| The X Factor UK (Series 2) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Series | 2 |
| Broadcast from | 20 August 2005 – 17 December 2005 |
| Judges | Louis Walsh Sharon Osbourne Simon Cowell |
| Presenters | Kate Thornton Ben Shephard |
| Network | ITV ITV2 |
| Number of finalists | 12 |
| Winner | Shayne Ward |
| Runner-up | Andy Abraham |
| Notable returnees | Chenai Zinyuku (1) Maria Lawson (1) 4Tune (1) |
| Ratings | 8.73 millions |
| Chronology | |
| Previous | Series 1 |
| Next | The X Factor: Battle of the Stars |
Series 2 of The X Factor premiered on August 20, 2005 and ended on December 17, 2005 on ITV.
It was won by 21-year old pop/R&B singer Shayne Ward who was mentored by Louis Walsh in the 16-24s category. As of 2017, it remains Walsh's only win as a mentor.
This series was watched by an average of 8.73 million viewers - an increase of 1.2 million viewers from the previous year.
Production[]
Kate Thornton returned as presenter of the main show on ITV and Ben Shephard presented spin-off show The Xtra Factor on ITV2, while Simon Cowell, Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh returned as judges.
The second series was longer than the first, with seven acts in each of the three categories going to the judges' homes, and twelve acts in the finals instead of nine.
Judges[]
|
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Louis Walsh | Sharon Osbourne | Simon Cowell |
Twists/Changes[]
Live Shows: In a change to the previous series, the number of finalists were increased to 12 with the shows taking place over 10 weeks. This was the first series to feature three acts in the final.
Elimination In The Final: As there were three acts in the final, the third place finalist was eliminated after the first public vote in the final.
Finalists[]
| Act | Category | Finish | Elimination | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Addictiv Ladies 16-17, London |
Groups | 12th week one |
Majority vote |
|
4Tune 18-21, Southampton |
Groups | 11th week two |
Majority vote |
|
Phillip Magee 21, Larne |
16-24s | 10th week three |
Majority vote |
|
Chenai Zinyuku 19, Bradford |
16-24s | 9th week four |
Majority vote |
| X Factor 2006 Live Tour | ||||
|
Maria Lawson 30, London |
Over 25s | 8th week five |
Majority vote |
|
Nicholas Dorsett 18, Enfield, London |
16-24s | 7th week six |
Majority vote |
|
The Conway Sisters 17-28, Sligo |
Groups | 6th week seven |
Majority vote |
|
Chico Slimani 34, Bridgend |
Over 25s | 5th quarter-final |
Fewest public votes |
|
Brenda Edwards 31, Luton, Bedfordshire |
Over 25s | 4th semi-final |
Fewest public votes |
|
Journey South 25-30, Middlesbrough, Teesside |
Groups | 3rd final |
Fewest public votes |
|
Andy Abraham 41, North London |
Over 25s | Runner-up final |
Fewest public votes |
|
Shayne Ward 21, Tameside |
16-24s | Winner final |
Most public votes |
Selection process[]
Auditions[]
See: List of The X Factor UK auditionees (series 2)
Notable returnees included eventual finalists Chenai Zinyuku and Maria Lawson who both auditioned for the first series and were eliminated at bootcamp. It was also during the audition stages for this series that viewers were first introduced to Mollie King, who was criticized by Sharon Osbourne for her outfit. Today, she is best known in the UK as part of English/Irish girl group The Saturdays. During the show, viewers were first introduced to Alexandra Burke, who would reach Judges' Houses before being sent home. She returned three years later and won the show.
