User:Aaron farrelly/sandbox

X factor USA/NZ

Results summary

 * Color key


 * There was no public vote in the first week and therefore no final showdown. Each judge was required to reduce their number of acts to three.

Week 1 (October 25)

 * There was no public vote in the first week. Instead, each of the judges selected one (or two for Cowell) of their own acts to eliminate.


 * Judges' decisions to eliminate
 * Reid: Phillip Lomax – gave no reason
 * Abdul: The Brewer Boys – gave no reason
 * Scherzinger: Dexter Haygood – gave no reason
 * Cowell: Simone Battle and Tiah Tolliver – the decision came down to Simone Battle, Melanie Amaro and Tiah Tolliver; and Cowell believed that Amaro has the potential to win the competition

Week 2 (November 2/3)

 * Theme: American anthems
 * Group performance: "Without You"
 * Musical guest: Outasight ("Tonight Is the Night")


 * Judges' votes to eliminate


 * Cowell: The Stereo Hogzz – based on the final showdown performance
 * Abdul: InTENsity – based her decision on her experience working with both groups
 * Scherzinger: InTENsity – believed that The Stereo Hogzz were more prepared
 * Reid: InTENsity – gave no reason

Week 3 (November 9/10)

 * Theme: Songs from movies
 * Group performance: "Save the World"
 * Musical guests: Willow Smith ("Fireball") and Jessie J ("Domino")


 * Judges' votes to eliminate


 * Reid: The Stereo Hogzz – said he didn't like their song choices through the competition
 * Scherzinger: The Stereo Hogzz – based on her belief of "feminine empowerment", even though she liked both groups
 * Abdul: Lakoda Rayne – originally wished to abstain from voting, but then realized that doing so would have eliminated The Stereo Hogzz as Reid and Scherzinger had already voted to save Lakoda Rayne
 * Cowell: The Stereo Hogzz – based on who he thought had a greater potential to win the competition

Week 4 (November 16/17)

 * Theme: Rock
 * Group performance: "We Will Rock You"
 * Musical guest: Rihanna ("We Found Love")


 * Judges' votes to eliminate


 * Reid: Stacy Francis – backed his own act, Astro, but said he was disappointed in the attitudes of both finalists.
 * Scherzinger: Astro – backed her own act, Stacy Francis
 * Abdul: Stacy Francis – gave no reason
 * Cowell: Stacy Francis – told Astro that he didn't like his attitude and that he was showing disrespect, but believed Astro had a better chance of winning the competition

Week 5 (November 22/23)
The Pepsi Choice Group performance was chosen by the audience and included circus outfits along with a rotating stage and laser special effects in a hip-hop dance style.
 * Theme: Giving Thanks
 * Group performance: "Raise Your Glass"/"So What"
 * Musical guests: Kelly Clarkson ("Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)") and Bruno Mars ("It Will Rain")

Two acts were eliminated during the results show. The three acts with the fewest public votes were announced, and the act with the fewest votes was automatically eliminated. The remaining two acts then performed in the final showdown and faced the judges' votes.


 * Judges' votes to eliminate


 * Reid: LeRoy Bell – backed his own act, Marcus Canty, and said Canty had been the most consistent of the two
 * Scherzinger: Marcus Canty – backed her own act, LeRoy Bell
 * Abdul: Marcus Canty – based on the final showdown performance
 * Cowell: LeRoy Bell – believed Canty had done better overall in the competition, but thought Bell sang better in the final showdown, so he put the decision up to the public.

With the acts in the bottom two receiving two votes each, the result was deadlocked and reverted to the earlier public vote. Bell was eliminated as the act with the fewest public votes.

Week 6 (November 30/December 1)

 * Theme: Songs by Michael Jackson
 * Group performance: "Man in the Mirror"
 * Musical guest: Tinie Tempah ("Pass Out")

Michael Jackson's mother, Katherine; his three children Prince, Paris, and Blanket; and his brothers Marlon, Tito, and Jackie were present in the audience during the performance show.

