The X Factor (British TV series) series 10

It was reported on 22 February 2013 that Tulisa would not return for series 10, after being a judge for two series. She initially denied this and said she wanted to return, However, Tulisa confirmed on 21 May after months of speculation that she would be departing the show. The following day, it was confirmed that original judge Sharon Osbourne, who had been on the panel from series 1 to series 4 would join the remaining three judges from series 9, Louis Walsh, Gary Barlow and Nicole Scherzinger, ending rumours that Scherzinger may leave to focus on her second studio album and be replaced by series 9 guest judge Mel B, which happened in series 11. Osbourne stated in July that she was back for just one series, "to go out on a high", and during the first live show, Barlow revealed that this would be his last series on the show. Walsh, who had appeared on the show since its inception, announced he would be leaving the show after this series, although he later said he "might come back" if Simon Cowell returned, and later still he said he would most likely continue, claiming "I'm having so much fun this year, I might stay". Walsh eventually confirmed his return for series 11, following the returns of both Cowell and Cheryl Cole. Dermot O'Leary returned to present the main show on ITV for his seventh series, whilst Caroline Flack came back to present spin-off show The Xtra Factor on ITV2. Olly Murs, Flack's co-presenter for series 8 and 9, wanted to focus on his music career and therefore did not come back. On 29 May, it was announced that comedian Matt Richardson would co-present The Xtra Factor with Flack, after reports that Nick Grimshaw, Dave Berry or Rylan Clark may replace Murs. Flack also presented backstage on the main X Factor programme, during the live shows on Saturdays. Yvie Burnett returned as vocal coach. Brian Burke left as creative director and was replaced by Jerry Reeve and Mark "Swany" Hart. ==Selection process==

Auditions Mobile auditions Between 25 March and 1 April 2013, mobile auditions took place in Inverness, Great Yarmouth, Warrington, Aberdeen, Colchester, Hull, Dumfries, Grimsby, Belfast, Newport on the Isle of Wight, Sunderland, Wakefield, Bangor, Middlesbrough, Yeovil, Aberystwyth, Blackburn, Dublin, Blackpool, Cork, Merthyr Tydfil and Newport in Wales. It was reported that around 20 people attended Colchester auditions on 26 March and producers tried to convince passers-by to audition. Open auditions For the first time since series 6, auditions took place in five cities instead of six. Open auditions in front of the show's producers began in London (ExCeL London) on 6 April Auditions were not held in Liverpool this year, after it was one of the locations in the past two series. Additionally, auditions returned to Birmingham after being replaced by Newcastle in series 9. Producers previously held auditions in Newcastle instead of Birmingham because they thought that Birmingham provided "no memorable talent", but reportedly decided to return there after "disappointing" results in Newcastle. Almost 8,000 auditionees attended in London, whilst Cardiff attracted at least 3,000, Birmingham produced around 5,000, over 4,000 auditioned in Manchester and over 2,000 in Glasgow. Judges' auditions This series saw the return of the original auditions format last used in series 5, where auditionees performed in a room in front of the judges. Those who were successful in the room auditions then faced a second audition in an arena—the format used since series 6—to prove they can impress an audience. If they were successful in this audition, they entered the bootcamp stage of the competition. Cowell hoped the "intimate" room auditions would increase ratings. The room auditions in front of the judges began in Glasgow on 4 June at the Hilton Glasgow Grosvenor Hotel and continued in Birmingham on 10 June at the International Convention Centre. Manchester auditions took place over three days from 13 to 15 June at Old Trafford, followed by London auditions which also took place over three days, from 19 to 21 June at ExCeL London. Due to a lack of successful groups, extra auditions specifically for groups took place on 1 July at Price Studios in Battersea, London. Auditions then concluded in Cardiff on 3 July at the Motorpoint Arena. The arena auditions took place at a single venue, Wembley Arena, over four days, from 15 to 18 July. The broadcast of auditions started on 31 August 2013, with room auditions being shown on Saturday nights and arena auditions on Sundays. The first room audition episode aired on 31 August, and featured auditions from Cardiff, Manchester, London and Birmingham. The second room audition episode featured auditions from Manchester, Cardiff and