X Factor (Romanian TV series)

X Factor is a Romanian television music talent show contested by aspiring pop singers drawn from public auditions based on The X Factor series. It is broadcast on the Antena 1 channel in Romania.

X Factor
Created by	Simon Cowell
Presented by	Răzvan Simion (1–7, 9-) Dani Oțil (1–7, 9-) Mihai Bendeac (8) Vlad Drăgulin (8)
Judges	Delia Matache (2–) Ștefan Bănică Jr. (4–) Loredana Groza (9–) Florin Ristei (9–) Mihai Morar (1) Paula Seling (1) Adrian Sînă (1) Dan Bittman (2–3) Cheloo (2–3) Horia Brenciu (4–8) Carla's Dreams (6–8)
Country of origin	Romania
Original language	Romanian
No. of seasons	9
No. of episodes	144
Production
Producers	FremantleMedia Syco
Running time	60–140 mins (inc. adverts)
Release
Original network	Antena 1
Original release	17 September 2011 (2011-09-17) – present
Related
eXtra Factor Franchise

The competition is open to both solo artists and groups and has no upper age limit. Each judge is assigned one of three categories; the criteria for each has varied between seasons. Throughout the live shows, the judges act as mentors to their category, helping to decide song choices, styling, and staging, while judging contestants from the other categories; they also compete to ensure that their act wins the competition, thus making them the winning judge.

The original judging panel line-up in 2011 consisted of Adrian Sînă, Paula Seling, and Mihai Morar. In May 2012, it was announced that Morar, Sînă, and Seling had all left and would not be returning for the second season. On 15 June, before auditions began, Dan Bittman, Delia Matache and Cheloo were confirmed as the three new judges. When the show was revived in 2014, Bittman and Cheloo were replaced by Horia Brenciu and Ștefan Bănică, Jr.^[1][2] On July 12, 2016 it was announced that Carla's Dreams will join the jury panel as the fourth judge.^[3] Horia Brenciu and Carla's Dreams were replaced in 2020 with Loredana Groza and X Factor Romanian - season 3 winner, Florin Ristei.^[4]

Format

The competition is split into three categories: Solo Singers aged 16–24, Solo Singers aged 25 and over and Vocal Groups. Before the Judges' houses stage each judge gets one category which he will be mentoring.

Stages for season 1-3

There are 5 stages to X Factor competition:^[5]

• Stage 1: Pre-auditions (open auditions where producers decide who will perform in front of the judges)
• Stage 2: Auditions (filmed auditions with the judges and a live audience)
• Stage 3: Eliminations (known as 'Bootcamp' in the UK version)
• Stage 4: Judges' houses
• Stage 5: Live shows

 

 

Craiova

 

Arad

 

Cluj Napoca

 

Bucharest

 

Iași

 

Constanța

class=notpageimage|

Cities that auditions and/or pre-auditions were held in.

Stages for season 4-5

There are 5 stages to the competition:

• Stage 1: Producers' auditions (these auditions decide who will sing in front of the judges)
• Stage 2: Judges' auditions
• Stage 3: Six-chair challenge
• Stage 4: The Duels
• Stage 5: Live shows (finals)

Stages for season 6 onwards

There are 5 stages to the competition:

• Stage 1: Producers' auditions (these auditions decide who will sing in front of the judges)
• Stage 2: Judges' auditions
• Stage 3: Four-chair challenge
• Stage 4: The Duels
• Stage 5: Live shows (finals)

Auditions

The filming begins at this stage. The acts who got a phone call from the producers after the pre-auditions are invited to take part in the actual auditions with the judges and a live audience. They sing one or two songs and then the judges vote. These who got through will participate in Eliminations.

Eliminations

Originally known as Bootcamp. Each act who received at least two yeses from the judges during the auditions takes part in the Eliminations stage, which lasts for two days. Here the contestants are allocated to their categories. Each category sings one song and then the judges decides who leaves the competition and who stays in the selection process. Remaining acts have to prepare with a help of the vocal coaches one chosen song that they will perform in front of the panel. Then the judges choose five acts from each category that will get through to the Judges' houses stage. Now both the judges and the contestants find out which judge will be mentoring which category.