Bootcamp[]
See: Bootcamp (UK series 2)
Judges' Houses[]
See: Judges' Houses (UK series 2)
| Judge | Category | Location | Guest mentor(s) | Contestants eliminated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cowell | Groups | Marbella | David Laudat, Sinitta | 4th Base, Eskimo Blonde, The Brothers |
| Osbourne | Over 25s | Beverly Hills | Gary Farrow, Mark Hudson | Haifa Kayali, Joanne Hindley, Richie Glynn |
| Walsh | 16-24s | Dublin | Faye Sawyer, Yvie Burnett | Alexandra Burke, James Bellamy, Trevor Hodgson |
Live Shows[]
Results Summary[]
| Weekly results per act | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | Quarter-Final | Semi-Final | Final | |||||||
| Eliminated | 
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |||||
| Shayne Ward | Safe | 1st | Safe | Safe | Safe | 2nd | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Winner (final) | ||||||
| Andy Abraham | 1st | Safe | 1st | Safe | Safe | 1st | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Runner-Up (final) | ||||||
| Journey South | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | 4th | Safe | Safe | Safe | 3rd | Eliminated (final) | ||||||
| Brenda Edwards | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | 5th | Safe | Safe | 4th | Eliminated (semi-final) | |||||||
| Chico Slimani | Bottom Two | Safe | Bottom Two | Safe | Safe | 3rd | Bottom Two | 5th | Eliminated (quarter-final) | ||||||||
| The Conway Sisters | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | 8th | 7th | Bottom Two | Eliminated (week 7) | |||||||||
| Nicholas Dorsett | Safe | Safe | Safe | Bottom Two | Safe | 6th | Eliminated (week 6) | ||||||||||
| Maria Lawson | Safe | Safe | Safe | 1st | 7th | Eliminated (week 5) | |||||||||||
| Chenai Zinyuku | Safe | Bottom Two | Safe | Bottom Two | Eliminated (week 4) | ||||||||||||
| Phillip Magee | Safe | Safe | Bottom Two | Eliminated (week 3) | |||||||||||||
| 4Tune | Safe | Bottom Two | Eliminated (week 2) | ||||||||||||||
| Addictiv Ladies | Bottom Two | Eliminated (week 1) | |||||||||||||||
| Final Showdown | Addictiv Ladies, Slimani |
4Tune, Zinyuku |
Magee, Slimani |
Dorsett, Zinyuku |
The Conway Sisters, Lawson |
The Conway Sisters, Dorsett |
The Conway Sisters, Slimani |
No final showdown or judges' votes; results were based on public votes alone | |||||||||
| Walsh's vote to eliminate |
Addictiv Ladies | 4Tune | Slimani | Zinyuku | Lawson | The Conway Sisters | N/A* | ||||||||||
| Osbourne's vote to eliminate |
Addictiv Ladies | 4Tune | Magee | Dorsett | The Conway Sisters | Dorsett | The Conway Sisters | ||||||||||
| Cowell's vote to eliminate |
Slimani | Zinyuku | Magee | Zinyuku | Lawson | Dorsett | The Conway Sisters | ||||||||||
| Eliminated | Addictiv Ladies (2 of 3) Majority Vote |
4Tune (2 of 3) Majority Vote |
Phillip Magee (2 of 3) Majority Vote |
Chenai Zinyuku (2 of 3) Majority Vote |
Maria Lawson (2 of 3) Majority Vote |
Nicholas Dorsett (2 of 3) Majority Vote |
The Conway Sisters (2 of 2) Majority Vote |
Chico Slimani Public Vote To Save |
Brenda Edwards Public Vote To Save |
Journey South Public Vote To Save |
Andy Abraham Public Vote To Win | ||||||
- In Week 7, Walsh did not need to vote as there was already a majority.
Live show details[]
Week 1 (15 October)[]
| Act | Order | Song | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Addictiv Ladies | 1 | "Superstar" | Eliminated |
| Shayne Ward | 2 | "Right Here Waiting" | Safe |
| Chico Slimani | 3 | "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" | Bottom two |
| Journey South | 4 | "Something About the Way You Look Tonight" | Safe |
| Phillip Magee | 5 | "Amazed" | Safe |
| Brenda Edwards | 6 | "Son of a Preacher Man" | Safe |
| The Conway Sisters | 7 | "SOS" | Safe |
| Nicholas Dorsett | 8 | "On the Wings of Love" | Safe |
| Maria Lawson | 9 | "Emotion" | Safe |
| 4Tune | 10 | "I Want It That Way" | Safe |
| Chenai Zinyuku | 11 | "The Closest Thing to Crazy" | Safe |
| Andy Abraham | 12 | "Greatest Love of All" | Safe |
- Judges' votes to eliminate
- Cowell: Chico Slimani – said that the judges had to pick the real talent over a "joke act", effectively backing his own act, Addictiv Ladies.
