The X Factor (British TV series) series 2
The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. The second series ran from 20 August to 17 December 2005. Shayne Ward became the winner and Louis Walsh emerged as the winning mentor. The second series was longer than the first, with seven acts in each of the three categories going to the judges' homes, and 12 acts in the finals instead of 9. Kate Thornton returned as presenter of the main show on ITV and Ben Shephard presented the spin-off show The Xtra Factor on ITV2, while Simon Cowell, Sharon Osbourne and Walsh returned as judges. 75,000 people auditioned for the series.
On the back of their performances and popularity in the competition, Ward, Andy Abraham, Journey South and Maria Lawson landed recording contracts. Chico Slimani also released a single which topped the UK Singles Chart.
Aired on 24 September 2005, the mentoring selection was made, with Cowell in charge of Groups, Osbourne with the 25 and overs and Walsh managing the 16–24s. The bootcamp stages were shown on 1 October 2005, and those who got through were taken to the "judges' homes".
Judges, Presenters and Other Personnel
Simon Cowell, Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh returned as judges, quashing rumours that Osbourne and Walsh might not return for financial reasons. Kate Thornton also returned as presenter of the main show on ITV and Ben Shephard returned as presenter of spin-off show The Xtra Factor on ITV2. Yvie Burnett joined the show as vocal coach.Selection process
The auditions episodes were broadcast on 20 August 27 August 3 September 10 September 17 and 24 September 2005. The first two episodes of Bootcamp aired on 1 October 2005 and the last two the following week on 8 October 2005.;Bootcamp Tasks per Category:
16-24s:
Location: artsdepot
Task 1 Songs:
Task 2 Songs:
The 21 remaining contestants in the 16-24s category were divided into three groups of 7 with one song in each of the groups. Each contestant then performed their chosen song solo in front of Louis and his team. The songs were.
Groups:
Location: An Manor House within the
Oxfordshire countryside.
Task 1: Perform both an uptempo and a slow song to show versatility.
Task 2: Learn one song of their choice within an hour and then perform it to Simon and his team.
Over 25s:
Location: Café de Paris
Task 1: Perform a song of their choice to Sharon and the rest of the contestants.
Task 2: Choose a song from a list of five and learn it overnight to perform for a place in Judges Houses. The songs performed during this round were:
- "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me"
- "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me"
- "Walk on By"
- "I Only Want to Be with You"
- Last song Not mentioned
- Contestant highlighted in bold advanced.
- Richie: "One"
- Haifa: "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher"Andy: "My Cherie Amour" Brenda: "I Just Want to Make Love to You"
- Joanne: "Right Here Waiting" Chico: "Livin' la Vida Loca"
- The Brothers: "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted" 4Tune: "I Don't Want to Talk About It"
- 4th Base: "Your Song" The Conway Sisters: "You Raise Me Up"
- Eskimo Blonde: "Total Eclipse of the Heart" Journey South: "Desperado" Addictiv Ladies: "Wishing on a Star"
- James: "Lately"
- Alexandra: "Almaz" Chenai: "I'm Still Waiting" Phillip: "Don't Forget to Remember" Nicholas: "You Make Me Feel Brand New"
- Trevor: "This Is the Moment"
| Judge | Category | Location | Acts Eliminated |
| Cowell | Groups | Marbella | 4th Base Eskimo Blonde The Brothers |
| Osbourne | Over 25s | Beverly Hills | Richie Glynn Joanne Hindley Haifa Kayali |
| Walsh | 16-24s | Dublin | James Bellamy Alexandra Burke Trevor Hodgson |
Acts
Key:| Act | Age | Hometown | Category | Result |
| Shayne Ward | 21 | Manchester | 16-24s | Winner |
| Andy Abraham | 41 | North London | Over 25s | Runner-up |
| Journey South | 25 & 30 | Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire | Groups | 3rd place |
| Brenda Edwards | 36 | Luton | Over 25s | 4th place |
| Chico Slimani | 34 | Bridgend | Over 25s | 5th place |
| The Conway Sisters | 17-28 | County Sligo, Ireland | Groups | 6th place |
| Nicholas Dorsett | 18 | London Borough of Enfield | 16-24s | 7th place |
| Maria Lawson | 26 | London | Over 25s | 8th place |
| Chenai Zinyuku | 19 | Bradford | 16-24s | 9th place |
| Phillip Magee | 21 | Larne | 16-24s | 10th place |
| 4Tune | 18-21 | Southampton | Groups | 11th place |
| Addictiv Ladies | 16-17 | London | Groups | 12th place |
Live shows
The live shows began on 15 October 2005, and the final was broadcast live on 17 December 2005.Results summary
;Colour keyAct in 16-24s
Act in Over 25s
Act in Groups
For the only time in The X Factor history, a judge made an unforced decision to eliminate one of their own acts over another judge's act.
