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Olly Murs
Ollymurs
Contestant Profile
Birth Date 14 May 1984
Age 40
Hometown Witham, Essex, England
Occupation Singer, television personality

6

Category Over 25s
Mentor Simon Cowell
Placement Runner-up (2/12)
Gallery

Oliver Stanley "Olly" Murs (born 14 May 1984) is an English singer. He auditioned for Series 6 of The X Factor UK and made it all the way to the final as part of the Over 25s category mentored by Simon Cowell.

After to the eliminations of Jamie Archer and Danyl Johnson, Murs was the only act left in his category. He finished as runner-up to Joe McElderry from the Boys category mentored by Cheryl Cole.

Performances[]

Episode Theme Song Result
Audition Free choice "Superstition" Advanced
Bootcamp 1 Group performance "One" Advanced
Bootcamp 2 Solo performance "Your Song" Advanced
Judges' houses Free choice "A Song for You" Advanced
Week 1 Musical heroes "She's the One" Safe
Week 2 Divas "A Fool in Love" Safe
Week 3 Big band "Bewitched" Safe
Week 4 Rock "Come Together" Safe
Week 5 Songs from films "Twist and Shout" Safe
Week 6 Songs by Queen "Don't Stop Me Now" Safe
Week 7 Songs by Wham! or George Michael "Fastlove" Bottom two
Save Me songs "Wonderful Tonight" Saved
Week 8: Quarter-Final Songs by Take That "Love Ain't Here Anymore" Safe
Songs by Elton John "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting"
Week 9: Semi-Final Songs by Michael Jackson "Can You Feel It" Safe
Mentor's choice "We Can Work It Out"
Week 10: Final Audition songs "Superstition" Runner-up
Celebrity duets "Angels" (with Robbie Williams)
Song of the series (chosen by mentor) "A Fool in Love"
Final results Song of the series (chosen by contestant) "Twist and Shout"
Winner's single "The Climb"

Post-The X Factor[]

In spite of not winning, Murs was signed to RCA Records and released his debut single "Please Don't Let Me Go", which entered the UK Charts at #1. To date, he has had six UK #1 singles (four as a soloist and two as part of a collective) and released five studio albums, four of which have reached #1. He is the most successful act not to win the show.

Aside from singing, he has done presenting work, having joined Caroline Flack as co-presenter of The Xtra Factor UK for the 2012 series. He stepped down the following year to focus on his music career but following Dermot O'Leary's departure as presenter of the main show, for Series 12 they served as presenters. However, their presenting attracted much criticism from the British public, which led to O'Leary returning as presenter for the follow-up series.

From 2018 - 2023, Murs served as a coach on six series of “The Voice UK” from Series 7 to Series 12. In both Series 8 and Series 9 his team amassed two wins with Molly Hocking winning Series 8 & Blessing Chitapa winning Series 9.

As of 2022, Murs has hosted ITV’s “Stars In Their Eyes” successor “Starstruck”.

Discography[]

Trivia[]

  • In Week 7 John & Edward received more public votes than Murs. This meant if the result went to deadlock, John & Edward would have been advanced to the quarter-final and Murs would have been eliminated.
UK Series 6 Finalists
Danyl JohnsonJamie ArcherJedwardJoe McElderryKandy RainLloyd DanielsLucie JonesMiss FrankOlly MursRachel AdedejiRikki LoneyStacey Solomon
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