X Factor Malta


X Factor Malta was 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 is a platform for the selection as the winner becomes the representative of Malta at the Eurovision Song Contest 2019. In July 2020, it was announced that the show would be replaced by Malta's Got Talent.

Season summary

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

Contestant in "Alexandra Alden"

Contestant in "Howard Keith Debono"

Contestant in "Ira Losco"
SeasonStartFinishWinnerMain judges
17 October 201826 January 2019Michela PaceOwen LeuellenNicole FrendoPetraHoward Keith DebonoBen CamilleHoward Keith Debono
Ira Losco
Alexandra Alden
Ray Mercieca
26 October 20198 February 2020Destiny ChukunyereJustine ShorfidF.A.I.T.HKyle CutajarIra LoscoBen CamilleHoward Keith Debono
Ira Losco
Alexandra Alden
Ray Mercieca

Judges' categories and their finalists

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:
SeasonHoward Keith DebonoIra LoscoAlexandra AldenRay Mercieca
1Girls
Michela Pace
Nicole Frendo
Kelsey Bellante		Boys
Owen Leuellen
Luke Chappell
Norbert Bondin		Groups
4th Line
Xtreme
Kayati		Overs
Petra
Ben Purplle
Franklin Calleja
SeasonHoward Keith DebonoAlexandra AldenIra LoscoRay Mercieca
2Groups
F.A.I.T.H
Bloodline
Yazmin & James		Overs
Celine Agius
Paul Anthony
Ed Abdilla		Girls
Destiny Chukunyere
Justine Shorfid
Jasmine Abela		Boys
Kyle Cutajar
Karl Schembri
Dav. Jr

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 the 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.
The senior producers are Gordon Bonello and Olwyn Jo Saliba.

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:
The Judges' Houses episodes were broadcast on 23 and 30 December 2018.
JudgeCategoryAssistantContestants eliminated
LoscoBoysJoseph CallejaMark Anthony Bartolo, Aidan Cassar, Claudio Zammit
DebonoGirlsMike HedgesKarin Duff, Danica Muscat, Jade Vella
MerciecaOversMatthew James BorgAnna Azzopardi, Anna Faniello, Vanessa Lee Sultana
AldenGroupsCarlo Borg BonaciHorizon, Prism, Systm12

Finalists

Key:

Live shows

The live shows began on Sunday, 6 January 2019. They were filmed at the Malta Fairs & Conventions Centre in Attard, Malta.

Results summary

;Colour key

Live show details

Week 1 (6 Jan)

; Judges' vote to eliminate
; Judges' vote to eliminate
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)

; Judges' vote to eliminate
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.

Week 4: Final (26 Jan)

Aired Shows

EpisodeAir 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 will continue to serve as the Maltese national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. The winner of the second season of X Factor Malta will represent the island nation at the 2020 contest in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

Pre-auditions

Judges' auditions

Bootcamp

Six Chair Challenge

The 24 successful acts were:
The Judges' Houses episodes were broadcast on 22 and 29 December 2019.
JudgeCategoryAssistantContestants eliminated
MerciecaBoysAmelia LilyMatt Blxck, Giovanni, Jurgen Volkov
LoscoGirlsLouisa JohnsonGail Attard, Marija Bellia, Karin Duff
AldenOversThe New VictoriansChantal Catania, Kersten Graham, Jozi
DebonoGroupsLil' EddieChord, Reign, Sweet Chaos

Finalists

Key:

Live shows

The live shows began on Sunday, 12 January 2020. They were filmed at the Malta Fairs & Conventions Centre in Attard, Malta.

Results summary

;Colour key

Live show details

Week 1 (12 Jan)

; Judges' vote to eliminate
; Judges' vote to eliminate
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)

; Judges' vote to eliminate