Walsh was not required to vote as there was a majority.
In Lawson's 2008 autobiography, Life Starts Now, she revealed she had topped the vote the week before her elimination.
According to voting figures published in the Sunday Mirror, Lawson turned out to have received twice as many public votes as the Conway Sisters.
Some of the voting results were also published in the same edition of the Sunday Mirror, the full voting results of the sixth week, Dorsett turned out to have topped the fifth week, Abraham topped the first, third and sixth weeks and Ward topped the second week.
Thornton said just before the winner was announced, that there was a 1.2% voting difference between Ward and Abraham.
Live show details
Week 1 (15 October)
- Best bits song: "That's What Friends Are For"
| Act | Order | Song | Result |
| Addictiv Ladies | 1 | "Superstar" | Eliminated |
| Shayne Ward | 2 | "Right Here Waiting" | Safe |
| Chico Slimani | 3 | "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" | Bottom Two |
| Journey South | 4 | "Something About the Way You Look Tonight" | Safe |
| Phillip Magee | 5 | "Amazed" | Safe |
| Brenda Edwards | 6 | "Son of a Preacher Man" | Safe |
| The Conway Sisters | 7 | "SOS" | Safe |
| Nicholas Dorsett | 8 | "On the Wings of Love" | Safe |
| Maria Lawson | 9 | "Emotion" | Safe |
| 4Tune | 10 | "I Want It That Way" | Safe |
| Chenai Zinyuku | 11 | "The Closest Thing to Crazy" | Safe |
| Andy Abraham | 12 | "Greatest Love of All" | Safe |
;Judges' votes to eliminate:
- Cowell: Chico Slimani – said that the judges had to pick the real talent over a "joke act", effectively backing his own act, Addictiv Ladies.
- Osbourne: Addictiv Ladies – backed her own act, Chico Slimani, whose performance she said was more exciting.
- Walsh: Addictiv Ladies – said that Slimani had the whole entertainment package.
Week 2 (22 October)
- Best bits song: "You Are Not Alone"
| Act | Order | Song | Result |
| Andy Abraham | 1 | "You to Me Are Everything" | Safe |
| Chenai Zinyuku | 2 | "Young Hearts Run Free" | Bottom Two |
| 4Tune | 3 | "I'll Be There" | Eliminated |
| Chico Slimani | 4 | "Play That Funky Music" | Safe |
| Nicholas Dorsett | 5 | "Let's Get It On" | Safe |
| The Conway Sisters | 6 | "You Raise Me Up" | Safe |
| Maria Lawson | 7 | "The Way You Make Me Feel" | Safe |
| Phillip Magee | 8 | "Wind Beneath My Wings" | Safe |
| Journey South | 9 | "Desperado" | Safe |
| Brenda Edwards | 10 | "Rescue Me" | Safe |
| Shayne Ward | 11 | "If You're Not the One" | Safe |
;Judges' votes to eliminate:
- Cowell: Chenai Zinyuku – gave no reason, though effectively backed his own act, 4Tune.
- Walsh: 4Tune – gave no reason, though effectively backed his own act, Chenai Zinyuku.
