X Factor Malta

X Factor Malta is the Maltese version of the British television music competition The X Factor, created by Simon Cowell. The first season premiered on 7 October 2018 and has since been broadcast on Television Malta. The show was used to determine the artist that would represent Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest in and. In July 2020, it was announced that the show would be replaced by Malta's Got Talent, but after a one-year hiatus, a third season began in October 2021. Season four started on 8 October 2023.

Season summary

To date, five seasons have been broadcast, as summarised below.
Contestant in "Ray Mercieca"

Contestant in "Alexandra Alden"

Contestant in "Howard Keith Debono"

Contestant in "Ira Losco"

Contestant in "Ivan Grech"

Contestant in "Philippa Naudi"

Contestant in "Gianluca Bezzina"

Contestant in "Amber Bondin"

Contestant in "Aleandro Spiteri Monsigneur"

Season	Start	Finish	Winner						Main judges
1	7 October 2018	26 January 2019	Michela Pace	Owen Leuellen	Nicole Frendo	Petra Zammit	Howard Keith Debono	Ben Camille	Howard Keith Debono Ira Losco Alexandra Alden Ray Mercieca
2	6 October 2019	8 February 2020	Destiny Chukunyere	Justine Shorfid	F.A.I.T.H	Kyle Cutajar	Ira Losco	Ben Camille	Howard Keith Debono Ira Losco Alexandra Alden Ray Mercieca
3	3 October 2021	12 February 2022	Ryan Hili	Drakard	Lisa Gauci	Cheryl Balzan	Howard Keith Debono	Ben Camille	Howard Keith Debono Ira Losco Ivan Grech Philippa Naudi
4	8 October 2023	11 February 2024	Richard Aquilina	Lapes u Nadine	Shanice Micallef	Amelia Kalabic	Howard Keith Debono	Gianni Zammit	Howard Keith Debono Ira Losco Gianluca Bezzina Amber Bondin
5	11 January 2026							Gianni Zammit	Howard Keith Debono Philippa Naudi Amber Bondin Aleandro Spiteri Monsigneur

Judges' categories and their contestants

In each season, each judge is allocated a category to mentor and chooses three acts to progress to the live finals. This table shows, for each series, which category each judge was allocated and which acts he or she put through to the live finals.
Key:

Season	Howard Keith Debono	Ira Losco	Alexandra Alden	Ray Mercieca
1	Girls Michela Pace Nicole Frendo Kelsey Bellante	Boys Owen Leuellen Luke Chappell Norbert Bondin	Groups 4th Line Xtreme Kayati	Overs Petra Zammit Ben Purplle Franklin Calleja
2	Groups F.A.I.T.H Bloodline Yazmin & James	Girls Destiny Chukunyere Justine Shorfid Jasmine Abela	Overs Celine Agius Paul Anthony Ed Abdilla	Boys Kyle Cutajar Karl Schembri Dav. Jr
Season	Howard Keith Debono	Ira Losco	Philippa Naudi	Ivan Grech
3	Boys Ryan Hili Aidan Drakard Kevin Paul	Overs Cheryl Balzan Audrienne Fenech Jimmy Tyrrell	Groups Ceci & Kriss Soul Tide Beyond	Girls Lisa Gauci Timea Farr Shauna Vassallo
Season	Howard Keith Debono	Ira Losco	Amber Bondin	Gianluca Bezzina
4	Overs Richard Aquilina Rose Marielle Mamaclay Sean Kamati	Groups Lapes & Nadine XO Kelsie & Martina	Boys Isaac Tom Kodin Camilleri Mattia Adduocchio	Girls Shanice Micallef Amelia Kalabic Kristy Spiteri
Season	Howard Keith Debono	Philippa Naudi	Amber Bondin	Aleandro Spiteri Monsigneur
5	Miguel Bonello Amelia Kalabic Lapes & Nadine	Bloodline Lisa Gauci Maya Sesay	Kyle Cutajar Owen Leuellen Rose Marielle Mamaclay	Jasmine Abela Shanice Micallef Shauna Vassallo

Presenter and judges

On 2 July 2018, it was announced that Ben Camille was selected to host the show.
The full judges' panel was revealed on 31 July 2018, and was composed of music producer Howard Keith Debono, The Rifffs' frontman Ray Mercieca, Maltese singer and songwriter Alexandra Alden, and singer/star Ira Losco.
lovinmalta.com Retrieved 9 October 2019

Season 1

Pre-auditions

The first appeal for applicants was made on 26 June 2018, with the launch of the online submission form. Auditioning artists were also able to send a video audition via the WhatsApp messaging platform. In addition, a number of pop-up booths were set up around Malta in early July to encourage people to enter.
Producers auditions were held from 13 to 15 July at Fort St Elmo. There the show's producers assessed the auditioning acts and determined who would progress to the judges auditions.

