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 ...

'' is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. The fourteenth series began airing on ITV on 2 September 2017, presented by

Dermot O'Leary Seán Dermot O'Leary (born 24 May 1973) is a British-Irish broadcaster. He presented the television talent show ''The X Factor'' on ITV from 2007 until its final series in 2018, with the exception of 2015. Since 2021, O'Leary has presented ITV' ...

. For the first time in seven years, the judging panel remained the same as the previous series, with

Nicole Scherzinger Nicole Prascovia Elikolani Scherzinger ( ; ; born June 29, 1978) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, actress, and television personality. She was a member of the girl group and dance ensemble the Pussycat Dolls between 2003 and 2010. With ...

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 ...

Sharon Osbourne Sharon Rachel Osbourne (; born 9 October 1952) is an English-American television personality, music manager, and author. She is married to heavy metal singer Ozzy Osbourne and came to prominence while appearing on '' The Osbournes'' (2002–2 ...

and

Louis Walsh Michael Louis Vincent Walsh (born 5 August 1952) is an Irish music manager and television personality. He has managed Johnny Logan (singer), Johnny Logan, Boyzone, Jedward and Westlife, four of Ireland's most successful pop acts in the 1990s an ...

returning. This is the first series not to include companion show '' The Xtra Factor'', after it was cancelled in January 2017. Its replacement is a programme called ''Xtra Bites'' presented by Becca Dudley on the

ITV Hub ITVX is a British over-the-top and ad-supported streaming service operated by ITV plc. The service offers original content from the broadcaster, livestreams of the ITV television channels, FAST channels, and exclusive and licensed programming ...

. This is also the first series to be sponsored by

Just Eat Just Eat is an online food order and delivery platform. It was founded in 2001 in Kolding, Denmark, as a food delivery company, and later headquartered in London, United Kingdom, from 2006 (as Just Eat plc) until it was purchased by Netherla ...

, with the show having been sponsored by TalkTalk since 2009, as well as the second time the show has premiered in September, rather than August, since the first series in 2004.

Rak-Su Rak-Su are an English R&B group, formed in Watford. In 2017, they won the fourteenth series of ''The X Factor'', becoming the first male group to do so. The group is made up of Ashley Fongho, Jamaal Shurland and Myles Stephenson; Mustafa Rahim ...

won the competition on 3 December 2017 and they became the second group to win the competition and Simon Cowell became the winning mentor for the fourth time.

Judges and Presenter

In December 2016,

confirmed he would continue to judge the series through 2018, stating he had signed through "the next two years". That same month, both

and

cast doubt on their return, with Osbourne citing her dual-work on '' The Talk'', and Scherzinger stating: "I can't confirm that I'm going to e backbut I think if I did return it would have to be with this panel because I'm really close with this panel. ..I've really enjoyed myself and we're really close." On 13 April 2017, Cowell announced his intentions to retain the same judging panel for the fourteenth series. In June 2017, it was announced that the judging panel would remain the same as the previous series.

returned for his tenth series as presenter. On 23 June 2017, it was announced that ''

Britain's Got Talent ''Britain's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated to ''BGT'') is a televised British talent show competition, and part of the global '' Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. Presented by Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly (colloquial ...

'' judge

Alesha Dixon Alesha Anjanette Dixon (born 7 October 1978) is an English singer, rapper, dancer, television personality, and author. She rose to prominence in the early 2000s as a member of the R&B / UK Garage group Mis-Teeq, who had seven UK top 10 hits, ...

would appear as a guest judge for the first day of Manchester auditions, due to Scherzinger having a "previous diary commitment". Five days later, on 28 June, it was announced that Dixon would once again appear as a guest judge, this time for Osbourne, who was unavailable due to a long-standing back injury. Cowell arrived late to the London auditions on 4 July 2017, due to an illness. On 29 October 2017, Dixon reappeared as a guest judge on the Sunday live show, this time filling in for Cowell, who was absent recovering from an injury during the weekend.