Glasgow. The third room audition episode showcased auditions from London, Manchester, Birmingham and Glasgow. Numerous contestants from previous series returned to audition again for this series, including: Amy Mottram, who was Tulisa's wildcard contestant in series 9 and failed to be chosen ahead of Maloney as the 13th contestant; Terry Winstanley, who made it to judges' houses in series 8; Johnny Rocco, whose audition in series 4 ended with him "cursing" Walsh after getting a "no" from all four judges; John Adams, who reached bootcamp in series 8; Stephanie Woods, who got to judges' houses in series 4; Jade Richards, who got to judges' houses in series 8 and bootcamp in series 9; and Melanie McCabe, who got to bootcamp in series 5 and 9 and to judges' houses in series 8. Bootcamp/Six Chair Challenge On 17 April 2013, it was reported that this series' bootcamp could be changed and be conducted abroad like judges' houses, however, it was later confirmed that bootcamp would take place at Wembley Arena over four days, across three sessions between 9 and 12 August. However, this did not happen. In a change to the usual format, the judges were allocated their categories before bootcamp, For the first stage of bootcamp, soloists were put into groups of three within their category, and groups were put into pairs. They had to perform within that pair or group, and the category judge would then decide who would continue. After the first stage of bootcamp had concluded, Barlow called back two rejected soloists from Scherzinger's Girls category and a female member of a mixed group he had originally turned down, and asked them to form a new three-piece girl group, Miss Dynamix. The second stage of bootcamp was reworked into a new format called the Six Chair Challenge, that saw the judges choose the acts to advance to judges' houses immediately after their performance, instead of waiting until everyone had performed. Each judge had six places to their judges house, and they granted a 'seat' to the performers they wanted to advance in their category. However, if a judge already chose six acts for their category, they could replace them if they preferred a later performer, therefore causing the Six Chair Challenge to be branded the "ultimate game of musical chairs". Bootcamp was broadcast over two episodes, each of 90 minutes, on 28 and 29 September. Judges' houses Judges' houses took place in September. Each judge took the remaining members of their category to an overseas location, and had guests to assist them in their decisions. Walsh was assisted by Nicole Appleton and Shane Filan along with the returning Sinitta (who's Walsh's assists for the Second Time and Ninth Overall Appearances in the Judges' Houses) when he mentored the Boys in Saint-Tropez, France, in a property worth £10.5 million, next door to a property owned by Nicolas Sarkozy, whose gardeners interrupted filming. Osbourne took the Over 25s to her own home in Beverly Hills, California, staying at the St James Club resort. ;Judges Houses Performances: Boys: • '''Nicholas: "If You're Not The One"''' • Sam C: "We Are Young" • Luke: "Cannonball" • Giles: "You're Beautiful" • Paul: "Last Request" • Ryan: "Just Give Me a Reason" Groups: • Kingsland Road: "Dance with Me Tonight" • Brick City: "All Around the World" • Rough Copy: "Boyfriend" • Xyra: "In the Air Tonight" • Code 4: "Superstition" • Miss Dynamix: "Pure Shores" Over 25s: • Sam B: "I Have Nothing" • Shelley: "Girl on Fire" • Lorna: "If I Were a Boy" • Andrea: "High and Dry" • Joseph: "I’ll Stand by You" • Zoe: "Fix You" Girls: • '''Tamera: "Fallin'"''' • Jade: "Hurt" • Abi: "Only You" • Relley C: "Many Rivers to Cross" • Melanie: "Run" • Hannah: "A Change Is Gonna Come" ==Acts ==

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

The live shows started on 12 October. As in previous series, each week's song choices followed a particular theme. Each contestant performed on Saturday, while eliminations and guest performances took place on Sunday. For the first three weeks, a new "flash vote" took place at the end of each Saturday night show, where the voting lines opened for about eight minutes, and the act with the fewest votes faced the "sing-off" (also known as the "final showdown") on Sunday. Voting lines for the remaining contestants then reopened, and stayed open until the Sunday shows, where the second contestant to face the "sing-off" was revealed. "Deadlock", where the act with the fewest public votes is eliminated after the judges' votes are tied, was eliminated while there was a flash vote, and instead, in the event that judges' votes were tied, the contestant that lost the flash vote was eliminated. However, in week 4 the flash vote was rested because of Nile Rodgers and Chic's performance, meaning