The X Factor (American season 3)
The third and final season of the American music competition television show The X Factor premiered on Fox on September 11, 2013 and ended on December 19, 2013. This season was hosted by Mario Lopez. Simon Cowell and Demi Lovato returned to the judging panel, while Kelly Rowland and Paulina Rubio joined the panel as replacements for the departing judges.
Producer auditions began on March 6, 2013, in Los Angeles, and ended on May 4, 2013, in Denver. The judges auditions, which are televised, began on May 21, 2013, in Charleston, and ended on July 12, 2013, in Los Angeles. New for this season is the removal of the boot camp and judges' houses rounds of the competition which have been replaced with a new middle section, more reminiscent of the live shows.
On December 19, 2013, Alex & Sierra won the show, as mentored by Cowell. On February 7, 2014, Cowell announced he was returning to the UK show of the show to judge the 2014 UK series, which was followed by Fox announcing that they would not be renewing the show for a fourth season.
Judges and hosts
On October 22, 2012, it was announced that The X Factor would be returning for a third season, with Simon Cowell confirmed to be returning. On December 14, 2012, L.A. Reid announced he would not return to the show for its third season, as he wished to refocus his work on his record company, Epic Records. Britney Spears stated her intentions on returning to the show for its third season, but it was confirmed on January 11, 2013, that she would not be returning, in order to focus on her music career.Following the conclusion of season two, Demi Lovato questioned whether she would return for another season, or instead focus on her own career as a performer, stating, "I have no idea what's gonna happen next season, and I don't think anybody does." On March 28, 2013, it was confirmed that Lovato would return. On April 22, it was confirmed by Fox that Mario Lopez would be returning to host season three, along with the news of Khloé Kardashian not returning as co-host. Cowell confirmed via his Twitter account that the full judging panel will be announced on May 20, 2013, with auditions beginning the next day. On that same day, Fox confirmed that Destiny's Child member and judge on the 2011 series of the UK show, Kelly Rowland, and Mexican singer and former La Voz... México judge Paulina Rubio had been hired to replace Reid and Spears.
Selection process
Auditions
In addition to having online auditions, it was announced at the conclusion of season 2 that auditions for season 3 would be held throughout the country in Charleston, South Carolina; Denver, Colorado; Long Island, New York; Los Angeles, California and New Orleans, Louisiana. On the "Registration and Audition Rules" document on The X Factors website about the auditions, it was announced where the auditions were going to be taking place.Deliberations
Instead of the traditional bootcamp stages, a deliberation stage was introduced to cut down the "yes" from the auditions to perform at Four-chair challenge. This took place on July 31, 2013.After the Deliberation and Reveal Stages, but before the start of the four-chair challenge, the judges found out their categories and they are as follows: Rowland has the Overs, Rubio has the Boys, Lovato has the Girls and Cowell has the groups. They were revealed at Shrine Auditorium.
Four-chair challenge
For this season of The X Factor, Cowell confirmed that the boot camp and judges' houses sections of the competition, which traditionally followed the audition rounds, had been dropped and replaced with a brand new stage called "The Four-Chair challenge", which took place at the Shrine Auditorium and was filmed over 2 days in September 2013. Speaking on the change, he said "It was the one element of the show I wasn't happy with, and it looked too similar to what everybody else is doing." He went on to describe the new "middle section" as "really dramatic, very tough on us and the contestants, and very high pressure", and compared the new round as similar to the live shows.This season, the categories did not follow the age-based format from season two but rather the format from season one: Boys, Girls, Over 25s and Groups. Rowland mentored Over 25s, Lovato the Girls, Rubio the Boys, and for the second season in a row, Cowell mentored the Groups. Groups Restless Road, Sweet Suspense, and Forever in Your Mind all consist of contestants who originally auditioned as soloists.
The four-chair challenge episodes were broadcast on two 2-hour Wednesdays and two 1-hour Thursdays shows on October 2, 3, 9 and 10.
