The live shows began on 11 October 2008 and continued through to the finale on 13 December 2008. An added twist for this series, confirmed on the first live show, was that acts in the bottom-two showdown sang a new song of their own choosing, rather than repeating the song they performed in the first part of the show.
Musical guests Leon Jackson performed on the first live show, promoting his second single "
Don't Call This Love".
Girls Aloud performed their new single "
The Promise" on the second show on 18 October.
Will Young performed his new song "
Grace" on 1 November.
Mariah Carey appeared on 8 November and performed her new single "
I Stay in Love", plus a special version of "
Hero" with 11 of the finalists (Diana Vickers was ill with
laryngitis so could not perform).
Leona Lewis appeared the week after and performed her new single "
Run".
Take That performed on 22 November show, as did series 4 contestant
Same Difference, who performed their debut single, and series 4 runner-up
Rhydian Roberts, who sang a track from his debut album. On 29 November show, in the main programme
Miley Cyrus performed her single "
7 Things", whereas
Britney Spears performed her new single "
Womanizer" during the result show. On 6 December show,
Il Divo sung their latest single "
Amazing Grace" from their new album.
Boyzone,
Westlife, and
Beyoncé were guests on the final show where they duetted with the finalists, with Knowles performing "
Listen" with Alexandra Burke. Beyoncé also performed "
If I Were a Boy" in the final result show.
Results summary ;Colour key Act in Boys Act in Girls Act in Over 25s Act in Groups The total number of votes cast for the entire series was 16,469,064. Due to illness, Diana Vickers did not perform during week 5 and automatically advanced to week 6. Minogue was not required to vote as there was already a majority.
Live show details Week 1 (11 October) • Theme: UK or USA number-one singles • Musical guest:
Leon Jackson ("
Don't Call This Love") • Best bits song: "
Never Had a Dream Come True" ;Judges' votes to eliminate: • Cowell: Bad Lashes – gave no reason but described both acts as "shocking"; he later stated on
The Xtra Factor that he felt Girlband had shown more emotion in their final showdown performance due to being shown in an earlier slot to be overlooked by the public. • Cole: Girlband – gave no reason. • Minogue: Girlband – gave no reason. • Walsh: Bad Lashes – could not decide between two of his own acts 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. Bad Lashes were eliminated as the act with the fewest public votes.
Week 2 (18 October) • Theme:
Michael Jackson • Musical guest:
Girls Aloud ("
The Promise") • Best bits song: "
I’ll Stand by You" ;Judges' votes to eliminate: • Walsh: Ruth Lorenzo – backed his own act, Girlband. • Minogue: Girlband – backed her own act, Ruth Lorenzo. • Cole: Girlband – based on the final showdown performances. • Cowell: Ruth Lorenzo – sent the result to deadlock as he wanted to give Girlband a second chance whereas he felt Lorenzo did not "play to her strengths". With the acts in the bottom two receiving two votes each, the result went to deadlock and reverted to the earlier public vote. Girlband were eliminated as the act with the fewest public votes. During the show, a mistake was made in one of the overlays and Lorenzo's number was briefly displayed incorrectly, meaning any calls to that number would not have registered a vote. After the show, viewers complained that they had dialled this incorrect number and could not get through to vote for Lorenzo, but ITV insisted the issue should not have made any difference to the overall result as Lorenzo received more votes than Girlband and advanced to the third week after the result went to deadlock.
Week 3 (25 October) • Theme:
Big band • Group performance: "
Hero" • Best Bits song: "
Shine" ;Judges' votes to eliminate: • Cowell: Daniel Evans – backed his own act, Scott Bruton. • Cole: Scott Bruton – said that she felt the "belief and passion" in Evans' performance. • Minogue: Scott Bruton – backed her own act, Daniel Evans, whom she stated sang the best in the sing off. • Walsh: Scott Bruton – commented that Evans "sang every word like he meant it".