Judges' houses

This stage lasts for two days. The acts visit their mentors' homes. Each judge picks up a guest judge who will help him. Each contestant sings one song. Then the mentor and the person who helps him decide which three acts will take part in the live shows in the studio. In season four, these stages of the competition are being replaced by a new stage called "The Six-Chair Challenge",^[6] first introduced in the US version of the series. After the Six-chair challenge, each mentor had six contestants for the Duels. The contestants were not told who they were up against until the day of the Duels. Each contestant sang a song of their own choice, back to back, and each duel concluded with the respective mentor eliminating one of the two contestants; the three winners for each mentor advanced to the Live shows.

Wildcard

A new element was added in season 4; mentors were given one "steal", allowing each mentor to select one individual who were eliminated during the Bootcamp by another mentor.

Live shows

The finals consist of two shows: during the first each act performs one, or later in the series twice, and the second show is the results show, where the public vote. The judges mentor a category, where they are responsible for three final acts each.

During the first live broadcast each of the contestants perform one song in front of a studio audience and the judges, usually all the contestants sing live to a backing track. Some performances are accompanied by choreography and instruments. After the song, the judges comment on the performance, and often there is some competition between the judges' views. The lines for voting opens immediately after all the contestants have performed. When there are just 4 or 5 acts left, the format changes a little, with two songs performed by each act. Three acts remain until the grand final where the public vote alone chooses the winner of the season.

Performances

The show is primarily concerned with identifying a potential pop star or star group, and singing talent, appearance, personality, stage presence and dance routines are all important elements of the contestants' performances. In the initial live shows, each act performs once in the first show in front of a studio audience and the judges, usually singing over a pre-recorded backing track. Dancers are also commonly featured. Acts occasionally accompany themselves on guitar or piano. Each live show has had a different theme; each contestant's song is chosen according to the theme. After each act has performed, the judges comment on their performance. Heated disagreements, usually involving judges defending their contestants against criticism, are a regular feature of the show. Once all the acts have appeared, the phone lines open and the viewing public vote on which act they want to keep. Once the number of contestants has been reduced to five (season 1), or six (season 2), each act would perform twice in the performances show. This continues until only three acts remain. These acts go on to appear in the grand final which decides the overall winner by public vote.

Results

Before the results are announced, the results show occasionally begins with a group performance from the remaining contestants. However, the song is pre-recorded and the contestants mime, due to problems with the number of microphones. The two acts polling the fewest votes are revealed. Both these acts perform again in a "final showdown", and the judges vote on which of the two to send home. They were able to pick new songs to perform in the "final showdown". "Double elimination" took place in some of the results show, where the bottom three acts were revealed and the act with the fewest votes was automatically eliminated, and the two with the next fewest votes performed in the "final showdown" as normal.

Ties are possible as there are four judges voting on which of the two to send home. In the event of a tie the result goes to deadlock, and the act who came last in the public vote is sent home. The actual number of votes cast for each act is not revealed, nor even the order. However, a twist occurred in season two where the rankings of the acts based on the public vote for the week were revealed after the eliminations on the show. Once the number of contestants has been reduced to four, the act which polled the fewest votes is automatically eliminated from the competition (the judges do not have a vote; their only role is to comment on the performances).

In the final episode the three remaining acts sing two songs, including one performed with an invited music star. The viewers choose the winner by SMS voting or phoning. The winner will receive a price of €200,000.

Twists

Season 1

The finals consist of two shows: during the first each act performs one, or later in the series twice, and the second show is the results show, where the public vote. The judges mentor a category, where they are responsible for three final acts each. During the first live broadcast each of the contestants perform one song in front of a studio audience and the judges, usually all the contestants sing live to a backing track. Some performances are accompanied by choreography and instruments. After the song, the judges comment on the performance, and often there is some competition between the judges' views. The lines for voting opens immediately after all the contestants have performed. When there are just 4 or 5 acts left, the format changes a little, with two songs performed by each act. Three acts remain until the grand final where the public vote alone chooses the winner of the series.