Key:
| Episode | Category | Act | Order | Song | Mentor's decision | Switched with |
| Episode 7 | Over 25s | Victoria Carriger | 1 | "Make You Feel My Love" | Put in chair 1 | — |
| Episode 7 | Over 25s | Kristine Mirelle | 2 | "Oops!... I Did It Again" | Put in chair 2 | — |
| Episode 7 | Over 25s | Jeff Gutt | 3 | "Amazing Grace" | Put in chair 3 | — |
| Episode 7 | Over 25s | Rachel Potter | 4 | "Irreplaceable" | Put in chair 4 | — |
| Episode 7 | Over 25s | Lorie Moore | 5 | "I'll Make Love to You" | Put in chair 2 | Kristine Mirelle |
| Episode 7 | Over 25s | Allison Davis | 6 | "Tik Tok" / "Push It" | Eliminated | — |
| Episode 7 | Over 25s | Jeff Brinkman | 7 | "Without You" | Put in chair 1 | Victoria Carriger |
| Episode 7 | Over 25s | Denny Smith | 8 | "In the Midnight Hour" | Eliminated | — |
| Episode 7 | Over 25s | James Kenney | 9 | "Lean on Me" | Put in chair 1 | Jeff Brinkman |
| Episode 7 | Over 25s | Lillie McCloud | 10 | "A House Is Not a Home" | Put in chair 2 | Lorie Moore |
| Episode 7 | Girls | Bree Randall | 11 | "Glad You Came" | Put in chair 1 | — |
| Episode 7 | Girls | Khaya Cohen | 12 | "Locked Out of Heaven" | Put in chair 2 | — |
| Episode 7 | Girls | Jamie Pineda | 13 | "Don't Speak" | Put in chair 3 | — |
| Episode 7 | Girls | Ashly Williams | 14 | "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" | Put in chair 4 | — |
| Episode 8 | Girls | Simone Torres | 15 | "A Change Is Gonna Come" | Put in chair 1 | Bree Randall |
| Episode 8 | Girls | Danie Geimer | 16 | "Georgia on My Mind" | Put in chair 1 | Simone Torres |
| Episode 8 | Girls | Rylie Brown | 17 | "Angels" | Eliminated | — |
| Episode 8 | Girls | Primrose Martin | 18 | "Blame It on the Boogie" | Eliminated | — |
| Episode 8 | Girls | Rion Paige | 19 | "I Won't Let Go" | Put in chair 4 | Ashly Williams |
| Episode 8 | Girls | Ellona Santiago | 20 | "Clarity" | Put in chair 3 | Jamie Pineda |
| Episode 9 | Boys | Al Calderon | 21 | "Call Me Maybe" | Put in chair 1 | — |
| Episode 9 | Boys | Isaiah Alston | 22 | "The Greatest Love of All" | Eliminated | — |
| Episode 9 | Boys | Isaac Tauaefa | 23 | "Bubbly" | Eliminated | — |
| Episode 9 | Boys | Carlos Guevara | 24 | "Ain't No Sunshine" | Put in chair 2 | — |
| Episode 9 | Boys | Stone Martin | 25 | "Torn" | Put in chair 3 | — |
| Episode 9 | Boys | Chase Goehring | 26 | "Airplanes" | Put in chair 4 | — |
| Episode 9 | Boys | Tim Olstad | 27 | "The Climb" | Put in chair 3 | Stone Martin |
| Episode 9 | Boys | Carlito Olivero | 28 | "Dreaming of You" | Put in chair 4 | Chase Goehring |
| Episode 9 | Boys | Timmy Thames | 29 | "The New Girl in Town" | Put in chair 3 | Tim Olstad |
| Episode 9 | Boys | Tim Olstad | N/A | N/A | Put in chair 1 | Al Calderon |
| Episode 9 | Boys | Josh Levi | 30 | "I Can't Make You Love Me" | Put in chair 3 | Timmy Thames |
| Episode 9 | Groups | Girls United | 31 | "Yeah 3x" | Put in chair 1 | — |
| Episode 9 | Groups | Wild Thingz | 32 | "Party Rock Anthem" | Put in chair 2 | — |
| Episode 9 | Groups | Glamour | 33 | "When I'm Gone" | Put in chair 3 | — |
| Episode 9 | Groups | Restless Road | 34 | "Somebody Like You" | Put in chair 4 | — |
| Episode 10 | Groups | Sweet Suspense | 35 | "Wishing on a Star" | Put in chair 2 | Wild Thingz |
| Episode 10 | Groups | Yellow House Canyon | 36 | "Hell on Heels" | Eliminated | — |
| Episode 10 | Groups | Forever in Your Mind | 37 | "Lovebug" | Put in chair 3 | Glamour |
| Episode 10 | Groups | Good News | 38 | "Landslide" | Eliminated | — |
| Episode 10 | Groups | Alex & Sierra | 39 | "You're the One That I Want" | Put in chair 1 | Girls United |
| Episode 10 | Groups | RoXxy Montana | 40 | "Man in the Mirror" | Put in chair 3 | Forever in Your Mind |
Rubio initially switched out Tim Olstad for Timmy Thames, but after some consideration brought him back and instead switched out Al Calderon.