Judges' auditions

The auditionees chosen by the producers were invited back to the last set of auditions that took place in front of the judges. These auditions were filmed at Fort St Angelo from 1 to 8 August and broadcast from 7 October, as well as short daily extra auditions on the X Factor Malta YouTube channel and on the Facebook page of Vodafone Malta.
The 120 successful contestants then progressed to the bootcamp round.

Bootcamp

The bootcamp round was filmed at the Hilton Malta Conference Centre from 9 to 12 September and broadcast on 11 and 18 November.
Contestants were given three performance challenges. On the first day, the 120 contestants were split into the four category groups - Boys, Girls, Overs and Groups. Acts in each category were given one song to sing a cappella: "A Million Reasons", "See You Again", "Don’t Let the Sun Go Down On Me" "My Girl". After the performances, the judges sent home 30 acts.
For the second challenge, the remaining acts each selected a song from the Wall of Songs, which they had to perform with three others who had selected the same song. Contestants were either put through to the next stage, or went to the Waiting Room, where they later had the possibility of being called on to be part of a newly formed group.
In the final challenge, the remaining acts - including newly formed groups - performed a song of their own choice. The jury then selected 12 participants from each category to go through to the Six Chair Challenge.

Six Chair Challenge

The Six Chair Challenge was filmed at the Malta Fairs & Conventions Centre in Attard on 11 and 12 October 2018.
The 24 successful acts were:

Boys: Mark Anthony Bartolo, Norbert Bondin, Aidan Cassar, Luke Chappell, Owen Leuellen, Claudio Zammit
Girls: Kelsey Bellante, Karin Duff, Nicole Frendo, Danica Muscat, Michela Pace, Jade Vella
Overs: Anna Azzopardi, Franklin Calleja, Anna Faniello, Ben Purplle, Vanessa Lee Sultana, Petra Zammit
Groups: 4th Line, Horizon, Kayati, Prism, Systm12, Xtreme

Judges' Houses

The Judges' Houses episodes were broadcast on 23 and 30 December 2018.

Judge	Category	Assistant	Contestants eliminated
Losco	Boys	Joseph Calleja	Mark Anthony Bartolo, Aidan Cassar, Claudio Zammit
Debono	Girls	Mike Hedges	Karin Duff, Danica Muscat, Jade Vella
Mercieca	Overs	Matthew James Borg	Anna Azzopardi, Anna Faniello, Vanessa Lee Sultana
Alden	Groups	Carlo Borg Bonaci	Horizon, Prism, Systm12

Contestants

Key:

Live shows

The live shows began on Sunday, 6 January 2019. They were filmed at the Malta Fairs & Conventions Centre in Attard, Malta. Dance groups contracted for all live shows were The Unit Collective, Southville Dancers, Kinetic Dance Academy and Annalise Dance Studio.

Results summary

;Colour key

Live show details

Week 1 (6 Jan)

Theme: This is Me

; Judges' vote to eliminate

Mercieca: Xtreme
Alden: Franklin Calleja
Losco: Franklin Calleja
Debono: Franklin Calleja

Week 2 (13 Jan)

Theme: Throwbacks

; Judges' vote to eliminate

Mercieca: 4th Line
Alden: Ben Purplle
Losco: 4th Line
Debono: Ben Purplle

With the acts in the sing-off receiving two votes each, the result went to deadlock and reverted to the earlier public vote. 4th Line was eliminated as the act with the fewest public votes.

