X Factor (Polish season 1)


The first season of X Factor premiered on 6 March 2011 at 20:00 on TVN. The auditions for this season were held in January and February. Jarosław Kuźniar hosts the show and the judges are Czesław Mozil, Maja Sablewska and Kuba Wojewódzki. The series was won by Gienek Loska who was mentored by Czesław Mozil. The second place was taken by Michał Szpak and the third finalist was Ada Szulc.
Filming of the first season began with the first audition with judges and audience on 24 January in Zabrze. The live shows began on 24 April and the finale was broadcast on 5 June.

Selection process

Auditions

The first stage of the show were pre-auditions, held in four major cities across Poland. The candidates sang two chosen songs a cappella in the pre-auditions, where they were judged by the show's producers only. The judges didn't take part in pre-auditions and the performances were not filmed for the show at this stage. The candidates who had got through participated in the second stage of the auditions which took place in two cities. At this stage they performed in front of the judges and a live audience. Highlights from these auditions were broadcast on television during the initial programmes of the season.
CityVenuePre-auditionAudition
ZabrzeHouse of Music and Dance8 January 201124–25 January 2011, 8–9 February 2011
WrocławHotel Mercure Panorama9 January 2011
WarsawTorwar Hall
Dramatic Theatre 		14 January 20114–5 February 2011
GdańskBaltic Philharmonic16 January 2011

Viewers could take part in the auditions as members of the audience, by invitation, in Zabrze and Warsaw by sending an SMS.

Bootcamp (10 April)

The second stage took place on 13 and 14 February in Warsaw. During the first day a hundred acts performed one chosen song from a list of twelve prepared by the judges. They performed in small groups depending on the song choice. Each contestant got a part to sing. The most popular songs were: You Can Leave Your Hat On by Joe Cocker, Apologize by OneRepublic, Cicho by Ewa Farna, Mercy by Duffy, Śniadanie Do Łóżka by Andrzej Piaseczny, A Night Like This by Caro Emerald and Rihanna’s Only Girl . Then the judges chose forty acts who got through to the second day of bootcamp. Other sixty contestants had to quit the competition and go home. However three solo girls who applied as soloists were offered to stay in the competition and perform as a group. The new girlband called By Mistake was formed. Remaining forty acts spent the night in a hotel in Warsaw. There they had time to prepare their bootcamp challenge. From the list of ten songs they had to choose one and perform in front of the judges next day. The most sung were: Konstelacje by Pin, Bad Romance by Lady Gaga, Sweet About Me by Gabriella Cilmi, Czas nie będzie czekał by Blue Cafe, and Light My Fire by The Doors. Then the judges made a decision again. They chose only fifteen acts, who got through to the judges' houses stage. After announcing the names, the fifteen lucky acts were divided into three categories, five acts in each. They waited in three rooms for their mentors to come. Eventually Czesław Mozil got the Over-25s, Maja Sablewska was given the Groups and Kuba Wojewódzki was asked to look after the 16-24s.

Judges' houses (17 April)

was joined by Sebastian Karpiel-Bułecka, who helped her to choose her final three acts. Kuba Wojewódzki invited Alicja Bachleda-Curuś and Czesław Mozil was aided by Monika Brodka.
The six eliminated acts were:
The final 9 was revealed on 17 April 2011.
Key:

Live shows

Results table

Contestants' colour key:

Week 1 (24 April)

;Judge's vote to save
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;Judge's vote to save
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ActOrderFirst songOrderSecond song Result
Ada Szulc1"Fields of Gold"4"A Gift" duet with Basia TrzetrzelewskaThird place
Gienek Loska2"It's a Man's Man's Man's World"5"You Can't Judge a Book by the Cover" duet with Maciej MaleńczukWinner
Michał Szpak3"You Are So Beautiful"6"Hallelujah" duet with Alexandra BurkeRunner-up

Ratings