Finalists
The final 16 finalists were confirmed as follows;Key:
| Act | Age | Hometown | Category | Result |
| Alex & Sierra | 22 | New Smyrna Beach, Florida/Orlando, Florida | Groups | Winner |
| Jeff Gutt | 37 | Marine City, Michigan | Over 25s | Runner-up |
| Carlito Olivero | 24 | Chicago, Illinois | Boys | 3rd place |
| Restless Road | 18-19 | Various | Groups | 4th place |
| Rion Paige | 13 | Jacksonville, Florida | Girls | 5th place |
| Ellona Santiago | 17 | San Lorenzo, California | Girls | 6th place |
| Josh Levi | 15 | Houston, Texas | Boys | 7th place |
| Lillie McCloud | 55 | Orlando, Florida | Over 25s | 8th place |
| Tim Olstad | 25 | Winona, Minnesota | Boys | 9th place |
| Khaya Cohen | 16 | New York City, New York | Girls | 10th place |
| Rachel Potter | 29 | New Orleans, Louisiana | Over 25s | 11th place |
| Sweet Suspense | 14-17 | Various | Groups | 12th place |
| Carlos Guevara | 16 | Lexington, South Carolina | Boys | 13rd place |
| RoXxy Montana | 20-22 | Wayne, Michigan | Groups | 14th place |
| James Kenney | 35 | Portland, Oregon | Over 25s | 15th place |
| Danie Geimer | 15 | Northridge, California | Girls | 16th place |
Live shows
The first two-hour live show aired on a special Tuesday time slot on October 29; which followed the same format as the first season with each of the judges narrowing their number of acts down to three, without a public vote. The public vote then started with the following performance and results shows starting November 6, which aired on Wednesdays and Thursdays respectively. As with previous seasons, each live show had a different theme. The live final took place in on December 18 and 19. Cowell had also said on Twitter that there may be a wildcard this season. The leaderboard that showed which act had received the most public votes did not return.Musical guests
Each results show featured musical performances from at least two artists. There was no guest performer on the first result show. Selena Gomez was supposed to perform on the second result show, but was postponed to third result show night which featured a performance from season 2 finalist Fifth Harmony. One Direction performed on the third results show. Michael Bublé performed on the fifth performance show, then again on the fifth results show alongside judge Demi Lovato. Emblem3 and Little Mix performed on the sixth results show, while Enrique Iglesias performed during the seventh results show. Paulina Rubio, Mary J. Blige, Lea Michele, Leona Lewis, Pitbull and One Direction performed on the finale.Results summary
;Color key- There was no public vote in the first week and therefore no final showdown. Each judge was required to save three of their own acts.
- Levi returned to the competition in week two because the judges felt that he should not have been eliminated in week one.
- Owing to graphic errors in which incorrect voting numbers were displayed on screen during the performance recap, there was no elimination in week two. All acts performed again on Thursday night in week two and a public re-vote was conducted. Carlos Guevara was eliminated on Wednesday night in week three after receiving the fewest votes in week two.
- Cowell was not required to vote as there was already a majority, but said after the show that he would have voted to eliminate Olstad.
- Cowell revealed in an interview that Alex & Sierra "won every single week" in the public vote except the fourth.
Live show details
Week 1 (October 29)
There was no public vote in the first week. Instead, each of the judges selected one of their own acts to eliminate.;Judges' decisions to eliminate
- Lovato: Danie Geimer – gave no reason.
- Rubio: Josh Levi – gave no reason.
- Rowland: James Kenney – based on the performances.
- Cowell: RoXxy Montana – gave no reason.