there was not enough time at the end of the show for the flash vote, and "deadlock" would have returned if the judges' votes had been tied, on 14 and 15 December 2013. Musical guests Each results show featured musical performances from at least two artists, while occasionally, artists performed on the main performances show. Ellie Goulding and Cher performed on the first results show, The sixth live results show featured performances from judge Gary Barlow, and Miley Cyrus. • Walsh did not need to vote as Scherzinger and Osbourne had already voted to eliminate Miss Dynamix; having lost the flash vote, they would have been eliminated regardless of Walsh's decision. Walsh said he would have voted to eliminate Miss Dynamix. • Walsh did not need to vote as there was already a majority. He said he would have voted to eliminate Abi Alton. • Osbourne did not need to vote as there was already a majority. She said she would have voted to eliminate Sam Callahan. Live show details Week 1 (12/13 October) • Theme: Songs from the 1980s • Group performance: "Get Lucky" • Osbourne abstained from voting as both acts were in her category. • Walsh: Lorna Simpson – gave no reason. • Barlow: Shelley Smith – said that Smith was only in the bottom two through a poor song choice, but felt that Simpson would go further in the competition. • Scherzinger: Lorna Simpson – thought that there was "more to see from" Smith. However, if the result was tied, Simpson would have been saved. Week 2 (19/20 October) • Theme: Love and heartbreak • Group performance: "Wake Me Up" Due to band member SeSe Foster being in the hospital, Miss Dynamix did not perform and were given a bye week which automatically advanced them to the following week. • Group performance: "Locked Out of Heaven" • Group performance: "A Night to Remember" • Sunday: Little Mix ("Move") and Taylor Swift featuring Gary Lightbody ("The Last Time") The flash vote was cancelled this week because of lack of time, due to Rodgers and Chic's performance, and the two acts receiving the fewest votes were announced during Sunday's results show. ;Judges' votes to eliminate • Scherzinger: Kingsland Road – backed her own act, Tamera Foster. • Barlow: Tamera Foster – backed his own act, Kingsland Road. • Osbourne: Kingsland Road – gave no comment; she later said on The Xtra Factor that she could not think of a reason to send them home nor to justify keeping them in the competition despite her own fondness for them. • Walsh: Kingsland Road – said that Foster "sang her heart out" in her sing-off performance and had "star quality". However, voting statistics revealed that Kingsland Road received more votes than Foster which meant that if Walsh sent the result to deadlock, Kingsland Road would have been saved. Week 5 (9/10 November) • Theme: Big band ;Judges' votes to eliminate • Group performance: "Never Forget" • Musical guests: Miley Cyrus ("Wrecking Ball") and Gary Barlow ("Let Me Go") ;Judges' votes to eliminate • Walsh abstained from voting as both acts were in his category. • Scherzinger: Sam Callahan – said Friend was the better singer, and also admonished Callahan for waiting until the sing-off to put his "heart and soul" into his performance. • Barlow: Sam Callahan – gave no specific reason, but praised Callahan for his work ethic. • Osbourne was not required to vote, but stated she would have voted to eliminate Callahan. Week 7 (23/24 November) • Theme: "The Best of The X Factor" (songs recorded or performed by previous finalists) • Guest mentors: Joe McElderry, Alexandra Burke, Shayne Ward, Little Mix, Olly Murs and Leona Lewis • Scherzinger: Rough Copy – backed her own act, Hannah Barrett. • Barlow: Hannah Barrett – gave no reason, but effectively backed his own act, Rough Copy. • Osbourne: Hannah Barrett – because it was Barrett's third time in the bottom two. • Walsh: Hannah Barrett – gave no reason, but on The Xtra Factor he said that it was because Barrett had been in the sing-off three times and Rough Copy had more to give. However, voting statistics revealed that Barrett received more votes than Rough Copy which meant that if Walsh sent the result to deadlock, Barrett would have advanced to the quarter-final and Rough Copy would have been eliminated. Week 8: Quarter-Final (30 November/1 December) • Theme: Contestant's musical heroes; viewers' choice (billed as "Jukebox week") • Group performance: "Burn" • Musical guests: Rebecca Ferguson ("I Hope") and James Arthur ("Recovery") For the first time this series, the acts performed two songs each. One song was chosen by a public vote via the official The X Factor app. On 24 November, the song choices for the public were revealed. • Scherzinger: Luke Friend – backed her own act, Tamera Foster, but said that Friend had a gift that no one could