team, believing J had more to offer) * Abraham: Danel (believed J Prince had more potential in regards to a future career) * Willy: J Prince (voted in favor of Danel from his own team, citing his belief in him) * Lali: J Prince (decided to force a deadlock and leave the decision in the audience's hands) As a result of the deadlock, the second elimination was decided from the earlier audience vote results. Danel, who had finished second-to-last in the audience vote, was eliminated along with last-placed Nacho Nacif.

Semi Final 2 (3 June)

* Musical guests: ** Dani Fernández ("Todo cambia") **

Pol Granch Pablo Grandjean Sáenz, better known as Pol Granch (4 April 1998), is a Spanish-French singer-songwriter and actor. Career In 2018, Granch won the third season of the talent contest '' Factor X España''. During the contest, he competed in La ...

("Gigante") ;Judges' vote to eliminate * Vanesa: Mix Band (believed Samuel to have more career potential) * Abraham: Mix Band * Willy: Samuel Nagati * Lali: Mix Band (both acts were from her team; she stated she was voting with her heart)

Final (10 June)

* Group performances: ** "He sido" / "El nudo" ( Vanesa Martín and her team) ** " Disciplina" ( Lali and her team)

Ratings

Post ''Factor X''

A few weeks after the first season ended, eventual winner María Villalon released a debut EP entitled ''María Villalon'', an album with all the songs she sang whilst in the competition. A few months later, she released her debut album ''Te Espero Aquí'', which made the Spanish top 40 album chart, just like her debut LP did. But she wasn't the only one who received a record deal, runner-up Angy released her debut self-titled album a couple of weeks after Villalon's debut album release. She also began an acting career starring in the teen drama television series ''Física y Química'', aired on Antena 3. 3rd placed Walter released a single, but it didn't see much success. Angy's debut single 'Sola En El Silencio' was a major hit across Spain, making the top 20 in Spanish Los 40 Principales. In turn, Maria Villalon's first two singles 'Aguita De Abril' and 'Te Espero Aqui' failed to gain chart stardom, but her second album saw the success of its lead single 'La lluvia' which made it into the top 5 in Los 40 Principales. Months after the contest finished, 6th placed Leire Martínez's popularity boosted as she was chosen to replace

Amaia Montero Amaia Montero Saldías (; born 26 August 1976) is a Spanish singer and songwriter mainly known as the former vocalist of the Spanish pop-band La Oreja de Van Gogh between 1996 and 2007. Amaia has sung in a variety of languages, including Basqu ...

as the new lead singer of

La Oreja de Van Gogh La Oreja de Van Gogh (; English: "Vincent van Gogh, Van Gogh's Ear") is a Pop music, pop band from San Sebastián, Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country, Spain. The lyrical themes of their songs typically include love, friendship ...

, one of the best-selling pop bands in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

and

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

. Her first album with the band, ''

A las cinco en el Astoria ''A las cinco en el Astoria'' is the fifth full-length album released by La Oreja de Van Gogh, their second album to receive a Grammy nomination, and the first with new lead vocalist Leire Martínez. It was released in three editions: CD, CD+T-s ...

'', was released on 2 September 2008 reaching the number-one spot in the Spanish charts. 8th placed

Ailyn Pilar María Del Carmen Mónica Giménez García (born 29 May 1982), known professionally as Ailyn Giménez or simply Ailyn, is a Spanish singer. She is the current vocalist of Her Chariot Awaits and the former vocalist of the Norwegian gothic ...

submitted a song to '' Salvemos Eurovisión'', the Spanish selection for the 2008

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

, but failed to get to the final round. Later that year, she was chosen to be the new female vocalist of the Norwegian Gothic Metal band

Sirenia The Sirenia (), commonly referred to as sea cows or sirenians, are an order of fully aquatic, herbivorous mammals that inhabit swamps, rivers, estuaries, marine wetlands, and coastal marine waters. The extant Sirenia comprise two distinct famili ...

, working with them until 2016. After the third season ended, judge

invited some of the contestants, including her pupils Samuel Hernández and series winner

, to serve as opening acts for her upcoming world tour.

References and notes

Notes

External links

Official site
{{The X Factor series The X Factor Spanish reality television series Spanish music television series Television series by Fremantle (company) 2000s Spanish television series 2007 Spanish television series debuts 2008 Spanish television series endings Spanish television series based on British television series