The X Factor (British TV series) series 8

The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. The eighth series aired on ITV on 20 August 2011 and ended on 11 December 2011. Dermot O'Leary hosted the main show on ITV, while Caroline Flack and series 6 runner-up Olly Murs co-presented the spin-off show The Xtra Factor on ITV2. Louis Walsh returned to the judging panel and was joined by Gary Barlow, Kelly Rowland and Tulisa. Barlow, Rowland, Tulisa joined the panel replacing judges, Simon Cowell, Dannii Minogue and Cheryl Cole. Series 5 winner Alexandra Burke served as a guest judge for week 4 of the live shows due to Rowland having a throat infection.
Little Mix, a British four-piece girl group known earlier in the show as Rhythmix, was the first group to win the series. The group consisting of members Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Jesy Nelson, and Perrie Edwards, and Jade Thirlwall, all auditioned as solo artists before being put together as a group by the judges. They went on to become the first girl group to make it past week seven of the live shows, the first girl group to reach the finals and the first girl group to win the show. The eighth series also won Most Popular Talent Show at the 17th National Television Awards on 25 January 2012.

Judges, Presenters and Other Personnel

On 5 May 2011, it was announced that Simon Cowell and Cheryl Cole would not return as judges for the eighth series to work on the first season of The X Factor USA. On 14 May 2011, Dannii Minogue announced that she would not be returning either, due to a clash with Australia's Got Talent, another show for which she judges. Of her decision, Minogue said, "During discussions for me to return to The X Factor it became clear that unfortunately, this year, The X Factor audition dates in the UK clash with the live shows of Australia's Got Talent during June and July. For this reason I am unable to return".
After Cowell and Cole announced their departures, a number of celebrities were linked to the judging role including Frankie Sandford, Alesha Dixon, Lily Allen, and Noel Gallagher. On 9 May 2011, five days before Minogue announced her departure, news broke that Cowell had offered his seat to Gary Barlow of Take That, though his contract was not finalised. Following Minogue's announcement, it was reported that Tulisa from N-Dubz had been in talks with producers to take on a judging role to replace Cole. It was also suggested that Kelly Rowland, formerly of Destiny's Child, was in discussions to take a seat on the judging panel for Minogue's replacement. Although Cole briefly served as a judge on the 2011 USA season panel, she was dropped from the 2011 USA season panel and Cowell gave her the option to return to the 2011 UK series judging panel. However, she later rejected his offer due to her being dropped from the USA show and unwillingness to be a judge on the UK show without Cowell. On 30 May 2011, the judging line-up was confirmed as Louis Walsh, Barlow, Tulisa and Rowland. Barlow said that he was "extremely excited" to work on the show, and hoped to find a global superstar. Tulisa hoped to "bring something fresh and new to the panel", promising to speak her mind. Rowland wanted an "opportunity to hear a few diamonds in the rough" and said she would be "sternly honest". In week 4 of the live shows on 29 and 30 October, Rowland was unable to attend due to a throat infection so series 5 winner Alexandra Burke took her place as an extra judge on the panel.
In February 2011, Konnie Huq, who presented spin-off series The Xtra Factor for series 7, was told that her contract would not be renewed. Matt Edmondson, Sandford, Kimberley Walsh, and series 6 contestant Stacey Solomon were all rumoured to be in the running, but it was confirmed on 31 May 2011 that Caroline Flack would co-present The Xtra Factor with series 6 runner-up Olly Murs.

Selection process

Applications and auditions

The first appeal for applicants for series 8 was broadcast during series 7 on 11 December 2010. For the first time, contestants could upload a video to YouTube. Auditions in front of the judges for series 8 took place in Cardiff, London, Glasgow, Liverpool, Birmingham and Manchester. It was the first time auditions had taken place in Liverpool, and the city replaced Dublin, where auditions were held in 2010.
The auditions started in Birmingham's LG Arena on 1 and 2 June. They then took place in Glasgow's SEC Centre on 6 June and continued in Manchester's Event City on 12, 13 and 14 June. More auditions took place at Cardiff's International Arena on 29 June, and at London's O2 on 6, 7 and 8 July, and finished in Liverpool's Echo Arena on 13 and 14 July. The Manchester auditions were postponed from 18 to 20 May.
London and Birmingham auditions were broadcast during the first episode on 20 August 2011. More of the London auditions, as well as the Liverpool and Manchester auditions, aired on 27 August 2011. On 3 September, the Glasgow auditions and more from London were shown. More auditions from Manchester, Birmingham and London were broadcast during the 10 September episode. More from London, plus the Manchester and Glasgow auditions were broadcast in the 11 September episode. The 17 September episode showed more auditions from Liverpool, Cardiff, London, Glasgow and Manchester. The final auditions aired on 18 September, and featured auditions from Liverpool, London and Cardiff.