Week 3: Semi-Final (20 Jan)

Theme: Movie Spectacular, Jukebox

; Judges' vote to eliminate

Mercieca: Luke Chappell
Alden: Owen Leuellen
Debono: Owen Leuellen
Losco: Luke Chappell

With the acts in the sing-off receiving two votes each, the result went to deadlock and reverted to the earlier public vote. Luke Chappell was eliminated as the act with the fewest public votes.
In this semi-final, the eight qualified finalists performed at least once. The two acts with the fewest public votes after the first round left the competition, with Kelsey Bellante, gaining the fewest votes overall, and Ben Purplle gaining the second fewest votes. The top six performed again, with the top three acts automatically progressing to the final. The remaining three faced elimination. Of these three, Norbert Bondin received the fewest votes and was thus immediately eliminated. The remaining two, Owen Leuellen and Luke Chappell, faced the tiebreaker, which was to be decided by the judges. However, as the tie was not resolved by the end of the judges' vote, the deadlock - once again decided by the public vote - had to be used. As Owen Leuellen received more votes then Luke Chappell, the former progressed to the final.

Aired Shows

Episode	Air date
Auditions 1
Auditions 2
Auditions 3
Auditions 4
Auditions 5
Bootcamp 1
Bootcamp 2
Six Chair Challenge 1
Six Chair Challenge 2
Six Chair Challenge 3
Six Chair Challenge 4
Judges Houses 1
Judges Houses 2
Live Show 1
Live Show 2
Live Show 3
Live Show 4

Season 2

The second season premiered on 6 October 2019. As with the inaugural season, the format continued to serve as the Maltese national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. The winner of the second season of X Factor Malta would have represented the island nation at the 2020 contest in Rotterdam, Netherlands, but the contest was cancelled due to COVID-19.

Six Chair Challenge

The 24 successful acts were:

Boys: Matt Blxck, Kyle Cutajar, Dav. Jr, Giovanni, Karl Schembri, Jurgen Volkov
Girls: Jasmine Abela, Gail Attard, Marija Bellia, Destiny Chukunyere, Karin Duff, Justine Shorfid
Overs: Ed Abdilla, Celine Agius, Paul Anthony, Chantal Catania, Kersten Graham, Jozi
Groups: Bloodline, Chord, F.A.I.T.H, Reign, Sweet Chaos, Yazmin and James

Judges' Houses

The Judges' Houses episodes were broadcast on 22 and 29 December 2019.

Judge	Category	Assistant	Contestants eliminated
Mercieca	Boys	Amelia Lily	Matt Blxck, Giovanni, Jurgen Volkov
Losco	Girls	Louisa Johnson	Gail Attard, Marija Bellia, Karin Duff
Alden	Overs	The New Victorians	Chantal Catania, Kersten Graham, Jozi
Debono	Groups	Lil' Eddie	Chord, Reign, Sweet Chaos

Contestants

Key:

Live shows

The live shows began on Sunday, 12 January 2020. They were filmed at the Malta Fairs & Conventions Centre in Attard, Malta. Dance groups contracted for all live shows were The Unit Collective, Southville Dancers, Kinetic Dance Academy and Annalise Dance Studio.

Results summary

;Colour key

Live show details

Week 1 (12 Jan)

Theme: Born This Way

; Judges' vote to eliminate

Alden: Paul Anthony
Debono: Paul Anthony
Mercieca: Paul Anthony
Losco: Paul Anthony

Week 2 (19 Jan)

Theme: Guilty Pleasures

; Judges' vote to eliminate

Mercieca: Yazmin & James
Debono: Dav. Jr
Alden: Yazmin & James
Losco: Dav. Jr

With the acts in the sing-off receiving two votes each, the result went to deadlock and reverted to the earlier public vote. Dav. Jr was eliminated as the act with the fewest public votes

Week 3 (26 Jan)

Theme: Movie Spectacular

; Judges' vote to eliminate

Debono: Celine Agius
Alden: Bloodline
Losco: Celine Agius
Mercieca: Celine Agius

Week 4 Semi-final (2 Feb)

Theme: Big Band, Jukebox

Season 3

The third season premiered on 3 October 2021. This time around, the winner would not receive the rights to represent Malta at the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Italy.