- Osbourne: Addictiv Ladies – backed her own act, Chico Slimani, whose performance she said was more exciting.
- Walsh: Addictiv Ladies – said that Slimani had the all-round entertainment package.
Week 2 (22 October)[]
| Act | Order | Song | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Andy Abraham | 1 | "You to Me Are Everything" | Safe |
| Chenai Zinyuku | 2 | "Young Hearts Run Free" | Bottom two |
| 4Tune | 3 | "I'll Be There" | Eliminated |
| Chico Slimani | 4 | "Play That Funky Music" | Safe |
| Nicholas Dorsett | 5 | "Let's Get It On" | Safe |
| The Conway Sisters | 6 | "You Raise Me Up" | Safe |
| Maria Lawson | 7 | "The Way You Make Me Feel" | Safe |
| Phillip Magee | 8 | "Wind Beneath My Wings" | Safe |
| Journey South | 9 | "Desperado" | Safe |
| Brenda Edwards | 10 | "Rescue Me" | Safe |
| Shayne Ward | 11 | "If You're Not the One" | Safe |
- Judges' votes to eliminate
- Cowell: Chenai Zinyuku – gave no reason, though effectively backed his own act, 4Tune.
- Walsh: 4Tune – gave no reason, though effectively backed his own act, Chenai Zinyuku.
- Osbourne: 4Tune – said that Zinyuku had a better chance of selling records.
Week 3 (29 October)[]
| Act | Order | Song | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phillip Magee | 1 | "Johnny B. Goode" | Eliminated |
| Brenda Edwards | 2 | "Midnight Train to Georgia" | Safe |
| Shayne Ward | 3 | "Summer of '69" | Safe |
| Chico Slimani | 4 | "Livin' la Vida Loca" | Bottom two |
| The Conway Sisters | 5 | "Total Eclipse of the Heart" | Safe |
| Chenai Zinyuku | 6 | "Hero" | Safe |
| Andy Abraham | 7 | "Unforgettable" | Safe |
| Journey South | 8 | "Angel of Harlem" | Safe |
| Nicholas Dorsett | 9 | "Let's Stay Together" | Safe |
| Maria Lawson | 10 | "Piece of My Heart" | Safe |
- Judges' votes to eliminate
- Osbourne: Phillip Magee – gave no reason, though effectively backed her own act, Chico Slimani.
- Walsh: Chico Slimani – gave no reason, though effectively backed his own act, Phillip Magee.
- Cowell: Phillip Magee – said that he was gradually getting used to Slimani's "entertainment factor".
Week 4 (5 November)[]
| Act | Order | Song | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brenda Edwards | 1 | "Somebody Else's Guy" | Safe |
| Nicholas Dorsett | 2 | "I Want You Back" | Bottom two |
| Andy Abraham | 3 | "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" | Safe |
| Chenai Zinyuku | 4 | "Always on My Mind" | Eliminated |
| Chico Slimani | 5 | "Kiss" | Safe |
| Journey South | 6 | "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" | Safe |
| Maria Lawson | 7 | "You're Beautiful" | Safe (Highest Votes) |
| Shayne Ward | 8 | "You Make Me Feel Brand New" | Safe |
| The Conway Sisters | 9 | "One Voice" | Safe |
- Judges' votes to eliminate
- Osbourne: Nicholas Dorsett – said that Zinyku deserved her place in the competition more.
- Cowell: Chenai Zinyuku – said that Dorsett had not been in the bottom two previously and deserved a second chance.
- Walsh: Chenai Zinyuku – said that it was a tough decision to choose between his own acts.