Selection process

On 4 July, it was reported that there would be major changes to the show this year. Auditions were taking place in

Thorpe Park Thorpe Park, formerly also known as Thorpe Park Resort, is a theme park located in the village of Thorpe between the towns of Chertsey and Staines-upon-Thames in Surrey, England, southwest of Central London. It is operated by Merlin Entertai ...

, bootcamp would take place in front of an audience and there would be six weeks of live shows instead of the usual ten. Additionally, acts would be sent home on both Saturday and Sunday, as "tedious" Saturday nights received lower viewing figures than Sunday.

Auditions

The minimum age to audition this year was 14 after being reduced down from 16 the previous year. Contestants needed a "yes" from at least three of the four judges to progress to Bootcamp.

Mobile auditions

The mobile auditions began on 11 May 2017, in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

and concluded on 23 May 2017, in

Yeovil Yeovil () is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Somerset, England. It is close to Somerset's southern border with Dorset, west of London, south of Bristol, west of Sherborne and east of Taunton. The population of the bui ...

Judges' auditions

The auditions began on 20 June 2017, in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

and concluded on 10 July 2017, in

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

Bootcamp

Bootcamp was filmed live at The SSE Arena, Wembley in front of a studio audience. Following the filming of bootcamp and prior to the filming of the six-chair challenge, the judges' categories were revealed. Cowell was given the Groups, Scherzinger was given the Over 28s, Osbourne was given the Girls and Walsh was given the Boys. There are two different stages to Bootcamp: Wall of Songs, where a list of 35 songs appeared on a wall 4 times, and the four acts who pick the same song would perform it together, and the judges would decide instantly who would make to the 2nd stage of bootcamp: the Boot camp audition, in front of the judges and a live audience, where after an act performance the judges will instantly decide whether or not they'll make it through to the 6-Chair Challenge. The categories were all revealed in Wembley Stadium, and revealed on TV on 7 October.

Six-chair challenge

The six-chair challenge took place over the course of three days, from 26 to 28 July 2017, at The SSE Arena, Wembley. Unlike previous years, where all four judges sat together, each judge was secluded on their own while their respective category performed. The three remaining judges sat together and gave their own critiques of the performance, before allowing the category's judge to make the final decision. It was broadcast over three episodes; Osbourne choosing in the first, Cowell and Scherzinger choosing in the second, with later portions of her decisions shown, alongside Walsh's, in the third.

Judges' houses

The judges' categories were announced in July 2017, with additional details of the judges' houses announced in October 2017. Anthony Russell withdrew after the pre-recorded sections of the show and was replaced by Sam Black who was knocked out of the competition at the Bootcamp stage. Black was in Walsh's Boys category. In a statement, Walsh stated, "Anthony has been fantastic across the series, a great singer and performer who we are really sad to see go. I had to think for a long time who could take the place. Sam had a great reaction from the British public when his Audition aired. So I re-watched it and realised we missed a trick not putting him through at Boot Camp. He has that retro 60s style viewers will love. He's really likeable and talented and I can't wait to hear more." At the end of judges' houses, it was announced that the public could vote for a wildcard from each category bringing the total number of contestants for the live shows to 16.

Acts

Key: : – Winner : – Runner-Up : Playing card club A

– Wildcard (Live Shows)

Live shows

The contestants for the live shows were announced during the episode broadcast on 22 October 2017. However, at the end of the episode, a wildcard vote for each category was announced by O’Leary. The winners of the wildcard vote were revealed on 28 October at the start of the first live show. For the first time since series six, a major overhaul of the set layout was made as live shows debuted in a new filming location,

LH2 Studios LH2 Studios is a purpose-built rehearsal and production space located in Park Royal, West London, United Kingdom, close to Park Royal tube station. The main studio is 1,386sqm (31.5m x 44m) with a height of 18m. Its primary function is to provide ...

in London, following the closure of

Fountain Studios Fountain Studios was an independently owned television studio in Wembley Park, north-west London, England. The company was last part of the Avesco Group plc. Several companies owned the site before it was bought by Fountain in 1993. Originall ...