As in the previous week, two acts were eliminated during the results show. The three acts with the fewest public votes were announced, and the act with the fewest votes was automatically eliminated. The remaining two acts then performed in the final showdown and faced the judges' votes.


 * Judges' votes to eliminate


 * Reid: Drew – backed his own act, Marcus Canty
 * Cowell: Marcus Canty – backed his own act, Drew, while also taking responsibility for her being in the final showdown
 * Scherzinger: Drew – felt that Canty gave a more emotional final showdown performance
 * Abdul: Drew – said that Canty's final showdown song moved her more

Week 7 (December 7/8)

 * Themes: Dance music hits; contestant's choice
 * Musical guests: Mary J. Blige ("Need Someone") and Lenny Kravitz ("Push" and "Are You Gonna Go My Way"); Nervo served as the house DJs for the dance portion of the night.

Originally, the second song was going to be chosen by the public as part of the Pepsi Challenge, however, due to technical problems that happened with the Pepsi Challenge the night before the performance show, that feature was delayed to Week 8 and executive producers told that the contestants had only 24 hours to choose another song.


 * Judges' votes to eliminate


 * Reid: Rachel Crow – backed his own act, Marcus Canty
 * Cowell: Marcus Canty – gave no reason, but effectively backed his own act, Rachel Crow
 * Abdul: Marcus Canty – said that Crow's final showdown performance blew her away
 * Scherzinger: Rachel Crow – couldn't make the decision on her own so put the decision to deadlock

With the acts in the bottom two receiving two votes each, the result was deadlocked and reverted to the earlier public vote. Crow was eliminated as the act with the fewest public votes. Scherzinger was booed by the audience after Crow's elimination.

Week 8: Semi-final (December 14/15)

 * Themes: Pepsi Challenge songs, "songs to get you to the final" (no theme)
 * Group performance: "No Diggity" / "Shout"
 * Musical guests: Nicole Scherzinger ("Pretty") and Florence and the Machine ("Spectrum (Say My Name)")

The semi-final did not feature a final showdown and instead the act with the fewest public votes, Canty, was automatically eliminated.

Week 9: Final (December 21/22)
The final lasted for 1.5 hours on Wednesday, December 21 and 2 hours on Thursday, December 22.

December 21
 * Themes: Celebrity duets; winner's song (billed as "$5 million song")
 * Group performance: "They Don't Care About Us" (with Cirque du Soleil's Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour)

December 22
 * Theme: Christmas songs
 * Group performances: "The Edge of Glory" (all finalists) and "Heroes" (performed by Melanie Amaro and Josh Krajcik)
 * Musical guests: Justin Bieber ("The Christmas Song" with Stevie Wonder / "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" with Drew), Leona Lewis ("Run"), 50 Cent with Astro ("Wait Until Tonight" / "In da Club") and Pitbull & Ne-Yo with Marcus Canty ("International Love" / "Give Me Everything")

Results summary

 * Color key


 * There was no public vote in the first week. Each mentor selected two finalists from their own category as the bottom two. The bottom two acts performed another song of their choice in the final showdown and their mentor was required to eliminate one of them based on the performance.
 * White returned to the competition in week 2 because the judges felt that she shouldn't have been eliminated in the previous week.

Week 1 (October 31/November 1)

 * Theme: Songs by American artists (billed as "Made in America")


 * There was no public vote in the first week. Each mentor selected two finalists from their own category as the bottom two. The bottom two acts performed another song of their choice in a sing-off and their mentor was required to eliminate one of them based on the performance.


 * Judges' decisions to eliminate
 * Lovato: Willie Jones – gave no reason
 * Reid: David Correy – gave no reason
 * Spears: Diamond White – gave no reason
 * Cowell: Sister C – gave no reason

Week 2 (November 7/8)

 * Theme: Songs from movies
 * Musical guest: One Direction ("Live While We're Young" and "Little Things")

One of the four acts that did not face the public vote in week 1 and was eliminated by mentor was reinstated to the show as the judges felt that the act shouldn't have been eliminated in the previous week. The reinstated act was announced as Diamond White at the start of the season second live show. 1432's new name 'Fifth Harmony' took effect from week 2.


