The X Factor (Australian TV series) season 3

On 16 March 2011, judge Kyle Sandilands announced on his breakfast radio show, Kyle & Jackie O that he would not be returning to the judging panel for season 3. Of his decision, Sandilands said, "Not because I didn't like it. I thought the show was great and it was great fun to do but it's just too hectic, it's too much work. So, I've told Channel Seven, no." When speaking of her role as a judge, Bassingthwaighte said she would focus on bringing an honest critique to the show and would guide "the artists through the competition". In late April 2011, it was confirmed that Mel B would be Sandilands' replacement. Mel B said, "[The contestants] are either going to love me or hate me but it's going to be a fun ride. I'm really easy to get on with and I'm a hard worker. I'm firm but nice." ==Selection process==

Auditions In 2011, the minimum age for contestants to audition was changed to 14 years old, having previously been 16 years old. Auditions in front of the show's producers began in March 2011 in five cities: Perth (Parmelia Hilton, 27 March), Adelaide (AAMI Stadium, 29 March), Brisbane (Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre, 2–3 April), Sydney (Australian Technology Park, 8–10 April) and Melbourne (Moonee Valley Racecourse, 15–17 April). The successful auditionees chosen by the producers were then invited back to the last set of auditions that took place in front of the judges and a live studio audience. These auditions were held in three cities: Brisbane (Brisbane Entertainment Centre, 21–22 May), Melbourne (Hisense Arena, 27–29 May), and Sydney (Sydney Entertainment Centre, 2–3 June). Bootcamp The bootcamp stage was held in Sydney and was first broadcast on 7 September 2011. On the first day of bootcamp, each judge was given a category to mentor and were joined by a celebrity guest judge to help them decide their top twelve acts. On the second day, the Boys each had to sing a song made famously by a female artist, the Over 25s got styled for a photo shoot and later each had to perform one song, the Girls had to perform choreography to either Adele's "Rolling in the Deep" or Lady Gaga's "Born This Way", and the Groups held recording sessions with vocal producer Erana Clark. On the third day of bootcamp, the judges along with their celebrity guest judges, narrowed down the contestants to six each. The 24 successful contestants were: • Boys: Rob Baron, Trent Bell, Reece Mastin, Johnny Ruffo, Declan Sykes, Mali Talefenua • Girls: Tyla Bertolli, Sophie Metcalfe (replaced Tara-Lynn Sharrock due to Visa issues), Chantelle Morrell, Jacqui Newland, Christina Parie, Amy Walton • Over 25s: Mitchell Callaway, Pamela Cook, Marina Davis, Cleo Howman, Paige Phoenix, Andrew Wishart • Groups: Audio Vixen, Femme Da Funk, Hype (previously known as Lazy J & Big Guy), Three Wishez, Up Front, Young Men Society Judges' House The final round of the selection process, After, the judges along with their celebrity guest judges, narrowed down the contestants to three each. ==Acts ==