City	Date	Venue	Changes to the judging line-up
Birmingham	1–2 June 2011	LG Arena	rowspan="4"
Glasgow	6 June 2011	SEC Centre	-
Manchester	12–14 June 2011	EventCity	-
Cardiff	29 June 2011	International Arena	-
London	6–8 July 2011	The O₂ Arena	Gary Barlow absent
Liverpool	13–14 July 2011	Echo Arena

Bootcamp

Bootcamp started on 18 August 2011. The first episode of bootcamp was broadcast on 24 September 2011. It showed 191 acts attending a pre-bootcamp party at The Selsdon Park Hotel in Croydon, while the judges reviewed their auditions to see if there were some acts they wanted to cut before bootcamp started. They cut 39 acts, leaving 152. The acts were split into 30 groups in which to perform at Wembley Arena, and each group was given one of six songs by the judges: "You've Got the Love", "Breakeven", "Price Tag", "Born This Way", "Forget You" or "Firework". The judges then went on to cut over 80 acts, but called back some soloists, who were asked if they were interested in being in a group. All agreed and were workshopped to see which singers would work well together. They formed six new groups: Nu Vibe, Faux Pas, The Lovettes, The Risk, Misfits and Orion. The second episode was broadcast on 25 September 2011. In that episode, the 61 remaining acts including the new groups were then given the task of learning one song, 'making it their own' and performing it in front of a live audience, the second time bootcamp was open to an audience. The judges then chose the final 32 acts for judges' houses, based on these performances. However, they chose only 31 acts, including three of the new groups, and the final group, four-piece girl group Rhythmix, was made from two members each from Faux Pas and Orion.

Judges' houses

Judges' houses, the final part of the selection process, was filmed in September. Judges were given their categories in late August. Barlow mentored the Boys, Rowland the Girls, Walsh the Over 25s, and Tulisa the Groups. Robbie Williams joined Barlow in Los Angeles, Jennifer Hudson assisted Rowland in Miami, Walsh was accompanied by Sinitta in Barcelona, and Tulisa received help from Jessie J in Mykonos. At judges' houses each act performed two songs for their mentor and his/her guest judge, although only one song was mentioned and shown on the main show, with the other song shown on The Xtra Factor instead.
Sian Phillips was originally selected for the judges' houses, but due to visa issues, she was unable to travel to Miami and was thus replaced by Sarah Watson in the Girls category.
; Judges Houses Performances

Act in bold advanced

Groups:

The Keys: "Best Thing I Never Had"
The Estrelles: "Love the Way You Lie"
Girl v Boy: "Use Somebody"
The Lovettes:"Forever Is Over"
The Risk: "No Air"
2 Shoes: "Tik Tok"
Nu Vibe: "Written in the Stars"
Rhythmix: "Big Girls Don't Cry"

Girls:

Amelia: "E.T."
Jade: "I Can't Make You Love Me"
Sophie: "He Won't Go"
Sarah: "Knock You Down"
Melanie: "Grenade"
Holly: "For the First Time"
Misha: "Fly"
Janet: "Beautiful"

Over 25s

Johnny: "Love Is a Losing Game"
Sami: "Empire State of Mind Broken Down"
Terry: "Handbags & Gladrags"
Carolynne: "Need You Now"
Joseph: "Just the Way You Are"
Goldie: "On the Floor"
Jonjo: "Don't You Remember?"
Kitty: "Beautiful Disaster"

Boys:

Frankie: "What's My Name?"
John: "Promise This"
Joe: "Knockin' on Heaven's Door"
James: "Skinny Love"
Max: "The Only Exception"
Luke: "Impossible"
Marcus: "One Big Family"
Craig: "Halo"

Judge	Category	Location	Assistant	Acts Eliminated
Gary Barlow	Boys	Los Angeles	Robbie Williams	Joe Cox, Luke Lucas, Max Vickers, John Wilding
Tulisa	Groups	Mykonos	Jessie J	Girl v Boy, The Estrelles, The Keys, The Lovettes
Kelly Rowland	Girls	Miami	Jennifer Hudson	Melanie McCabe, Holly Repton, Jade Richards, Sarah Watson
Louis Walsh	Over 25s	Barcelona	Sinitta	Sami Brookes, Joseph Gilligan, Carolynne Poole, Terry Winstanley

Tulisa appeared to eliminate both The Risk and The Keys at the end of the judges' houses stage, only to later call back three members of The Risk and one member of The Keys to form a new supergroup under the former group's name.
Goldie Cheung was initially put through to the finals by Walsh, but pulled out of the competition at the end of the judges' houses stage, stating that she did not want to be away from her family. Sami Brookes, who had initially not made it through, took her place in the live shows.