Season 2

Owing to the addition of four wildcard contestants, two acts were eliminated from the series' first results show. The three acts with the fewest votes were announced as the bottom three and the act with the fewest public votes was then automatically eliminated. The remaining two acts then performed in the final showdown for the judges' votes.

Season 3

The live shows underwent a change in this season. In the first three live shows, each category will have its own final showdown, the result of which is decided solely by its mentor. The outcome of the fourth show will only rely on the public vote and will have two eliminations (one of which will happen halfway through of the show, when the voting will have been frozen). Thus, the final will have four contestants (not three as in previous seasons). Two of the finalists will be eliminated halfway through the final show, when the voting will have been frozen. The winner is still determined by the public vote.

Season 4

The live shows will have a change in this season. Only four live shows will take place. In the first two live shows, each category will have its own final showdown, the result of which is decided solely by its mentor. The outcome of the third show will only rely on the public vote and will have two eliminations (one of which will happen halfway through of the show, when the voting will have been frozen). The final will have four contestants. Two of the finalists will be eliminated halfway through the final show, when the voting will have been frozen. The winner is still determined by the public vote.

eXtra Factor

X Factor
Also known as	eXtra Factor
Genre	Improvised situation comedy
Presented by	Ilona Brezoianu
No. of episodes	12
Release
Original network	AntenaPlay X Factor Romania YouTube channel Kaufland Romania YouTube channel
Original release	11 September (2020-09-11) – 21 November 2020 (2020-11-21)

On July 10, 2020, Antena 1 announced that the ninth season will be accompanied by an online behind-the-scenes show called 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.^[7] The first episode premiered September 11, 2020 on Kaufland Romania's YouTube channel.^[8]

Series 2020

Main article: X Factor (Romanian season 9) § eXtra Factor

Season summary

  Contestant in "Mihai Morar" category
  Contestant in "Adrian Sînă" category
  Contestant in "Paula Seling" category
  Contestant in "Cheloo" category
  Contestant in "Dan Bittman" category
  Contestant in "Delia Matache" category
  Contestant in "Horia Brenciu" category
  Contestant in "Ștefan Bănică Jr" category
  Contestant in "Carla's Dreams" category
  Contestant in "Loredana Groza" category
  Contestant in "Florin Ristei" category

Season	Start	Finish	Winner	Runner-up	Third place	Fourth place	Winning mentor	Hosts	Sponsor	Judges
One	17 September 2011	1 January 2012	Andrei Leonte	Alin Văduva	Iulian Vasile	T&L	Mihai Morar	Răzvan Simion Dani Oțil	Orange	Adrian Sînă Paula Seling Mihai Morar
Two	23 September 2012	23 December 2012	Tudor Turcu	Ioana Anuța	Natalia Selegean	Red	Cheloo		Orbit Professional	Dan Bittman Delia Matache Cheloo
Three	22 September 2013	22 December 2013	Florin Ristei	Alex Mațaev	Mădălina Lefter	Bogdan Bratiș	Delia Matache
Four	19 September 2014	26 December 2014	Adina Răducan	Alexandra Crișan	Trupa 69	Alessio Paddeu	Horia Brenciu		Orange, Coca-Cola	Ștefan Bănică, Jr. Delia Matache Horia Brenciu
Five	17 September 2015	27 December 2015	Florin Răduţă	Xenia Chitoroagă	B52	Bravissimo	Ștefan Bănică, Jr.
Six	9 September 2016	23 December 2016	Olga Verbiţchi	Raul Eregep	Alex Mladin	Marcel Roșca	Carla's Dreams			Ștefan Bănică, Jr. Delia Matache Horia Brenciu Carla's Dreams
Seven	8 September 2017	22 December 2017	Jeremy Ragsdale	Ad Libitum	Francesca Nicolescu	Pierluca Salvatore	Horia Brenciu
Eight	26 August 2018	23 December 2018	Bella Santiago	Ioana Bulgaru	Cristian Moldovan	Doinița Ioniță	Delia Matache	Mihai Bendeac Vlad Drăgulin
Nine	11 September 2020	18 December 2020	Andrada Precup	Sonia Mosca	Adrian Petrache	Super 4	Ștefan Bănică, Jr.	Răzvan Simion Dani Oțil	Kaufland Sun Wave Pharma	Ștefan Bănică Jr. Loredana Groza Delia Matache Florin Ristei
Ten	6 September 2021	23 December 2021	Nick Casciaro				Loredana Groza