take away from him. • Walsh: Tamera Foster – backed his own act, Luke Friend, who he said was better in the sing-off. • Osbourne: Tamera Foster – said that Friend delivered "an organic natural performance" in the sing-off. • Barlow: Luke Friend – could not decide and sent the result to deadlock; he further explained his statement by saying that Friend had one of his "best nights" but thought Foster had "come back strong" in the quarter-final and that she was going to be "one of the biggest stars after the series". With the acts in the bottom two receiving two votes each, the result went to deadlock and reverted to the earlier public vote. Foster was eliminated as the act with the fewest public votes. Week 9: Semi-Final (7/8 December) • Themes: Songs by Beyoncé; songs by Elton John (billed as "Elton John vs. Beyoncé") • Musical guests: Leona Lewis ("One More Sleep") and Michael Bublé ("You Make Me Feel So Young") • Barlow: Rough Copy – gave no reason but essentially backed his own act, Rough Copy. • Walsh: Luke Friend – gave no reason but essentially backed his own act, Luke Friend. • Scherzinger: Rough Copy – gave no reason. • Osbourne: Luke Friend – could not decide and sent the result to deadlock. With the acts in the bottom two receiving two votes each, the result went to deadlock and reverted to the earlier public vote. Friend advanced to the final as the act with the most public votes. • Group performance: "Lifted" • Musical guests: Tom Odell ("Another Love"); Luke Friend received the fewest public votes and was automatically eliminated. (all contestants except Lorna Simpson) • Musical guests: One Direction ("Midnight Memories"), Katy Perry ("Unconditionally") and Gary Barlow featuring Elton John ("Face to Face") ==Prize==

As the winner, Sam Bailey received a £1 million recording contract with Syco Music, she went on to join Beyoncé Knowles for one night in Birmingham, on the UK leg of her The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour in 2014. Bailey's winner's single "Skyscraper" was released on 16 December, the day after she won, On 24 November, it was revealed that the winner's single, like Arthur's, would be a charity release to raise money for Together for Short Lives, and also the Great Ormond Street Hospital. If Nicholas McDonald had won, he would have released "Superman (It's Not Easy)" as his winner's single. ==Reception==

Ratings The series launch on 31 August 2013 received average overnight ratings of 8.78 million, a 40% share of the viewing audience at that time, and peaked at 9.08 million. The average rating was 680,000 more viewers than the series 9 launch, but still 2.5 million fewer than the series 8 launch. The ratings for the third Saturday show were up on the second by 710,000, with an average overnight rating of 8.65 million. The final weekend of auditions saw viewers decrease by around 200,000 on the Saturday, However, fans questioned the exclusion of winners Steve Brookstein, Leon Jackson and Matt Cardle, and successful contestants Diana Vickers, Jedward, and Rebecca Ferguson. Cardle's manager Will Talbot said that he believed the show was "attempting to erase Matt from the history books. [...] In truth, it pretty much sums up Syco's attitude to him during the months after he inconveniently (for them) won the show. Unfortunately there is a misconception that Matt has slagged off the show and fallen out with Sony but this is not true." Cardle later described being omitted from the advert as "disappointing", especially for fans who would have liked to have seen him in it. Melanie C, who has collaborated with Cardle, was more critical, saying: "I think it's really f****** rude the way they have left him out." Format changes The change to the format of the auditions was criticised by Alex Fletcher from entertainment news website Digital Spy, who said he could not see the logic in having auditions broadcast on both Saturdays and Sundays, as complaints from series 9 were not about needing extra auditions, but about "dour judges" and "underwhelming finalists". He praised the return of the audition room but felt that "the producers and [Simon] Cowell evidently weren't confident in the format change and have kept the arena auditions as an extra second round," stating that the Bootcamp stage of the competition could have been used to show "how the acts cope under pressure with a live audience," adding that "the Sunday show feels like a bit of a formality" He wondered if the change was a "desperate attempt to create interest in a series that has performed solidly in the ratings, but without creating any real talking points or memorable moments", Contestant Lydia Lucy, who was initially chosen to be in Scherzinger's final six but was replaced by Abi Alton, said, "It still hasn't sunk