 * Judges' votes to eliminate
 * Lovato: Jason Brock – gave no reason, though effectively backed her own act, CeCe Frey
 * Reid: Cece Frey – gave no reason, though effectively backed his own act, Jason Brock
 * Spears: CeCe Frey – gave no reason
 * Cowell: Jason Brock – gave no reason

With the acts in the bottom two receiving two votes each, the result was deadlocked and reverted to the earlier public vote. Brock was eliminated as the act with the fewest public votes.

Week 3 (November 14/15)

 * Theme: Divas
 * Musical guest: Taylor Swift ("State of Grace")

Starting from week three, two acts will be eliminated from each results show until week six. The three acts with the fewest public votes will be announced and then the act with the fewest votes will be automatically eliminated. The remaining two acts will then performed in the final showdown and face the judges' votes.


 * Judges' votes to eliminate
 * Reid: Jennel Garcia – gave no reason
 * Spears: Jennel Garcia – gave no reason
 * Lovato: Paige Thomas – gave no reason
 * Cowell: Jennel Garcia – stated it was an easy decision and felt that Thomas has star potential after watching her final showdown performance

Week 4 (November 21/22)

 * Theme: Giving Thanks
 * Group performance: "Fix You" (with Bancroft Middle School choir)
 * Musical guests: Cher Lloyd and Becky G ("Oath")


 * Judges' votes to eliminate
 * Lovato: Beatrice Miller – gave no reason, though effectively backed her own act, CeCe Frey
 * Spears: CeCe Frey – gave no reason, though effectively backed her own act, Beatrice Miller
 * Reid: Beatrice Miller – gave no reason
 * Cowell: Beatrice Miller – thought the competition was too much for Miller and that it wasn't her time

Week 5 (November 28/29)

 * Theme: Number-ones
 * Musical guests: Josh Krajcik ("One Thing She’ll Never Know") and Alicia Keys ("Girl on Fire")
 * Music video premiere: will.i.am featuring Britney Spears ("Scream & Shout")


 * Judges' votes to eliminate
 * Reid: Diamond White – gave no reason, though effectively backed his own act, Vino Alan
 * Spears: Vino Alan – gave no reason, though effectively backed her own act, Diamond White
 * Lovato: Vino Alan – gave no reason
 * Cowell: Vino Alan – gave no reason

Week 6 (December 5/6)

 * Themes: Unplugged songs; Pepsi Challenge songs
 * Musical guests: Melanie Amaro ("Long Distance") and Kesha ("C'Mon")

For the first time this season, each contestant will perform two songs. The list of song choices for the Pepsi Challenge was released via Twitter on December 1, 2012.


 * Judges' votes to eliminate
 * Cowell: Diamond White – gave no reason, though effectively backed his own act, Fifth Harmony
 * Spears: Fifth Harmony – gave no reason, though effectively backed her own act, Diamond White
 * Reid: Diamond White – gave no reason
 * Lovato: Diamond White – gave no reason

Week 7: Semi-final (December 12/13)

 * Themes: Contestant's choice; "songs to get you to the final" (no theme)
 * Group performance: "Coming Home" / "Coming Home, Pt. II"
 * Musical guests: Bridgit Mendler ("Ready or Not") and Bruno Mars ("Locked Out of Heaven")

The semi-final did not feature a final showdown and instead the act with the fewest public votes, Emblem3, were automatically eliminated.

Week 8: Final (December 19/20)
The final consisted of two two-hour episodes on December 19 and 20.


 * December 19
 * Themes: Favorite performance (billed as "song of the season"); celebrity duets; winner's song (billed as "$5 million song")
 * Group performance: "You Are Not Alone" (all top 13 finalists; in dedication to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims)


 * December 20
 * Theme: Christmas songs
 * Group performances: "All You Need Is Love" and "The Climb" (performed by Carly Rose Sonenclar and Tate Stevens)
 * Musical guests: Pitbull ("Don't Stop the Party" / "Feel This Moment") and One Direction ("Kiss You")