Week 2 (November 6/7)
- Theme: Motown songs
- Group performance: "ABC" / "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours" / "Reach Out I'll Be There" / "Dancing in the Street"
| Act | Category | Order | Song |
| Josh Levi | Boys | 1 | "Who's Lovin' You" |
| Rachel Potter | Over 25s | 2 | "This Old Heart of Mine " |
| Carlos Guevara | Boys | 3 | "What's Going On" |
| Restless Road | Groups | 4 | "Easy" |
| Ellona Santiago | Girls | 5 | "Baby Love" |
| Jeff Gutt | Over 25s | 6 | "Say You, Say Me" |
| Alex & Sierra | Groups | 7 | "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" |
| Khaya Cohen | Girls | 8 | "My Girl" |
| Carlito Olivero | Boys | 9 | "Stop! In the Name of Love" |
| Lillie McCloud | Over 25s | 10 | "All In Love Is Fair" |
| Sweet Suspense | Groups | 11 | "You Keep Me Hangin' On" |
| Rion Paige | Girls | 12 | "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" |
| Tim Olstad | Boys | 13 | "I'll Be There" |
;November 7
- Theme: "Save Me" songs
Selena Gomez was going to perform her single "Slow Down" but due to graphics issues, she performed on the second night in week 3.
| Act | Category | Order | Song | Result |
| Josh Levi | Boys | 1 | "Stay" | Safe |
| Rachel Potter | Over 25s | 2 | "Anyway" | Safe |
| Carlos Guevara | Boys | 3 | "Cannonball" | Eliminated |
| Restless Road | Groups | 4 | "Don't You Wanna Stay" | Safe |
| Ellona Santiago | Girls | 5 | "Titanium" | Safe |
| Jeff Gutt | Over 25s | 6 | "In the Air Tonight" | Safe |
| Alex & Sierra | Groups | 7 | "Give Me Love" | Safe |
| Khaya Cohen | Girls | 8 | "Distant Dreamer" | Safe |
| Carlito Olivero | Boys | 9 | "If You're Not the One" | Safe |
| Lillie McCloud | Over 25s | 10 | "Who Wants to Live Forever" | Safe |
| Sweet Suspense | Groups | 11 | "That Should Be Me" | Safe |
| Rion Paige | Girls | 12 | "Born This Way" | Safe |
| Tim Olstad | Boys | 13 | "I Believe I Can Fly" | Safe |
Week 3 (November 13/14)
- Theme: Songs from the 1980s
- Group performance: "Perfect Day"
- Musical guests: Selena Gomez and Fifth Harmony
;Judges' votes to eliminate
- Rowland: Khaya Cohen – based on the final showdown performances, effectively backing her act, Rachel Potter.
- Rubio: Rachel Potter – gave no reason.
- Lovato: Rachel Potter – gave no reason, though effectively backed her own act, Khaya Cohen.
- Cowell: Rachel Potter – felt that Cohen had more potential.
Week 4 (November 20/21)
- Theme: Songs by British artists
- Musical guest: One Direction
- Rowland: Tim Olstad – based on the final showdown performances.
- Lovato: Tim Olstad – gave no reason.
- Rubio: Tim Olstad – gave no reason.
- Cowell was not required to vote since there was already a majority, but said after the show that his "heart went out to" Olivero, so he would have voted to eliminate Olstad.
Week 5 (November 27/28)
- Theme: Big band
- Guest mentor: Michael Bublé
- Group performances:
- *Wednesday: "Cry Me a River"
- *Thursday: "Somewhere Only We Know"
- Musical guests:
- *Wednesday: Michael Bublé
- *Thursday: Demi Lovato and Michael Bublé
- Lovato: Josh Levi – gave no reason, though effectively backed her own act, Rion Paige.
- Rubio: Rion Paige – backed her own act, Josh Levi.
- Rowland: Rion Paige – gave no reason.
- Cowell: Josh Levi – could not decide so chose to take it to deadlock.
Week 6: Quarter-Final (December 4/5)
- Themes: Divas; unplugged songs
- Musical guests: Emblem3 and Little Mix
;Judges' votes to eliminate
- Lovato: Carlito Olivero – backed her own act, Rion Paige.
- Rubio: Rion Paige – backed her own act, Carlito Olivero.
- Rowland: Rion Paige – based on the final showdown performances though stated both acts did not give their best.
- Cowell: Rion Paige – wanted to give Olivero the opportunity to stay in the competition as he felt it was "probably his last chance".