Week 5 (12 November)[]
| Act | Order | Song | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shayne Ward | 1 | "Cry Me a River" | Safe |
| Maria Lawson | 2 | "Brown Sugar" | Eliminated |
| The Conway Sisters | 3 | "Hold On" | Bottom two |
| Andy Abraham | 4 | "I'll Make Love to You" | Safe |
| Journey South | 5 | "Livin' on a Prayer" | Safe |
| Chico Slimani | 6 | "Hero" | Safe |
| Nicholas Dorsett | 7 | "I Believe I Can Fly" | Safe |
| Brenda Edwards | 8 | "Heartbreaker" | Safe |
- Judges' votes to eliminate
- Osbourne: The Conway Sisters – gave no reason, though effectively backed her own act, Maria Lawson.
- Cowell: Maria Lawson – gave no reason, though effectively backed his own act, The Conway Sisters.
- Walsh: Maria Lawson – went with his heart.
Walsh's decision to eliminate Lawson caused controversy when Osbourne accused Walsh of being part of the "Irish Mafia", since both he and The Conway Sisters are Irish. Cowell, though backed his own act to eliminate Lawson, said that if he had to go with his heart, he would have sent his own act home. He felt they would not have a chance to win, and that Lawson had more talent and her elimination would be the first one that the public would disagree with.
Week 6 (19 November)[]
| Act | Order | Song | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Conway Sisters | 1 | "One Moment in Time" | Bottom two |
| Andy Abraham | 2 | "Me and Mrs. Jones" | Safe |
| Nicholas Dorsett | 3 | "If I Ever Fall in Love" | Eliminated |
| Journey South | 4 | "Angels" | Safe |
| Brenda Edwards | 5 | "Last Dance" | Safe |
| Shayne Ward | 6 | "A Million Love Songs" | Safe |
| Chico Slimani | 7 | "It's Chico Time" | Safe |
- Judges' votes to eliminate
- Walsh: The Conway Sisters – gave no reason, though effectively backed his own act, Nicholas Dorsett.
- Cowell: Nicholas Dorsett – backed his own act, The Conway Sisters.
- Osbourne: Nicholas Dorsett – gave no reason.
Week 7 (26 November)[]
| Act | Order | Song | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chico Slimani | 1 | "Billie Jean" | Bottom two |
| The Conway Sisters | 2 | "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" | Eliminated |
| Andy Abraham | 3 | "I Have Nothing" | Safe |
| Shayne Ward | 4 | "I Believe in a Thing Called Love" | Safe |
| Brenda Edwards | 5 | "I Will Always Love You" | Safe |
| Journey South | 6 | "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" | Safe |
- Judges' votes to eliminate
- Osbourne: The Conway Sisters – gave no reason, though effectively backed her own act, Chico Slimani.
- Cowell: The Conway Sisters – said that both acts deserved to be in the bottom two, but felt Slimani had an entertainment value and voted to eliminate The Conway Sisters despite them being his own act. This became the first time ever in the history of the show that a mentor decided to eliminate his own act over the act from another category.
- Walsh was not required to vote as there was already a majority.
Week 8: Quarter-Final (3 December)[]
| Act | Order | First song | Order | Second song | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Journey South | 1 | "Bad Day" | 6 | "Candle in the Wind" | Safe |
| Chico Slimani | 2 | "I Got You (I Feel Good)" | 7 | "Time Warp" | Eliminated |
| Brenda Edwards | 3 | "I'm Outta Love" | 8 | "I'll Never Love This Way Again" | Safe |
| Shayne Ward | 4 | "Take Your Mama" | 9 | "Careless Whisper" | Safe |
| Andy Abraham | 5 | "Easy Lover" | 10 | "When I Fall in Love" | Safe |
The quarter-final did not feature a final showdown and instead the act with the fewest public votes, Chico Slimani, was automatically eliminated. After his elimination, Slimani reprised his performance of "Time Warp" as his exit song.
