X Factor (Romanian TV series) season 9

The ninth season of the X Factor Romania talent show premiered September 11, 2020. Delia Matache and Ștefan Bănică Jr. kept their roles as judges while Loredana Groza and X Factor (Romanian season 3) winner, Florin Ristei, were the two new judges of the talent show. Răzvan Simion and Dani Oțil, the presenters of the morning show Neatza cu Răzvan și Dani returned as the show's hosts after an absence of one season. Crina Mardare was the only vocal coach of the season.

The aspiring artists were able to register online on the site of the show. From these, the producer selected the artists who are to enter the audition stage. This season had the motto #deneoprit due to the fact that the whole show is filmed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Categories
Colour key:
 * Winner
 * Runner-up
 * Eliminated in the Semifinal
 * Eliminated in the Duels
 * Eliminated in the Bootcamp
 * Wildcard

Auditions
Auditions took place in Bucharest only, because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Filming started on July 7, 2020.

According to the X Factor Romania - the ninth season regulations, each judges was assigned a category to mentor.


 * Boys between the ages of 14 and 24 - Loredana Groza
 * Girls between the ages of 14 and 24 - Ștefan Bănică Jr.
 * Artists over the age of 24 (mixed) - Delia Matache
 * Groups - Florin Ristei

Each judge had the right to one vote for each contestant with: "YES" or "NO". Those who received 4 YES-es were advanced directly to the next stage. Those with 3 YES-es were put on the short list of the judge that mentored their category. The judge that mentored the groups category had the opportunity to form groups after the auditions; he could ask for each artist that received 3 YES-es. The judge that mentored the category of the respective artists decided if he will keep them in his category or if he will leave them for the group category.

Each judge completed his team with 10 artists/musical acts.

Boys
Advanced automatically with 4 YES-es
 * Theodor Andrei
 * Robert Botezan
 * Denis Costea
 * Arthur Horeanu
 * Eden Loren
 * Adrian Petrache
 * Iulian Selea
 * David Adrian Ștefan

Advanced through the short list with 3 YES-es
 * Kashy (Gabi Gruici)
 * Liviu Panait

Girls
Advanced automatically with 4 YES-es
 * Ioana Ardelean
 * Andra Barangă
 * Melania Cuc
 * Andreea Dobre
 * Ana Paula Rada Pantea
 * Andrada Precup
 * Alexandra Sîrghi
 * Oana Velea
 * Marta Verrecchia

Advanced through the short list with 3 YES-es
 * Marina Vlad

Groups
Advanced automatically with 4 YES-es
 * Diana & Ioana Conta
 * Oana & George Indru
 * Super 4
 * Hello (Teodora & Marian)
 * Trio Eva

Advanced through the short list with 3 YES-es
 * West Vlads (Vlad Erdei & Vlad Moigrădeanu)

Formed by Ristei consisting of 3 YES-es contestants rejected by the mentor of their original category
 * 4SURE (Vasi Bistrae, Zoran Demian, Marian Vasilesc & Mistah White)
 * It's US! (Chriss Casper & Daria Pintilie)
 * RB Queens (Cristina Gheorghe, Anne Laura Noupadja, Cristina Vasiu)
 * Tiny Tigers (Alexandra Căpitănescu, Bianca Ionescu, Carla Ioniță, Karina Ștefan)

Over 24s
Advanced automatically with 4 YES-es
 * Iulian Canaf
 * Alina Dincă
 * Mehmet Dural
 * Otilia Gogu
 * Naomi Hedman
 * Austin Hirth
 * Lakeetra Knowles
 * Sonia Mosca
 * Kalon Rae

Advanced through the short list with 3 YES-es
 * Mihai Meiroș

Bootcamp
Each judge completed its team with 10 artists. In case the judges did not have enough contestants in their teams who passed automatically with 4 YES-es, they had to choose from those with 3 YES-es from their short list.

In the bootcamp, each contestant performed a song and only 3 artists per category were advanced.

Episode 14 − Boys (November 26)

 * Color key
 * – Contestant was immediately eliminated after performance without switch
 * – Contestant was switched out later in the competition and eventually eliminated
 * – Contestant was not switched out and made the final three of their own category

Duels: Episode 18 (December 10)
Two acts per category were advanced, while one act per category was eliminated by the mentor of the respective category.


 * Color key
 * – The act was eliminated.
 * – The act was advanced.

Semifinal: Episode 19 (December 11)
Only one act per category was advanced, while the other was eliminated by the mentor of the respective category.


 * Color key
 * – The act was eliminated.
 * – The act was advanced.

Goofs, critics and controversies
Auditions Bootcamp
 * When asked if he had participated in such a show before, Lucian Pință said no. He actually participated in the show Cântă acum cu mine, the Romanian version of All Together Now and Falsez pentru tine, the Romanian version of I Can See Your Voice. (Episode 2)
 * Maia Mălăncuș was actually 13 years old when she auditioned, therefore, she had not even reached the minimum age of 14 for the participation in the show. (Episode 7)
 * Both Arthur Horeanu and Kashy (Gabi Gruici) criticized the way their Bootcamp performances were edited. Arthur by adding a comment on the post on Facebook of his performance on the official X Factor Romania page saying: "From the stage I heard differently and I know how I sang. Re-listening to the recording, however, I detected some corrections and compressions that did not benefit me (one is obvious at 1:03), and the shortening of the song somewhat ruined its flow." and Kashy posting an Instagram story from rehearsals saying: "It kind of sounds better here". (Episode 14)

eXtra Factor
The ninth season of the talent show had a companion series titled eXtra Factor. The show's presenter was the actress Ilona Brezoianu, known for the role of secretary Flori from the comedy series Mangalița and the episodes were weekly published on YouTube. The first episode premiered September 11, 2020 on Kaufland Romania's YouTube channel.