in. I've been absolutely devastated. [...] If Simon Cowell was in front of me now I'd tell him to change the format back to how it was. This way is like dangling a carrot in front of someone and then taking it away." The new "flash vote" twist during the live shows was met negatively by Lorna Simpson, who was the first contestant to be eliminated. Simpson said it was unfair that she had far less time to prepare than fellow sing-off contestant Shelley Smith, claiming "They set me up to go out in the first week". It was reported that Cowell was planning to axe the flash vote after The X Factor was heavily beaten by Strictly Come Dancing in the ratings for the second live show. The flash vote was not used in week 4 due to a performance at the start of the show by Nile Rodgers and Chic, The flash vote was not used again after week 3. Contestants Before judges' houses, urban act Code 4 had to drop one of their members, Mark Wyman, after it emerged that he had a criminal record, and a spokesman for The X Factor said, "Unfortunately due to problems in getting a visa Mark was unable to travel to Judges' Houses in America, meaning that he ended up having to leave the band to carry on in the competition as a three piece." Code 4 did not make it to the live shows. Three-piece band Rough Copy also had to lose member Kazeem "Kaz" Ajobe before the six-chair challenge due to visa problems. The same had happened to the group in series 9, but this year the other two members, Sterling Ramsay and Joey James, continued without Ajobe and advanced to judges' houses as a duo. and Barlow could have stayed in the United Kingdom, the latter sentiment to which Barlow admitted to Ajobe he should have done during the judges' houses episodes. Barlow put Rough Copy through to the live shows and Ajobe was allowed to rejoin the band. Furthermore, just after Ajobe was reinstated, controversy was caused when his criminal past was publicised. Ajobe responded by stating: "I've done things I am not proud of. I haven't been an angel but I am a changed man now." There was criticism over SeSe Foster of Miss Dynamix being allowed to compete in the show, because she was five months pregnant when the live shows began. Some viewers also thought it was unfair that Miss Dynamix got an automatic bye to the next week when Foster collapsed before the second live show. Foster dismissed this, saying that she "deserve[s] a shot at a better life" and insisted her collapse was not related to her pregnancy. The following week, Miss Dynamix were eliminated after losing the flash-vote and the sing-off to Hannah Barrett. Following this, Barlow stated that he felt that all public hopes of the group continuing in the competition had ended with their absence in week 2, despite him previously hoping that Foster's collapse would have gained more sympathy for them from the public. On 28 October, Cowell posted a tweet on his Twitter account expressing his disapproval of the week 3 result, stating that he would have voted to save Miss Dynamix if he was a judge on the series at the time. Judges' comments Some viewers were shocked by a comment made by Osbourne following 16-year-old Nicholas McDonald's performance of "She's the One" during the second live show. As McDonald got to the end of the song, a female backing dancer walked towards him and he kissed her cheek after the song finished. Despite the minimum age of sexual consent in the United Kingdom and the Crown Dependencies standing at 16, Osbourne then said to McDonald, who was 16 and therefore legal, "Who on earth was that piece of whatever next to you? That paedophile. You're only 16. You can't be doing that. That's a disgrace ITV." The dancer declined to comment, but a source close to her said that she was embarrassed by Osbourne's comment. Guest performances Ofcom received around 200 complaints about Lady Gaga's performance, including her costume and lyrics, during the third results show on 27 October 2013. ITV received 60 complaints directly. Lady Gaga wore nude-coloured underwear and her lyrics included "do what you want with my body". A spokeswoman for ITV said, "We do not believe Lady Gaga's performance was inappropriate for the family audience of The X Factor results show, which has an established tradition of featuring performances from the biggest music stars. Lady Gaga is well known for her highly individual performance style." On 16 December, both Gaga and Thicke were cleared of any wrongdoing, with an Ofcom spokesman stating, "We assessed the complaints and concluded there were no grounds to investigate." when Jedward's voices could be heard as they completed a microphone test. The duet was panned by viewers who accused Scherzinger of being "selfish" by singing the "best" lines and notes of the song. ==References==