Key: : – Winner : – Runner-up ==Live shows==

Results summary ;Colour key Contestant in Boys Contestant in Girls Contestant in Over 25s Contestant in Groups : – Contestant in the bottom two and had to perform again in the final showdown : – Contestant received the fewest public votes and was immediately eliminated (no final showdown) :  – Act received the most public votes Live show details Week 1 (19/20 September) • Theme: Judges' Choice • Celebrity performers: Bryan Adams ("When You're Gone") and Jack Vidgen (Medley: "Who's Lovin' You"/"Think") • Group performance: "Raise Your Glass" '''Judges' vote to eliminate''' • Sebastian: Cleo Howman – based on the final showdown performance. Week 2 (27/28 September) • Theme: Party Anthems • Celebrity performers: Kelly Clarkson ("Mr. Know It All") • Group performance: "Party Rock Anthem" with LMFAO • The songs that the contestants sang in the live performance show were chosen by the Australian public. • Sebastian was absent on the live results show, but present through live telecast, thus eligible to vote to save. Week 3 (3/4 October) • Theme: Rock • Mentor: Alice Cooper • Group performance: "Live and Let Die" • Celebrity performers: Vanessa Amorosi ("Amazing") and Chris Isaak ("Oh, Pretty Woman") '''Judges' vote to eliminate''' • Keating: Johnny Ruffo – backed his own contestant, Audio Vixen. • Sebastian: Audio Vixen – backed his own contestant, Johnny Ruffo. • Bassingthwaighte: Johnny Ruffo – felt that Audio Vixen has improved more. • Mel B: Audio Vixen – could not decide who to save and sent the result to deadlock. With the contestants in the bottom two receiving two votes each, the result went to deadlock and reverted to the earlier public vote. Audio Vixen were eliminated as the contestant with the fewest public votes. and Jason Derülo (Medley: "It Girl"/"Don't Wanna Go Home") • Sebastian: Young Men Society – backed his own contestant, Declan Sykes. and Darren Hayes ("Bloodstained Heart") • Bassingthwaighte: Johnny Ruffo – backed her own contestant, Mitchell Callaway. and Jessica Mauboy featuring Stan Walker ("Galaxy") • Sebastian: Christina Parie – backed his own contestant, Reece Mastin. • Celebrity performers: Ricki-Lee ("Raining Diamonds") • Group performance: "How Can We Be Lovers?" with Michael Bolton • Sebastian: Three Wishez – backed his own contestant, Declan Sykes. • Mentor: Stevie Nicks and Stevie Nicks ("Secret Love") Week 10: Final (21/22 November) ;21 November • Theme: No theme (songs from the auditions and live shows that the mentor believes will show their true talent); superstar duets • Superstar duet performers: • The Fray with Andrew Wishart • Salt-n-Pepa with Johnny Ruffo • Kylie Minogue with Reece Mastin • Group performance: "Can't Get You Out of My Head"/"Better the Devil You Know"/"All the Lovers" with Kylie Minogue Johnny Ruffo received the fewest public votes and was automatically eliminated. ;22 November Guest performers: The Fray ("Heartbeat"), Luke O'Dell ("Introvert Extrovert"), Guy Sebastian ("Don't Worry Be Happy") and Kylie Minogue ("I Should Be So Lucky") • Group Performances: • "I Like How It Feels" (performed by top three contestants) • "Imagine" with Emmanuel Kelly (performed with top 12 contestants) ==Reception==

Controversy Three days before the season's premiere, Mel B made comments about the other judges, labelling them dishonest and boring. She said, "I don't care much for the other judges ... Ronan thinks he knows it all [and] Natalie is just too nice and really dishonest. Guy could just be boring, like 'get on with it. Keep it moving, brother.'" Mel B appeared on the same radio show the following day and said, "They're all scared of me and I love it, there's got to be one bitch on the show so I might as well take that bloody crown." More controversy occurred after Sebastian took aim at contestant Mitchell Callaway's attitude to the competition following his performance of "Run to Paradise" on the third live performance show. Sebastian told Callaway: "You've got to have the right attitude to this competition, you've got to be focused and to be honest, not be rude to people and have the work ethic. For you to not learn your lyrics and for you to at times be rude to crew, you really have to pull that in and rein that in because you won't last long in this competition or this industry if you do that." The Seven Network insiders revealed that a clash between Callaway and another contestant, Declan Sykes, was the real reason behind Sebastian's on-air rebuke. Sykes, who battles Asperger syndrome, reportedly took offence at being pricked with a pin by Callaway. His performance earned a standing ovation from the judges and the audience. Emmanuel Kelly appeared and gave an inspirational performance (speech and song) at the UN Youth Dialogue on 30 May 2018. Another contestant, Luke O'Dell, appeared on the third audition show on 31 August. After failing to impress the judges with his rendition of Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone", O'Dell then sang an original song he wrote titled, "Introvert Extrovert", which made him an overnight internet sensation. The song entered the iTunes' Top 100 chart overnight and landed O'Dell thousands of fans on social media and his official YouTube channel. The song title also became a worldwide trending topic on Twitter for more than two hours, following his television performance of the song. All six of the audition episodes ranked first on their respective nights and peaked the highest the following night with an audience of 1,690,000 viewers. The first live performance show on 19 September 2011, gained 1,452,000 viewers and topped the night's overall ratings. The live grand final decider show on 22 November 2011, was the highest rated episode of the third season with 1,998,000 viewers. ; Colour key: : – Highest rating during the season : – Lowest rating during the season ==References==