Judges

Judges

The X Factor debuted in 2011^[9] with Romanian recording artist Adrian Sînă, pop singer Paula Seling and radio DJ Mihai Morar as the judges. When it was announced that The X Factor would return in 2012, the jury was entirely changed. In May 2012, it was announced that Morar, Sînă, and Seling had all left and would not be returning for the second season. They were replaced by Holograf singer Dan Bittman, pop singer Delia Matache and rapper Cheloo.^[10] In February 2014, rumours began circulating that Cheloo would not be returning for the fourth series, because of his aggressive behavior. When it was announced that The X Factor would return in 2014, Bittman was linked to the role. For the fourth season Bittman and Cheloo were replaced by pop singer Horia Brenciu and rock star Ștefan Bănică, Jr.^[1][2] In July 2016, Carla's Dreams joined the jury, making the jury panel for the first made up of 4 members.^[3] In 2020, both Carla's Dreams and Horia Brenciu would be replaced by pop-singer Loredana Groza and former winner Florin Ristei.^[4]

Hosts

The show is hosted by Răzvan Simion and Dani Oțil, who are also known for hosting a well known morning show on Antena 1.

Timeline of judges

Judge	Seasons
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Mihai Morar
Paula Seling
Adrian Sînă
Cheloo
Dan Bittman
Delia Matache
Horia Brenciu
Ștefan Bănică Jr.
Carla's Dreams
Loredana Groza
Florin Ristei

Legend

  Featured as a judge

  Featured as a winner of the talent show

Judges' categories and their contestants

In each season, each judge is allocated a category to mentor and chooses small number of acts (four or five, depending on the season) to progress to the live finals. This table shows, for each season, which category each judge was allocated and which acts he or she put through to the live finals.

Key:  – Winning judge/category. Winners are in bold, eliminated contestants in small font.

Series	Adrian Sînă	Paula Seling	Mihai Morar	—
One
	Over 25s Alin Văduva Iulian Vasile Diana Hetea Cristian Parmac	Groups T&L Duo Voice Refresh X-Treme	16-24s Andrei Leonte Irina Florea Antonia Filip Ovidiu Nae
Two	Dan Bittman	Delia Matache	Cheloo
	16-24s Ioana Anuța Iulia Manolache Tudor Toduț Nadir Tamuz Ráduly Botond	Groups Red Nord X Station 4 2B R Family	Over 25s Tudor Turcu Natalia Selegean Dragoș Udilă Ioan Mann Iulia Glăvan
Three	Under 20s Mădălina Lefter Bogdan Bratiș Florena Țicu Șandro Ana-Maria Mihăieș Ruxandra Tomulesei	Over 20s Florin Ristei Alex Mațaev Oana Muntean Paolo Lagana Dumitru Botnaru	Groups Double X November Bruiaj Căminu' 16 Quattro
Four	Horia Brenciu	Delia Matache	Ștefan Bănică, Jr.
	Under 20s Adina Răducan Sergiu Braga Cristian Goaie Monica Sannino	Groups Trupa 69 Alessio Paddeu Contrast R-Twins	Over 20s Alexandra Crișan Nicoleta Nucă Alexandru Florea Miruna Buză
Five	Groups B52 Bravissimo Tomato	Over 20s Andrei Ioniță Anastasia Ursu Alex Vasilache	Under 20s Florin Răduţă Xenia Chitoroagă Endy Glikman Erika Isac
Six	Horia Brenciu	Delia Matache	Ștefan Bănică, Jr.	Carla's Dreams
	Over 24s Marcel Roşca Loredana Anghelache	Boys Raul Eregep Alex Mladin Emilian Nechifor	Groups 3 O'Clock Apollo	Girls Olga Verbiţchi Izabela Simion
Seven	Over 24s Jeremy Ragsdale Katarina Biehu	Girls Francesca Nicolescu Teodora Sava Alina Mocanu	Boys Salvatore Pierluca Anton Banaghan	Groups Ad Libitum Flashback
Eight	Groups Vox Diamonds	Over 24s Bella Santiago Cristian Sanda Cristina Vasopol	Girls Ioana Bulgaru Doinița Ioniță	Boys Cristian Moldovan Alexandru Stremițeanu
Nine	Florin Ristei	Delia Matache	Loredana Groza	Ștefan Bănică, Jr.
	Groups Super 4 Tiny Tigers	Over 24s Sonia Mosca Alina Dincă	Boys Adrian Petrache Iulian Selea	Girls Andrada Precup Alexandra Sîrghi
Ten
	Girls Bryana Holingher Betty Iordăchescu	Groups Omajii The Jazzy Jo Experience	Over 24s Nick Casciaro Stefan J. Doyle	Boys Andrei Duțu Ionuț Hanțig

Seasons

The auditions for the first season were carried in May 2011. The first series of the show aired starting 17 September 2011. Auditions for producers began in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, on 14 May 2011. They then took place in Constanța, on 21 May in Timișoara on 24 May 2011, on 4 June in Iași and concluded on 11 June 2011 in Bucharest. The first season ended on 1 January 2012, Andrei Leonte (16-24s) mentored by Mihai Morar was declared the first winner of The X Factor in Romania. Alin Văduva (Over 25s) was runner-up followed by Iulian Vasile (Over 25s) in third place. Leonte won by 51.0% of the votes.

The second season of the show aired starting 23 September 2012. Auditions for producers began in Craiova, România, on 15 June 2012. They then took place in Sibiu, on 18 June in Timișoara on 21 June 2012, on 27 June in Iași and concluded on 1 July 2012 in Bucharest. In the second season the judges are Dan Bittman, Delia Matache and Cheloo. The second season ended on 23 December 2012, Tudor Turcu (Over 25s) mentored by Cheloo was declared the second winner of The X Factor in Romania. Ioana Anuța (16-24s) was runner-up followed by Natalia Selegean (Over 25s) in third place.

 

Alex Mațaev

The third season of the show aired starting on 22 September 2013. This season has the slogan "Muzică și suflet" (literally "Music and soul"). Auditions for producers began in Craiova, România, on 2 June.^[11] They then took place in Arad, on 5 June in Cluj Napoca on 8 June 2013, on 11 June in Iași,^[12] on 14 June in Constanța and concluded on 17 June 2013 in Bucharest. All three judges are returning for season 3. On December 22, 2013, the season was won by Florin Ristei, mentored by Matache. Alex Mațaev, mentored also by Matache finished in second place and in third place was Mădălina Lefter, mentored by Dan Bittman.

The fourth season of the show aired starting on 19 September 2014. The first auditions took place at Craiova, on 24 May. They then took place in Sibiu, on 26 May, in Arad, on May 28 in Cluj Napoca on May 30, 2014, on June 2 in Iași, on June 5 in Galați^[13] and concluded on June 7, 2013 in Bucharest.^[14] Singer Delia Matache returned to the judging panel, while Horia Brenciu and Ștefan Bănică, Jr. joined the panel as replacements for the departing judges.

Reception

Television ratings

Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of X Factor on Antena 1.

Season	Season premiere	Premiere viewers (in millions)	Season finale	Finale viewers (in millions)	TV season	Rank	Source
1	17 September 2011	0.65	1 January 2012	1.26	2011-2012	2	^[15]^[16]
2	23 September 2012	1.66	23 December 2012	1.24	2012	2	^[17]^[18]
3	22 September 2013	1.59	22 December 2013	1.06	2013	2	^[19]^[20]
4	19 September 2014	1.39	26 December 2014	1.016	2014	2	^[21]^[22]
5	18 September 2015	1.01	27 December 2015	1.120	2015	2
6	9 September 2016		23 December 2016		2016

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Recipient	Result	Source
2011	TVmania Awards	Best Talent Show	X Factor	Nominated	^[23]
2012	TVmania Awards	Best Talent Show	X Factor	Nominated	^[24]
2013	TVmania Awards	Best Talent Show	X Factor	Nominated	^[25]
2014	TVmania Awards	Best Talent Show	X Factor	Nominated	^[26]

References

1. "Antena 1, platforma ta de video entertainment. Știri despre emisiunile și vedetele tale preferate | Antena 1".
2. http://xfactor.a1.ro/stiri/asteptarea-a-luat-sfarsit-delia-horia-brenciu-si-stefan-banica-jr-sunt-juratii-x-factor-2014-id1845.html.^{[permanent dead link]}
3. "ACELE dorinţe ţi s-au îndeplinit! Solistul de la Carla's Dreams este al patrulea jurat X Factor". xfactor.a1.ro. 12 July 2016.
4. "Componența juriului X Factor se schimbă în 2020, "surprizele" aduc noi scântei în formatul emisiunii". 7 July 2020.
5. "X Factor- Etapy Programu". Facebook.com. 11 December 2012.
6. "Antena 1, platforma ta de video entertainment. Știri despre emisiunile și vedetele tale preferate | Antena 1".
7. "Actrița Ilona Brezoianu în culisele X Factor, în curând, pe AntenaPlay | Antena 1".
8. "Kaufland | X Factor - eXtra Factor (episodul 1)". YouTube. Archived from the original on 5 December 2021.
9. X Factor, show-ul care a transformat oameni obisnuiti in superstar-uri, revine la Antena 1!^{[permanent dead link]}
10. Dan Bittman, Delia si Cheloo: noul juriu X Factor!^{[permanent dead link]}
11. "Duminică au loc primele audiţii X Factor, la Craiova. Vezi cu ce sfaturi îi întâmpină Ioana Anuţa pe concurenţi – Vedete de la noi". Libertatea.ro. 17 June 2013.
12. "VIDEO! Andrei Leonte: "Mergeti la auditii, X Factor iti deschide usile in muzica!" | Stiri". XFactor.a1.ro.
13. http://xfactor.a1.ro/stiri/sezonul-4-x-factor-se-apropie-cu-pasi-repezi-vino-la-auditii-daca-simti-ca-ai-factorul-x-id1841.html.^{[permanent dead link]}
14. http://xfactor.a1.ro/stiri/ara-tara-vrem-x-factorrr-incep-preselectiile-pentru-un-nou-sezon-id1804.html.^{[permanent dead link]}
15. "Cât a făcut X Factor la debut? Start modest pentru emisiunea de forţă a Antenei 1. Ediţia a doua, depăşită de Pro TV".
16. "X Factor a atins vârful de audienţă în finală: Peste un milion de telespectatori".
17. "X-Factor, De Două Ori în Weekend. Câți Români S-au Uitat La Show | Pagina de media – Petrişor Obae". Paginademedia.ro.
18. "Finala X Factor, lider de audiență |".
19. http://xfactor.a1.ro/cel-deal-treilea-sezon-x-factor-lider-de-audienta-875.html.^{[permanent dead link]}
20. "Finala X Factor a condus la oraşe, dar a fost sub Pro TV la nivel naţional. Şi anul trecut tot Bad Boys a fost peste finala X Factor".
21. "Prima confruntare Vocea României-X Factor, câştigată de show-ul de pe Pro TV. Ce diferenţă a fost între Pro TV şi Antena 1".
22. "AUDIENŢE. Serialul las Fierbinţi a zdrobit finala X-Factor: Audienţă aproape triplă la nivel naţional şi dublă la oraşe".
23. "FOTO: S-au decernat Premiile TVmania 2011!". 7 December 2011.
24. "S-au decernat Premiile TVmania 2012!". 4 December 2012.
25. "Iată numele câştigătorilor de la "Premiile TVmania"". 3 December 2013.
26. Știri (25 November 2014). "S-au acordat Premiile TVmania 2014! Iată numele câștigătorilor". TVmania. Retrieved 25 November 2014.

External links

• X Factor Romania Official website