. Numerous other changes were introduced for this series' live shows. This included contestant and musical guest performances on both Saturday and Sunday shows, and the removal of the final showdowns, deadlocks and judges' votes on the Sunday show. Each show, two of the categories would sing and immediately after the performances, the public vote would open for a short amount of time. At the end of each show, the contestant with the fewest votes is automatically eliminated from the competition. In addition, the contestant with the highest votes for that night would also be announced. The two acts who won their respective public vote would then sing against each other in a new element of the show called the prize fight. After another public vote, the winner of the prize fight would win a special weekly prize. For the first time ever the live final was broadcast from the Excel Centre, London and not

Wembley Arena Wembley Arena () (originally the Empire Pool, currently known as OVO Energy, OVO Arena Wembley for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena next to Wembley Stadium in Wembley, Greater London, England. The 12,500-seat facility is Greater Lond ...

as part of the show's drastic changes this series.

Musical guests

Liam Payne Liam James Payne (29 August 1993 – 16 October 2024) was an English singer and songwriter. He was a member of the pop band One Direction, one of the best-selling boy bands of all time, alongside Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Harry Styles, and Loui ...

performed on the first live show, while

Stormzy Michael Ebenezer Kwadjo Omari Owuo Jr. (born 26 July 1993), known professionally as Stormzy, is an English-Ghanaian rapper, singer, and songwriter. In 2014, he gained attention on the UK underground music scene through his ''Wicked Skengman'' ...

performed on the second live show.

Tokio Myers Torville Ashburn M. Jones (born 6 April 1984), better known by the stage name Tokio Myers, is an English musician and record producer best known for his work as a pianist. He won the reality show ''Britain's Got Talent (series 11), Britain's Go ...

performed on the third live show, while

Rita Ora Rita Sahatçiu Ora (; born Rita Sahatçiu; 26 November 1990) is a British singer-songwriter, television personality, and actress. Born in Pristina, modern-day Kosovo, she rose to prominence when she featured on DJ Fresh's 2012 single, "Hot Rig ...

performed on the fourth.

Harry Styles Harry Edward Styles (born 1 February 1994) is an English singer, songwriter, and actor. His showmanship, artistry, and flamboyant fashion have had a Cultural impact of Harry Styles, significant impact on popular culture. Styles's musical ca ...

performed on the fifth live show and

Paloma Faith Paloma Faith Blomfield (born 21 July 1981) is an English singer, songwriter, and actress. After signing with Epic Records in 2008, Faith released her debut album, '' Do You Want the Truth or Something Beautiful?'' (2009), which produced the UK ...

performed on the sixth.

Matt Terry Matthew James Terry (born 20 May 1993) is an English singer and songwriter. In 2016, he was crowned as the winner of the The X Factor (British series 13), thirteenth series of ''The X Factor (British TV series), The X Factor''. His debut single ...

performed on the seventh live show and Fergie performed on the eighth.

James Arthur James Andrew Arthur (born 2 March 1988) is an English singer and songwriter. He rose to fame after winning the ninth series of ''The X Factor'' in 2012. His debut single, a cover of Shontelle's " Impossible", was released by Syco Music aft ...

performed on the first semi-final and

Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran ( ; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently r ...

performed on the second.

PrettyMuch PRETTYMUCH were an American-Canadian pop and R&B boy band based in Los Angeles, California. The band consisted of Brandon Arreaga, Edwin Honoret, Austin Porter and Zion Kuwonu. They released five EPs and a debut album before disbanding in 2023. ...

and

Louis Tomlinson Louis William Tomlinson ( ; born 24 December 1991) is an English singer, songwriter, and fashion designer. Born and raised in Doncaster, England, Tomlinson auditioned for British singing competition ''The X Factor'' as a solo artist in 2010, w ...

performed on Saturday's final, while

Pink Pink is a pale tint of red, the color of the Dianthus plumarius, pink flower. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, p ...