- Osbourne: 4Tune – appeared to have a hard time deciding which act to eliminate, especially since she had previously eliminated Zinyuku at judges' houses in series 1. Thornton told Osbourne that if she did not vote within the allotted time, the result would go to deadlock and revert to the public vote to decide who would be eliminated. At the last second, Osbourne said Zinyuku's name, but when asked by Thornton to clarify if she was voting to eliminate Zinyuku, she said that she was in fact voting to save Zinyuku.
Week 3 (29 October)
- Best bits song: "Amazed"
| Act | Order | Song | Result |
| Phillip Magee | 1 | "Johnny B. Goode" | Eliminated |
| Brenda Edwards | 2 | "Midnight Train to Georgia" | Safe |
| Shayne Ward | 3 | "Summer of '69" | Safe |
| Chico Slimani | 4 | "Livin' la Vida Loca" | Bottom Two |
| The Conway Sisters | 5 | "Total Eclipse of the Heart" | Safe |
| Chenai Zinyuku | 6 | "Hero" | Safe |
| Andy Abraham | 7 | "Unforgettable" | Safe |
| Journey South | 8 | "Angel of Harlem" | Safe |
| Nicholas Dorsett | 9 | "Let's Stay Together" | Safe |
| Maria Lawson | 10 | "Piece of My Heart" | Safe |
;Judges' votes to eliminate:
- Osbourne: Phillip Magee – gave no reason, though effectively backed her own act, Chico Slimani.
- Walsh: Chico Slimani – gave no reason, though effectively backed his own act, Phillip Magee.
- Cowell: Phillip Magee – he thought the public would want to see Slimani more.
Week 4 (5 November)
- Best bits song: "Wishing on a Star"
| Act | Order | Song | Result |
| Brenda Edwards | 1 | "Somebody Else's Guy" | Safe |
| Nicholas Dorsett | 2 | "I Want You Back" | Bottom Two |
| Andy Abraham | 3 | "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" | Safe |
| Chenai Zinyuku | 4 | "Always on My Mind" | Eliminated |
| Chico Slimani | 5 | "Kiss" | Safe |
| Journey South | 6 | "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" | Safe |
| Maria Lawson | 7 | "You're Beautiful" | Safe |
| Shayne Ward | 8 | "You Make Me Feel Brand New" | Safe |
| The Conway Sisters | 9 | "One Voice" | Safe |
;Judges' votes to eliminate:
- Osbourne: Nicholas Dorsett – said that Zinyku deserved her place in the competition more.
- Cowell: Chenai Zinyuku – said that Dorsett had not been in the bottom two previously and deserved a second chance.
- Walsh: Chenai Zinyuku – said that it was a tough decision to choose between his own acts.
Week 5 (12 November)
- Best bits song: "Didn't We Almost Have It All"
| Act | Order | Song | Result |
| Shayne Ward | 1 | "Cry Me a River" | Safe |
| Maria Lawson | 2 | "Brown Sugar" | Eliminated |
| The Conway Sisters | 3 | "Hold On" | Bottom Two |
| Andy Abraham | 4 | "I'll Make Love to You" | Safe |
| Journey South | 5 | "Livin' on a Prayer" | Safe |
| Chico Slimani | 6 | "Hero" | Safe |
| Nicholas Dorsett | 7 | "I Believe I Can Fly" | Safe |
| Brenda Edwards | 8 | "Heartbreaker" | Safe |
;Judges' votes to eliminate:
- Osbourne: The Conway Sisters – gave no reason, though effectively backed her own act, Maria Lawson.
- Cowell: Maria Lawson – gave no reason, though effectively backed his own act, The Conway Sisters.
- Walsh: Maria Lawson – went with his heart.
However, voting statistics revealed that Lawson received more votes than The Conway Sisters which meant that if the result had reverted back to the public vote, The Conway Sisters would have been eliminated.