Week 9: Semi-Final (10 December)[]
| Act | Order | First song | Order | Second song | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andy Abraham | 1 | "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" | 5 | "Lately" | Safe |
| Journey South | 2 | "You're in My Heart (The Final Acclaim)" | 6 | "Let It Be" | Safe |
| Brenda Edwards | 3 | "Respect" | 7 | "Without You" | Eliminated |
| Shayne Ward | 4 | "If Tomorrow Never Comes" | 8 | "Unchained Melody" | Safe |
The semi-final did not feature a final showdown and instead the act with the fewest public votes, Brenda Edwards, was automatically eliminated. After her elimination, Edwards reprised her performance of "Without You" as her exit song.
Week 10: Final (17 December)[]
- Themes: No theme; Christmas songs; song of the series; winner's single
- Musical guest: The X Factor rejex ("My Way")Template:Cn
| Act | Order | First song | Order | Second song | Order | Third song | Order | Fourth song | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Journey South | 1 | "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" | 4 | "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" | 7 | "Let It Be" | N/A | N/A (already eliminated) | 3rd place |
| Andy Abraham | 2 | "When a Man Loves a Woman" | 5 | "O Holy Night" | 8 | "Me and Mrs. Jones" | 10 | "That's My Goal" | Runner-up |
| Shayne Ward | 3 | "If You're Not the One" | 6 | "When a Child Is Born" | 9 | "Over the Rainbow" | 11 | "That's My Goal" | Winner |
Ratings[]
Template:UK2ratings
Controversies[]
Elimination of Maria Lawson and "Irish Mafia" After the final showdown in week 5, controversy was created around the judges' voting process when Walsh cast the deciding vote to keep The Conway Sisters, who are Irish, in the show at the expense of Maria Lawson. Osbourne later claimed that Lawson was the victim of the "Irish Mafia" after Walsh chose to keep The Conway Sisters in. When the voting statistics were revealed at the end of the series, Lawson was revealed to have received twice as many public votes as The Conway Sisters. The controversy heightened when it was revealed that Walsh had also worked with The Conway Sisters personally prior to them auditioning for The X Factor. Osbourne's "Irish Mafia" remark resulted in an investigation by media regulator Ofcom over Osbourne's "Irish Mafia" remark, however on 9 January 2006, Ofcom cleared Osbourne of any wrongdoing.
Louis Walsh Rumours later circulated that Walsh had quit the show after being humiliated and "bullied" by Osbourne and Cowell. In addition to the media outrage at his choice to eliminate Lawson, there were verbal assaults. Furthermore, on 19 November, during the sixth live show of the series, Osbourne threw water over Walsh live on air after he asked her, "Are you on drugs? Are you taking Ozzy's drugs?" at the start of her (positive) critique of Journey South's performance of Robbie Williams' 1997 hit single "Angels". On 23 November, Walsh told The Sun: "I've been totally humiliated and undermined by both of them. This has caused me nothing but stress. The final straw was Sharon with the water and being booed by the audience and then Cowell saying I was an idiot and stupid... I've had enough. I'm going back to Dublin. I'm not putting up with it any more." Cowell apparently "begged" Walsh to come back and, in the event, Walsh did turn up for the next show; it was stated that he had indeed quit midweek but had been persuaded to return. He explained how he had felt he could not take the pressure any more, and denied that the episode was a publicity stunt.
Team Rankings:[]
1.Over 25s (mentored by Sharon Osbourne)
|
|
|
|
|
|---|
2.16-24s (mentored by Louis Walsh)
|
|
|
|
|
|---|
3.Groups (mentored by Simon Cowell)
|
|
|
|
|
|---|
Trivia[]
- This is the only series where Louis Walsh has been the winning mentor.
- This was the first year to have 12 acts in the Live Shows
- This was the first year that some of the acts went aboard for the Judges Houses stage. The previous series, acts performed in front of their mentor in their own homes in the UK.
- This was the last year of the original series to have free song choice selections throughout the live shows (The X Factor: Celebrity reintroduced this format during the first five live shows). The following year, every live show had a theme.
- This is the second consecutive series where each judge had their last remaining act in the final.
- This is the first season where only one judge had all of their acts on The X Factor Live Tour.
| The X Factor UK |
|---|
|
1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • The X Factor: Battle of the Stars • The X Factor: Celebrity • The X Factor: All Stars • The X Factor: The Band |