The X Factor Vietnam
X-Factor/ Nhân tố bí ẩn is the Vietnamese version of The X Factor, a show originating from the United Kingdom. It is a television music talent show for aspiring pop singers drawn from public auditions. Based on the original UK show, and an addition to the X Factor franchise, the series found new singing talent, drawn from public auditions, and they competed against each other for votes. The winner was determined by the show's viewers via telephone, the Internet, and SMS text voting, and was awarded a recording contract and 500 million VND.
History
By the end of 2013, Cát Tiên Sa announced that they would produce The X Factor, a new singing competition, as a substitute for another television program, The Voice of Vietnam. The Vietnamese version of the show is called Nhân tố bí ẩn. In 2015, it was announced that the show will be airing once every two years, alternating with The Voice.Format
Categories
The show is primarily concerned with identifying singing talent, though appearance, personality, stage presence and dance routines are also an important element of many performances. Each judge is assigned one of four categories, to use their experience to help the artists. The categories are: "Boys", "Girls", "Over 25s", and "Groups". Through the live shows, the judges act as mentors to their category, helping to decide song choices, styling and staging, while judging contestants from other categories, and also vote to save or eliminate contestants.Stages for seasons 1
There are five stages to the competition:- Stage 1: Producers' auditions
- Stage 2: Judges' auditions
- Stage 3: Six-chair challenge
- Stage 4: Judges' houses
- Stage 5: Live shows
Stages for seasons 2
- Stage 1: Producers' auditions
- Stage 2: Judges' auditions
- Stage 3: Boot camp
- Stage 4: Four-chair challenge & wildcard
- Stage 5: Live shows
Auditions
Boot camp and judges' houses
Live shows
The live shows feature the contestants' live performances and also at the end of the night, reveal the results of the public voting, culminating in one or more acts being eliminated. A difference in judge's vote in the Vietnamese version and other countries' versions is that there will be a bottom three instead of bottom two every live show. The judges will vote to save one contestant in the bottom three from elimination, and then the result will be reverted to the earlier public votes. The actual number of votes cast for each act is not revealed, nor even the order.Also, different from the UK version, four contestants advance to the finals instead of three.
Judges
Shortly after the announcement to launch The X Factor, Hồ Quỳnh Hương was confirmed by Cát Tiên Sa as the first judge, while two coaches from The Voice, Hồ Ngọc Hà and Đàm Vĩnh Hưng, was also be joining the show. The fourth judge was not announced until the first day of filming the Judges' audition on March 4, 2014, Dương Khắc Linh was revealed as the last judge. Hồ Ngọc Hà and Đàm Vĩnh Hưng both quit bofore season 2 was launched. On the day the Judges' audition was filmed, the judging panel for season 2 was officially revealed with Dương Khắc Linh and Hồ Quỳnh Hương returned, while Thanh Lam and Tùng Dương replaced Hồ Ngọc Hà and Đàm Vĩnh Hưng respectively. However season 2 saw the feud between the judges over a song choice, which made the atmosphere very uncomfortable and the chemistry between the judges was decreased. Thanh Lam and Tùng Dương were both said to quit right after the finals of season 2.Judges' categories and their finalists
In each season, each judge is given a category to mentor and chooses small three to four acts to progress to the live finals. This table shows which category each judge was allocated and which acts he or she put through to the live finals.| Season | Đàm Vĩnh Hưng | Hồ Quỳnh Hương | Hồ Ngọc Hà | Dương Khắc Linh |
| 1 | Over 25s Trần Quang Đại Phạm Thị Hà Vân Phạm Uyên Nguyên Nguyễn Thùy Dương | Boys Loki Bảo Long Phạm Đình Thái Ngân Lê Tích Kỳ Phạm Chí Thành | Girls Giang Hồng Ngọc Sevinch Khương Hoàn Mỹ Nguyễn Minh Ngọc | Groups O-plus F-band FB Boiz Ayor |
| 2 | Tùng Dương | Hồ Quỳnh Hương | Thanh Lam | Dương Khắc Linh |
| 2 | Boys Đặng Tuấn Phương Lê Hoàng Phong Trương Phúc Lộc | Girls Trần Minh Như Trương Kiều Diễm Nguyễn Thị Thu Thủy | Over 25s Adam Lâm Hoàng Thị Thanh Thảo Phạm Chí Huy | Groups The Wings S Girls Dolphins F.O.E |
| 3 | TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| 3 |
Series overview
To date, two seasons have been broadcast, as summarized below.Contestant in "Boys" category
Contestant in "Girls" category
Contestant in "Over 25s" category
Contestant in "Groups" category