Week 4 (1 November) • Theme:
Disco • Musical guest:
Will Young ("
Grace") • Best Bits song: "
Rule the World" ;Judges' votes to eliminate: • Cowell: Rachel Hylton – backed his own act, Austin Drage. • Cole: Austin Drage – stated she was prepared to give Hylton a "moment to shine". • Minogue: Austin Drage – backed her own act, Rachel Hylton. • Walsh: Austin Drage – said Hylton had more to give to the competition and was more of a "raw talent". However, voting statistics revealed that Drage received more votes than Hylton which meant that if Walsh sent the result to deadlock, Drage would have been saved.
Week 5 (8 November) • Theme:
Mariah Carey • Guest Mentor: Mariah Carey • Musical guest: Mariah Carey ("
I Stay in Love" / "
Hero") • Best Bits song: "
A Moment Like This" Due to illness, Diana Vickers did not perform and automatically advanced to the following week. She was due to perform fifth and would have performed "
Always Be My Baby". ;Judges' votes to eliminate: • Cowell: Laura White – gave no reason but commented that both acts "were not the worst singers of the night". • Cole: Ruth Lorenzo – backed her own act, Laura White. • Minogue: Laura White – backed her own act, Ruth Lorenzo. • Walsh: Laura White – commented that Lorenzo was "more of a fighter". However, voting statistics revealed that White received more votes than Lorenzo which meant that if Walsh sent the result to deadlock, White would have been saved.
Week 6 (15 November) • Theme:
British classics • Musical guest:
Leona Lewis ("
Run") • Best Bits song: "
Footprints in the Sand" ;Judges' votes to eliminate: • Walsh: Daniel Evans – gave no reason but had constantly criticised Evans throughout the competition. • Cole: Daniel Evans – stated that she had seen a spark back from Hylton this week. • Cowell: Daniel Evans – gave no reason though commented that Hylton "threw it away" with her last performance and that he would have liked to see her perform with more passion; he later stated on
The Xtra Factor that he wanted to save Hylton as she was one of his favorite acts in the competition. • Minogue was not required to vote as there was already a majority; she stated she would have chosen to take the vote to deadlock as both acts were in her category. However, voting statistics revealed than Evans received more votes than Hylton which meant that if the result went to deadlock, Evans would have been saved.
Week 7 (22 November) • Theme:
Take That • Guest Mentors: Gary Barlow & Mark Owen • Musical guests: Take That ("
Greatest Day"),
Same Difference ("
We R One") and
Rhydian ("
The Impossible Dream") • Best Bits song: "
When You Believe" ;Judges' votes to eliminate • Walsh: Rachel Hylton – backed his own act, JLS. • Minogue: JLS – gave no reason but effectively backed her own act, Rachel Hylton. • Cole: Rachel Hylton – said JLS would go further in the competition though stated that it had been the best Hylton had sung since the auditions. • Cowell: Rachel Hylton – stated that this was Hylton's third time in the bottom two and that JLS should not have been in the final showdown. JLS had previously been rehearsing to sing "Rule the World", with the approval of their mentor, Walsh. Contrary to this, Minogue, who had higher priority in the judges' song-selection rota, selected the song for her artist Hylton to sing. This led to an on-screen argument between Minogue and Walsh.
Week 8: Quarter-Final (29 November) • Themes:
Britney Spears;
American classics • Musical guests:
Miley Cyrus ("
7 Things") and
Britney Spears ("
Womanizer") • Best Bits song: "
Don't Wanna Lose You" The quarter-final did not feature a final showdown and instead the act with the fewest public votes, Ruth Lorenzo, was automatically eliminated.
Week 9: Semi-Final (6 December) • Themes: Mentor's choice; contestant's choice • Musical guest:
Il Divo ("
Amazing Grace") • Best bits song: "
Breakaway" The semi-final did not feature a final showdown and instead the act with the fewest public votes, Diana Vickers, was automatically eliminated.
Week 10: Final (13 December) • Themes: Christmas songs; celebrity duets; song of the series; winner's single • Group performances: "
I Have a Dream" (auditionees) and "
Ain't No Mountain High Enough" (all contestants) • Musical guest:
Beyoncé ("
If I Were a Boy") • Best bits songs: "
All or Nothing" (Eoghan Quigg), "
End of the Road" (JLS) & "
The Voice Within" (Alexandra Burke) ==Charity single==