Week 6 (19 November)
- Best bits song: "End of the Road"
| Act | Order | Song | Result |
| The Conway Sisters | 1 | "One Moment in Time" | Bottom Two |
| Andy Abraham | 2 | "Me and Mrs. Jones" | Safe |
| Nicholas Dorsett | 3 | "If I Ever Fall in Love" | Eliminated |
| Journey South | 4 | "Angels" | Safe |
| Brenda Edwards | 5 | "Last Dance" | Safe |
| Shayne Ward | 6 | "A Million Love Songs" | Safe |
| Chico Slimani | 7 | "It's Chico Time" | Safe |
;Judges' votes to eliminate:
- Walsh: The Conway Sisters – gave no reason, though effectively backed his own act, Nicholas Dorsett.
- Cowell: Nicholas Dorsett – backed his own act, The Conway Sisters.
- Osbourne: Nicholas Dorsett – gave no reason.
Week 7 (26 November)
- Best bits song: "You Raise Me Up"
| Act | Order | Song | Result |
| Chico Slimani | 1 | "Billie Jean" | Bottom Two |
| The Conway Sisters | 2 | "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" | Eliminated |
| Andy Abraham | 3 | "I Have Nothing" | Safe |
| Shayne Ward | 4 | "I Believe in a Thing Called Love" | Safe |
| Brenda Edwards | 5 | "I Will Always Love You" | Safe |
| Journey South | 6 | "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" | Safe |
;Judges' votes to eliminate:
- Osbourne: The Conway Sisters – gave no reason, though effectively backed her own act, Chico Slimani.
- Cowell: The Conway Sisters – said that both acts deserved to be in the bottom two, but felt Slimani had an entertainment value and voted to eliminate The Conway Sisters despite them being his own act. This became the first time ever in the history of the show that a mentor decided to eliminate his own act over the act from another category.
- Walsh was not required to vote as there was already a majority.
Week 8: Quarter-Final (3 December)
- Best bits song: "Hero"
| Act | Order | First song | Order | Second song | Result |
| Journey South | 1 | "Bad Day" | 6 | "Candle in the Wind" | Safe |
| Chico Slimani | 2 | "I Got You (I Feel Good)" | 7 | "Time Warp" | Eliminated |
| Brenda Edwards | 3 | "I'm Outta Love" | 8 | "I'll Never Love This Way Again" | Safe |
| Shayne Ward | 4 | "Take Your Mama" | 9 | "Careless Whisper" | Safe |
| Andy Abraham | 5 | "Easy Lover" | 10 | "When I Fall in Love" | Safe |
The quarter-final did not feature a final showdown and instead the act with the fewest public votes, Chico Slimani, was automatically eliminated. After his elimination, Slimani reprised his performance of "Time Warp" as his exit song.
Week 9: Semi-Final (10 December)
- Best bits song: "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me"
| Act | Order | First song | Order | Second song | Result |
| Andy Abraham | 1 | "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" | 5 | "Lately" | Safe |
| Journey South | 2 | "You're in My Heart (The Final Acclaim)" | 6 | "Let It Be" | Safe |
| Brenda Edwards | 3 | "Respect" | 7 | "Without You" | Eliminated |
| Shayne Ward | 4 | "If Tomorrow Never Comes" | 8 | "Unchained Melody" | Safe |
The semi-final did not feature a final showdown and instead the act with the fewest public votes, Brenda Edwards, was automatically eliminated. After her elimination, Edwards reprised her performance of "Without You" as her exit song.
Week 10: Final (17 December)
- Themes: No theme; Christmas songs; song of the series; winner's single
- Musical guest: Auditionees
- Finalists Best bits songs: "One", "Greatest Love of All" & "Your Song"
| Act | Order | First song | Order | Second song | Order | Third song | Order | Fourth song | Result |
| Journey South | 1 | "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" | 4 | "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" | 7 | "Let It Be" | N/A | N/A | Eliminated |
| Andy Abraham | 2 | "When a Man Loves a Woman" | 5 | "O Holy Night" | 8 | "Me and Mrs. Jones" | 10 | "That's My Goal" | Runner-Up |
| Shayne Ward | 3 | "If You're Not the One" | 6 | "When a Child Is Born" | 9 | "Over the Rainbow" | 11 | "That's My Goal" | Winner |