Week 7: Semi-Final (December 11/12)
- Themes: Viewers' choice; "songs to get you to the final"
- Group performances:
- *Wednesday: "Falling Slowly" and "Every Breath You Take"
- *Thursday: "Stronger "
- Musical guest: Enrique Iglesias
| Act | Song choices | Result |
| Alex & Sierra | "Hold On, We're Going Home" | Not chosen |
| Alex & Sierra | "Little Talks" | Chosen |
| Alex & Sierra | "Troublemaker" | Not chosen |
| Carlito Olivero | "Boyfriend" | Chosen |
| Carlito Olivero | "Hasta Ayer" | Not chosen |
| Carlito Olivero | "Promise" | Not chosen |
| Ellona Santiago | "Love Me Again" | N/A |
| Ellona Santiago | "Who You Are" | N/A |
| Ellona Santiago | "You Got the Love" | N/A |
| Jeff Gutt | "Creep" | Not chosen |
| Jeff Gutt | "Hallelujah" | Chosen |
| Jeff Gutt | "Wonderwall" | Not chosen |
| Restless Road | "Hey Brother" | Not chosen |
| Restless Road | "It Goes Like This" | Not chosen |
| Restless Road | "That's My Kind of Night" | Chosen |
| Rion Paige | "Girl on Fire" | N/A |
| Rion Paige | "So Small" | N/A |
| Rion Paige | "Umbrella" | N/A |
| Act | Category | Order | First song | Order | Second song | Result |
| Carlito Olivero | Boys | 1 | "Boyfriend" | 5 | "I Need to Know" | Safe |
| Restless Road | Groups | 2 | "That's My Kind of Night" | 6 | "Wanted" | Eliminated |
| Alex & Sierra | Groups | 3 | "Little Talks" | 7 | "Gravity" | Safe |
| Jeff Gutt | Over 25s | 4 | "Hallelujah" | 8 | "Demons" | Safe |
The semi-final did not feature a final showdown and instead the act with the fewest public votes, Restless Road, was automatically eliminated. The top three acts each then performed a victory song of their choice after they were announced safe, with Olivero performing "Suavemente", Alex & Sierra performing "Let Her Go", and Gutt performing "Open Arms".
Week 8: Final (December 18/19)
The final consisted of two two-hour episodes on December 18 and 19.;December 18
- Themes: Winner's song ; celebrity duets ; favorite performance
- Group performance: "We Will Rock You"
- Musical guest: Paulina Rubio
| Act | Category | Order | First song | Order | Second song | Order | Third song |
| Carlito Olivero | Boys | 1 | "Impossible" | 4 | "Stand by Me" | 7 | "Maria Maria" |
| Alex & Sierra | Groups | 2 | "Give Me Love" | 5 | "Bleeding Love" | 8 | "Say Something" |
| Jeff Gutt | Over 25s | 3 | "Dream On" | 6 | "Iris" | 9 | "Creep" |
;December 19
- Theme: Christmas songs
- Group performances: "One" and "Love Me Again"
- Musical guests: Mary J. Blige, Lea Michele, Leona Lewis, Pitbull and One Direction
| Act | Category | Order | Song | Result |
| Carlito Olivero | Boys | 1 | "Christmas " | Third place |
| Jeff Gutt | Over 25s | 2 | "O Holy Night" | Runner-up |
| Alex & Sierra | Groups | 3 | "All I Want for Christmas Is You" | Winner |
Contestants who Appeared on Other Seasons or Shows
- James Kenney auditioned for Season 1, but was eliminated during the Judges' Home round.
- Jeff Gutt auditioned for Season 2, but was eliminated on the last day of the Bootcamp round.
- Ellona Santiago competed in Season 1 as a member of InTENsity, who were eliminated in 12th place.
- Carlito Olivero competed on Making Menudo on MTV under his real name "Carlos Olivero". He was one of the five contestants selected to become a member of Menudo
- Chase Goehring competed on the twelfth season of America's Got Talent. He received a golden buzzer from guest judge DJ Khaled during Judges' Cuts. He finished in the Top Ten.
- Stone Martin and Timmy Thames appeared on Boy Band. Both were eliminated on episode 1.
Famous Relations
- Primrose Martin, who was eliminated during the Four Chair Challenge, is the daughter of former Kool & the Gang lead vocalist Skip Martin
Reception
U.S. Nielsen ratings
;NotesDue to the 2013 MLB World Series running past October 28, the first live show of the season aired on October 29 to make room for Wednesday's potential deciding game.