Sam Smith Samuel Frederick Smith (born 19 May 1992) is an English singer and songwriter. In 2012, they rose to prominence when they featured on Disclosure (band), Disclosure's breakthrough single "Latch (song), Latch", which peaked at number eleven on ...

CNCO CNCO was an American latin boy band based in Miami, Miami, Florida. The group consisted of Richard Camacho, Erick Brian Colón, Christopher Vélez and ZABDIEL, Zabdiel De Jesús; Joel DELEŌN, Joel Pimentel was a member until his departure in M ...

and

Little Mix Little Mix are an English girl group that formed on the eighth series of ''The X Factor (British TV series), The X Factor.'' They are the first group and the only girl group to win the original UK series. The lineup consisted of Leigh-Anne Pin ...

performed during the Sunday final.

Results summary

;Colour key * The voting percentages in week 6 for Sunday do not add up to 100%, owing to the freezing of votes. Kevin Davy White received 8.2% of the final vote.

Live show details

Week 1 (28/29 October)

* Theme: "Express Yourself" * Prize: Trip to New York City, meet and greet with

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...

* Musical guests: ** Saturday:

(" Bedroom Floor") ** Sunday:

MNEK Uzoechi Osisioma "Uzo" Emenike (; born 9 November 1994), professionally known by his stage name MNEK ( ; a gramogram of Emenike), is a British singer, songwriter and record producer. He has been nominated for a Grammy and a Brit Award, and ha ...

(" Blinded by Your Grace, Pt. 2") The wildcards were revealed at the start of Saturday's show. Cowell missed this week's show, due to recovery from falling down the stairs the morning before.

filled in as a guest judge on Sunday.

Week 2 (4/5 November)

* Theme: "Viva Latino" * Prize: Recording session with a Grammy awarded producer * Musical guests: ** Saturday:

Angel An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...

") ** Sunday:

(" Anywhere")

Week 3 (11/12 November)

* Theme: "

George Michael George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer-songwriter and record producer. Regarded as a pop culture icon, he is one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling rec ...

" * Prize: Open for

Manchester Arena Manchester Arena (currently known as AO Arena for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena in Manchester, England, immediately north of the Manchester city centre, city centre and partly above Manchester Victoria station in air rights space. Pr ...

on 21 November 2017 * Musical guests: ** Saturday:

Kiwi Kiwi most commonly refers to: * Kiwi (bird), a flightless bird native to New Zealand * Kiwi (nickname), an informal name for New Zealanders * Kiwifruit, an edible hairy fruit with many seeds * Kiwi dollar or New Zealand dollar, a unit of curren ...

") ** Sunday:

(" Guilty")

Week 4: Quarter-Final (18/19 November)

* Theme: "Crazy in Love" * Prize: Record own song with

Ali Tamposi Alexandra Leah Tamposi (born November 17, 1989) is an American songwriter from West Palm Beach, Florida. She is best known for co-writing Kelly Clarkson's song "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)," 5 Seconds of Summer's song " Youngblood", DJ Snak ...

* Musical guests: ** Saturday:

(" The Thing About Love") ** Sunday: Fergie (" Save It Til Morning")

Week 5: Semi-Final (25/26 November)

O'Leary confirmed that there would be no Prize Fight from this week onwards and all the categories would perform on the same night for the first time this series. ;25 November * Theme: "Cool Britannia" * Musical guest:

Naked Nudity is the state of being in which a human is without clothing. While estimates vary, for the first 90,000 years of pre-history, anatomically modern humans were naked, having lost their body hair, living in hospitable climates, and not ...

") ;26 November *Theme: "Get Me to the Final" *Musical guest:

Perfect Perfect commonly refers to: * Perfection; completeness, and excellence * Perfect (grammar), a grammatical category in some languages Perfect may also refer to: Film and television * ''Perfect'' (1985 film), a romantic drama * ''Perfect'' (20 ...