Six Chair Challenge

The 24 successful acts were:

Boys: Aidan Drakard, Ryan Hili, Kevin Paul, Nathan Psaila, Rheez, Isaac Tom
Girls: Timea Farr, Lisa Gauci, Mariah Gerada, Kristy Spiteri, Hannah Theuma, Shauna Vassallo
Overs: Janice Azzopardi, Cheryl Balzan, Dean Barton, Audrienne Fenech, Jastene Pacis, Jimmy Tyrrell
Groups: Beyond, Ceci & Kriss, Daryl & Dale, Jasmine, Anna & Jana, Soul Tide, Wish Me Lack

Judges' Houses

The Judges' Houses episodes were broadcast on 19 December 2021 and 2 January 2022.

Judge	Category	Contestants eliminated
Debono	Boys	Nathan Psaila, Rheez, Isaac Tom
Grech	Girls	Mariah Gerada, Kristy Spiteri, Hannah Theuma
Losco	Overs	Janice Azzopardi, Dean Barton, Jastene Pacis
Naudi	Groups	Daryl & Dale, Jasmine, Anna & Jana, Wish Me Lack

Finalists

Key:

Live shows

The live shows began on Sunday, 16 January 2022. They were filmed at the Malta Fairs & Conventions Centre in Attard, Malta. Dance groups contracted for all live shows were The Unit Collective, Southville Dancers, Kinetic Dance Academy and Annalise Dance Studio.

Results summary

;Colour key

Live show details

Week 1 (16 Jan)

Theme: It's My Life
Group performance: "It's My Life"

; Judges' vote to eliminate

Losco: Beyond
Naudi: Jimmy Tyrrell
Debono: Beyond
Grech: Jimmy Tyrrell

With the acts in the sing-off receiving two votes each, the result went to deadlock and reverted to the earlier public vote. Jimmy Tyrrell was eliminated as the act with the fewest public votes.

Week 2 (23 Jan)

Theme: Retro

; Judges' vote to eliminate

Naudi: Timea Farr
Grech: Soul Tide
Losco: Soul Tide
Debono: Soul Tide

Week 3 (30 Jan)

Theme: Soundtracks

; Judges' vote to eliminate

Debono: Timea Farr
Grech: Kevin Paul
Naudi: Kevin Paul
Losco: Kevin Paul

Week 4 (6 Feb)

Theme: Greatest hits

Season 4

The fourth season premiered on 8 October 2023.

Six Chair Challenge

The 24 successful acts were:

Boys: Mattia Adduocchio, Francesco Bonello, Kodin Camilleri, Aiden Cohen, Christian Grasso, Isaac Tom
Girls: Marija Bellia, Mariah Fenech, Amelia Kalabic, Shanice Micallef, Kristy Spiteri, Eliza Stellini
Overs: Richard Aquilina, Shenise Ghirxi, Sean Kamati, Cora Elizabeth Lewis, Rose Marielle Mamaclay, Joe Romano
Groups: Freezap, Kelsie & Martina, Lapes & Nadine, Tonation, XO, Zoe & Kuba

Judges' Houses

The Judges' Houses episodes were broadcast on 24 and 31 December 2023.

Judge	Category	Contestants eliminated
Bondin	Boys	Francesco Bonello, Aiden Cohen, Christian Grasso
Bezzina	Girls	Marija Bellia, Mariah Fenech, Eliza Stellini
Debono	Overs	Shenise Ghirxi, Cora Elizabeth Lewis, Joe Romano
Losco	Groups	Freezap, Tonation, Zoe & Kuba

Finalists

Key:

Live shows

The live shows began on Sunday, 14 January 2024. They were filmed at the Malta Fairs & Conventions Centre in Attard, Malta.

Results summary

;Colour key

Live show details

Week 1 (14 Jan)

Group performance: "Praising You"
Theme: This is Me

; Judges' vote to eliminate

Debono: Kristy Spiteri
Bezzina: Sean Kamati
Losco: Kristy Spiteri
Bondin: Kristy Spiteri

Week 2 (21 Jan)

Theme: Number 1 Hits

; Judges' vote to eliminate

Bondin: Amelia Kalabic
Bezzina: Kodin Camilleri
Losco: Kodin Camilleri
Debono: Kodin Camilleri

Week 3 (28 Jan)

Theme: Throwbacks

; Judges' vote to eliminate

Losco: Amelia Kalabic
Bezzina: XO
Debono: XO
Bondin: XO

Week 4 (Semi-Finals) (4 Feb)

Theme: Movies

Season 5

The fifth season premiered on 11 January 2026.

Finalists

Key: