Factor X (Spanish TV series)

Factor X is the Spanish version of the British television music competition The X Factor, created by Simon Cowell. The show, first aired on Cuatro between 2007 and 2008, following series 2-3 of the British format, with three categories, mentored by one judge each, whom choose the acts to represent the category in the live shows. The judges were singer and DJ Miqui Puig, headhunter Eva Perales and music radio producer Jorge Flo. Nuria Roca hosted the show. The first series was won by María Villalón. The second series was won by Vocal Tempo.

On 27 September 2017, Telecinco announced the revival of the series with the production of a new season. It was hosted by Jesús Vázquez.^[1] On 19 December 2017, it was announced that the panel of mentors would consist of singer Laura Pausini, publicist and television personality Risto Mejide, radio host Xavi Martínez, and musician and music producer Fernando Montesinos.^[2] Nando Escribano hosts the side show Xtra Factor, which aired on Divinity.^[3]

Series summary

     "Under 25s" category
     "Boys" category
     "Girls" category
     "Over 25s" category
     "Groups" category

Judges' categories and their finalists

In each season, each judge is allocated a category to mentor and chooses acts to progress to the live shows. This table shows, for each season, which category each judge was allocated and which acts he or she put through to the live shows.

Key:

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

Series 1 (2007)

The first series, started its run on Sunday 13 May 2007. The show was then broadcast nightly with 'Los Castings' (the auditions), which lasted until 20 May 2007. From the 21 May until the 27 May 2007 'La Selección Final' (final selection) was shown, again nightly. On 28 May 'Las Galas' (live shows) began. Factor X proved successful for TV station Cuatro. It achieved an average audience of 12.3%. Factor X live shows were shown at 10pm every Monday evening.

Series 2 (2008)

The second series started its run September 1, 2008 with the auditions. The first "gala" or live show was aired on September 22, on primetime. In a similar fashion to the last seasons in the original British series, each gala had a different theme (number-one hits or 80's music, for example). Five acts were chosen for the finals in each category, and an additional contestant was chosen in the middle of the season through Internet auditions

Series 3 (2018)

The third series premiered on Telecinco on 13 April 2018, ten years after its run on Cuatro.^[4]

Post Factor X

A few weeks after the first series ended, eventual winner María Villalon released a debut EP entitled María Villalon, an album with all the songs she sang whilst in the competition. A few months later, she released her debut album Te Espero Aquí, which made the Spanish top 40 album chart, just like her debut LP did. But she wasn't the only one who received a record deal, runner-up Angy released her debut self-titled album (with the artistic name Angy) a couple of weeks after Villalon's debut album release. She also began an acting career starring in the teen drama television series Física y Química, aired on Antena 3. 3rd placed Walter released a single, but it didn't see much success. Angy's debut single 'Sola En Silencio' was a major hit across Spain, making the top 20 in Spanish Los 40 Principales. In turn, Maria Villalon's first two singles 'Aguita De Abril' and 'Te Espero Aqui' failed to gain chart stardom, but her second album saw the success of its lead single 'La lluvia' which made it into the top 5 in Los 40 Principales.

Months after the contest finished, 6th placed Leire Martínez's popularity boosted as she was chosen to replace Amaia Montero as the new lead singer of La Oreja de Van Gogh, one of the best-selling pop bands in Spain and Latin America.^[5] Her first album with the band, A las cinco en el Astoria, was released on September 2, 2008 reaching the number-one spot in the Spanish charts.

8th placed Ailyn submitted a song to Salvemos Eurovisión, the Spanish selection for the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest, but failed to get to the final round. Later that year, she was chosen to be the new female vocalist of the Norwegian Gothic Metal band Sirenia, working with them until 2016.^[6]

After the third series ended, judge Laura Pausini invited some of the contestants, including her pupils Samuel Hernández and series winner Pol Granch, to serve as opening acts for her upcoming world tour.

References and notes

External links

• Official site (in Spanish)