Week 6: Final (2/3 December)

O’Leary revealed on 2 December that the winners' single this year would be the contestants' duet. ;2 December * Theme: "No theme"; "Celebrity duets/Winner's single" * Musical guests:

Pete Tong Peter Michael Tong (born 30 July 1960) is an English DJ who works for BBC Radio 1. He is the host of programmes such as '' Essential Mix'' and '' Essential Selection'' on the radio service, which can be heard through Internet radio streams, for ...

Heritage Orchestra ] The Heritage Orchestra is a British orchestra founded in 2004 under the artistic direction of Christopher Wheeler, Chris Wheeler. The orchestra perform a mix of styles and genres and are known as the premiere non-classical orchestra in the UK ...

featuring

Becky Hill Rebecca Claire Hill (born 14 February 1994) is an English singer and songwriter. She rose to fame after appearing on the first series of '' The Voice UK'', auditioning with John Legend's " Ordinary People". She joined Jessie J's team and rea ...

Sing It Back "Sing It Back" is a song written and performed by Irish-English electronic music duo Moloko ( Róisín Murphy and Mark Brydon). It first appeared in its original version on Moloko's second album, '' I Am Not a Doctor'' (1998); it was released a ...

"/ "

You've Got the Love "You Got the Love" is a song by British songwriting team the Source featuring American singer-songwriter Candi Staton. Originally released in 1986, the song was remixed and re-released in 1991, 1997, and 2006. It has reached number three on the ...

") (with Grace Davies, Rak-Su & Kevin Davy White),

(" No More") and

(" Miss You") Kevin Davy White received the fewest public votes and was automatically eliminated. ;3 December *Theme: "Song to win", "Song of the Series" *Musical guests:

Power Power may refer to: Common meanings * Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work" ** Engine power, the power put out by an engine ** Electric power, a type of energy * Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events Math ...

"/" Reggaetón Lento (Remix)"),

Beautiful Trauma '' Beautiful Trauma'' is the seventh studio album by American singer-songwriter Pink. It was released on October 13, 2017, by RCA Records. Following '' The Truth About Love'', Pink took a career hiatus to focus on her personal life and become ...

"/"

What About Us What About Us may refer to: Music Albums * ''What About Us'' (Livin Out Loud album) or the title song, 2006 * ''What About Us?'', by Ruth-Ann Boyle, 2007 Songs * "What About Us?" (Brandy song), 2002 * "What About Us" (The Coasters song), 1959 * ...

"), and

One Last Song "One Last Song" is a song by English singer Sam Smith. It was written by Smith, Tyler Johnson and Charles Emanuel Smalls, with production handled by Steve Fitzmaurice, Jimmy Napes and Johnson. The song was released on 3 November 2017 through Cap ...

Winner's single

All proceeds from the winner's single are in aid of children's hospice charities,

Together for Short Lives Together for Short Lives is the UK registered charity for children's palliative care. Together for Short Lives’ vision is for children and young people in the UK with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions and their families to have as f ...

and

Shooting Star Chase Shooting Star Children's Hospices is an English children's hospice charity (No: 1042495). The charity cares for babies, children and young people with life-limiting conditions, and their families, across Surrey, south-west London and north-west ...

. Simco Limited will donate 100% of its profits from the sale of each download and in respect of all audio streaming of the single, and the Chancellor has also agreed to donate the VAT, in each case to be shared equally by the charities. This donation will be at least 20p plus VAT for each download sold in the UK.

FremantleMedia Fremantle Limited (), formerly FremantleMedia, is a British multinational television production and distribution company based in London. The company was founded as Pearson Television in 1993 when publishing and education company Pearson ...

, ITV and all performers featuring on the single have also agreed to forgo any master royalties due to them in connection with downloads and all audio streaming of the single.

Reception

Ratings

The ratings over a 28-day period, including the broadcasts on ITV, ITV HD, ITV+1 and streaming through

.
The rank for the combined ITV, ITV HD and ITV+1 broadcasts, compared with all channels for that week, from Monday to Sunday.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:X Factor (British series 14), The 2017 British television seasons 2017 in British music 14 United Kingdom 14