The X-Factor: the biggest show on television
Ever since Popstars aired on UK channel ITV in 2001, reality TV singing competitions have been big business. Since then, we’ve had Popstars: The Rivals and Pop Idol, the latter featuring Simon Cowell’s first appearance as a judge. However, none of these shows have matched the success of Cowell’s own creation, The X Factor. While the Popstars brand launched Girls Aloud, and Pop Idol discovered Will Young, The X Factor has sparked the careers of Leona Lewis, Alexandra Burke, JLS, Shayne Ward, Leon Jackson and West End musical star Ray Quinn, amongst others. The X Factor has seen a total of 15 UK number one singles from previous contestants, and is now a worldwide international franchise which has just embarked on its seventh series in the UK.
In the first five series of the flagship UK show, the initial audition stages saw contestants perform to a panel of judges. However, following the success of Cowell’s other venture, Britain’s Got Talent, the format was changed to include a live audience during the audition stage. Series six was a huge success, despite failing to secure the Christmas number one for the first time. The series attracted over 200,000 auditionees, with audience figures peaking at 19.7 million UK viewers, and saw over 10 million votes cast during the live final.
Since the show began in 2004, it has seen a variety of different celebrities sit on the panel of judges. Ever present, of course, has been Simon Cowell, the show’s creator, owner and chief driving force. Louis Walsh has also worked alongside Cowell for the entire run, but was briefly fired after the third series. Cowell decided to shake things up, and replaced Walsh with American choreographer Brian Friedman. However, Cowell quickly realised that the new line up wasn’t working, and Walsh was promptly reinstated, with Friedman returning to his role as Creative Director.
The show began with three judges – Cowell, Walsh and Sharon Osbourne, wife of legendary rocker Ozzy Osbourne – but the number increased during Cowell’s shake up, with Australian Dannii Minogue taking the newly-created fourth spot. Rumours of a fierce rivalry between Dannii and Sharon persisted throughout series four, which intensified after Dannii became the first female judge to win with her chosen act, Leon Jackson. Osbourne failed to return for series five, and Girls Aloud singer Cheryl Cole stepped into her shoes. Since taking the role, Cheryl has won both series in which she has adjudicated, as mentor to Alexandra Burke and Joe McElderry respectively.
Although series six was a ratings success, a growing backlash against the show culminated in a Facebook campaign to install Rage Against The Machine’s ‘Killing in the Name’ as Christmas number one, at the expense of the show’s winner. The campaign was successful, with Joe McElderry pipped into second place, and leading some to speculate about whether the show’s star was on the wane.
However, with series seven just getting underway, it doesn’t look like the show will be losing its exposure or any audience share just yet. In fact, with the franchise about to launch in the US, it seems that the demise of The X Factor has been much exaggerated. If the show pulls out another Christmas number one in 2010, expect it to continue for a long time to come.
