Faktor A


Faktor A is the second Russian version of The X Factor television talent show franchise. Having broadcast on Rossiya 1 from 2011 to 2013, the show is named Faktor A, with the letter "A" chosen in honor of Alla Pugacheva, head of the jury. Faktor A debuted in 2011 as a new season 1.
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''Sekret Uspekha'' (2005, 2007)

Faktor A is considered a continuation of an earlier Russian show Sekret Uspekha, which was broadcast on Russia's RTR television station in contrast to Faktor A, courtesy of Russia-1.
There were two seasons of Sekret Uspekha. The first was in 2005 and the title was won by Vladimir Sapovsky. A second season was broadcast in 2007, and the title won by Nikolay Timokhin. The show was cancelled after two seasons because of the insufficient number of viewers.
Although similar in format, the new show Faktor A was considered a whole new series with season 1 starting in April 2011.

Series overview

Season 1 (2011)

The new Faktor A show's main purpose was to find new singing talent. Contestants were chosen through public auditions. The show was hosted by Philipp Kirkorov and Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The jury was made up of Lolita Milyavskaya, Boris Krasnov and Roman Emelyanov. Alla Pugacheva served as chairman of the jury. Milyavskya was the mentor for contestants aged 16 to 24, Krasnov for contestants over the age of 25, and Emelyanov for duos groups.
The auditions were held on 23 and 24 March 2011 in Moscow's Malaya Luzhniki Sports Arena. Then each judge selected their best three performers after trials from 25–27 March 2011.

Categories

The competition was split into three categories:
  • Singers aged 16 to 24
  • Singers over 25
  • Groups.
Each judge was assigned a particular category and was entrusted to mentor the competitors in that specific category.

Shows

  • Show 1 - first stage of auditions
  • Show 2 - second stage of auditions and deciding the 9 finalist
  • Show 3 - first live show
  • Show 4 - second live show. Vladislav Tumanov originating from Ekaterinburg was eliminated finishing 9th
  • Show 5 - third live show. Philip Krishkov originating from Moscow was eliminated finishing 8th
  • Show 6 - fourth live show. Group Шестое чувство from Moscow eliminated finishing 7th.
  • Show 7 - fifth live show. The duo ДаКи from Kaluga were eliminated finishing 6th.
  • Show 8 - sixth live show. Through public vote, "Mark Twain" and Victoria Cherentsova were voted bottom two by the public. But Alla Pugacheva decided to keep both in competition.
  • Show 9 - seventh live show. After the decision of the previous week to save both bottom 2 from elimination, it was agreed that two contestants would be eliminated at the end of show 9 from a bottom three announced. The bottom three were: Group Mark Twain, and contestants Sergei Savin and Victoria Cherentsova. Then it was announced that Mark Twain had received the fewest votes and was eliminated first 5th. Eventually Victoria Cherentsova was eliminated finishing 4th. Sergei Savin moves to Final 3.
  • Show 10 - eighth live show - the final show. After all the participants opened the show with a collective song, the two finalists Erkin Holmatov and Sergei Savin sang a duet, as well as two solo songs each. The winner of the project was determined by public voting and by voting by judges Boris Krasnov, Lolita and Roman Emelyanov and Alla Pugacheva and the audience. As a result, on the final results show on June 11, 2011, Sergei Savin was announced winner of the inaugural season, and Erkin Holmatov as runner-up.

Final classification

  1. Sergei Savin - Winner
  2. Erkin Holmatov - Runner-Up
  3. Artyom Kacharyan
  4. Victoria Cherentsova
  5. Group Марк Твен
  6. Duo ДаКи
  7. Шестое чувство
  8. Philip Kruzhkov
  9. Vladislav Tumanov

Prizes

Sergei Savin, who won the inaugural season, received a record deal for a solo album, a shooting of a music video and appearing on rotation on Russian radio station Avtoradio. The runner-up Erkin Holmatov received a cash prize of 30,000 Euros, the special prize "Golden Star of Alla" from main judge Alla Pugacheva, a 5-year scholarship to a music school in Gnessin.