The X Factor (British 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 was 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 Shepherd 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

, 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.
JudgeCategoryLocationContestants eliminated
CowellGroupsMarbella4th Base
Eskimo Blonde
The Brothers
OsbourneOver 25sBeverly HillsRichie Glynn
Joanne Hindley
Haifa Kayali
Walsh16-24sDublinJames Bellamy
Alexandra Burke
Trevor Hodgson

Finalists

Key:

Live shows

The live shows began on 15 October 2005, and the final was broadcast live on 17 December 2005.

Results summary

;Colour key
For the first and only time on any The X Factor series, 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.

Live show details

Week 1 (15 October)

;Judges' votes to eliminate:
;Judges' votes to eliminate:
;Judges' votes to eliminate:
;Judges' votes to eliminate:
;Judges' votes to eliminate:
Walsh's decision to eliminate Lawson caused controversy when Osbourne accused Walsh of being part of the "Irish Mafia", since both he and The Conway Sisters are Irish. Cowell, though backed his own act to eliminate Lawson, said that if he had to go with his heart, he would have sent his own act home. He felt they would not have a chance to win, and that Lawson had more talent and her elimination would be the first one that the public would disagree with.

Week 6 (19 November)

;Judges' votes to eliminate:
;Judges' votes to eliminate:
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)

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)

ActOrderFirst songOrderSecond songOrderThird songOrderFourth songResult
Journey South1"Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me"4"Happy Xmas "7"Let It Be"N/AN/A 3rd place
Andy Abraham2"When a Man Loves a Woman"5"O Holy Night"8"Me and Mrs. Jones"10"That's My Goal"Runner-up
Shayne Ward3"If You're Not the One"6"When a Child Is Born"9"Over the Rainbow"11"That's My Goal"Winner

Reception

Ratings

Controversies

Elimination of Maria Lawson and "Irish Mafia"

After the final showdown in week 5, controversy was created around the judges' voting process when Walsh cast the deciding vote to keep The Conway Sisters, who are Irish, in the show at the expense of Maria Lawson. Osbourne later claimed that Lawson was the victim of the "Irish Mafia" after Walsh chose to keep The Conway Sisters in. When the voting statistics were revealed at the end of the series, Lawson was revealed to have received twice as many public votes as The Conway Sisters. Osbourne's "Irish Mafia" remark resulted in an investigation by media regulator Ofcom over Osbourne's "Irish Mafia" remark, however on 9 January 2006, Ofcom cleared Osbourne of any wrongdoing.

Louis Walsh

Rumours later circulated that Walsh had quit the show after being humiliated and "bullied" by Osbourne and Cowell. In addition to the media outrage at his choice to eliminate Lawson, there were verbal assaults. Furthermore, on 19 November, during the sixth live show of the series, Osbourne threw water over Walsh live on air after he asked her, "Are you on drugs? Are you taking Ozzy's drugs?" at the start of her critique of Journey South's performance of Robbie Williams' 1997 hit single "Angels". Cowell apparently "begged" Walsh to come back and, in the event, Walsh did turn up for the next show; it was stated that he had indeed quit midweek but had been persuaded to return. He explained how he had felt he could not take the pressure any more, and denied that the episode was a publicity stunt.