The X Factor UK (Series 3)

The X Factor UK (Series 3)
Series	3
Broadcast from	19 August 2006 – 16 December 2006
Judges	Louis Walsh Sharon Osbourne Simon Cowell Paula Abdul (guest)
Presenters	Kate Thornton Ben Shephard
Network	ITV ITV2
Number of finalists	12
Winner	Leona Lewis
Runner-up	Ray Quinn
Notable returnees	Nikitta Angus (2)
Ratings	8.27 millions
Chronology
Previous	The X Factor: Battle of the Stars
Next	Series 4

Series 3 of The X Factor premiered on August 19, 2006 and concluded on December 16, 2006 on ITV.

It was won by 21-year old R&B singer Leona Lewis who was part of the 16-24s category mentored by Simon Cowell.  She was the first female to win the show and this was Cowell's second win as a mentor in three years.

This series was watched by an average of 8.27 million viewers - nearly half a million less than the previous year.

Production

Louis Walsh, Sharon Osbourne and Simon Cowell all returned for their third series on the judging panel. Kate Thornton returned to present the main show on ITV, while Ben Shephard returned to present spin-off show The Xtra Factor on ITV2.

Auditions were held in cities around the UK and Republic of Ireland – London, Manchester, Dublin, Leeds and Glasgow.

This was the last series to feature three judges on the judging panel.

Judges

Louis Walsh	Sharon Osbourne	Simon Cowell

Twists/Changes

Guest Judge Introduction: This is the first series to introduce a temporary guest judge. Paula Abdul served as the guest judge during the auditions.

Live Shows: After changing to a Top 3 final for Series 2, it reverted to a Top 2 final as with Series 1 and was the first series where the Top 2 finalists duetted with celebrity performers. Each week also had its different theme.

Double Elimination: This series was the first to feature a double elimination. This took place in Week 3 where instead three acts will be in the Bottom Three unlike the Bottom Two in a single elimination. In the double elimination format, within the Bottom Three, the act who finished last in the public vote is automatically eliminated. Then the other two acts compete in the Final Showdown and then face the judges' votes.

Finalists

Act		Category	Finish	Elimination
	The Unconventionals 25-41, various places	Groups	12th week one	Majority vote
	4Sure 23-38, various places	Groups	11th week two	Majority vote
	Dionne Mitchell 26, London	Over 25s	10th week three	Fewest public votes
	Kerry McGregor 32, West Lothian	Over 25s	9th week three	Majority vote
The X Factor 2007 Live Tour
	Ashley McKenzie 20, Croydon, South London	16-24s	8th week four	Majority vote
	Nikitta Angus 18, Manchester	16-24s	7th week five	Majority vote
	Robert Allen 27, Essex	Over 25s	6th week six	Majority vote
	Eton Road 17-20, various places	Groups	5th week seven	Majority vote
	The MacDonald Brothers 20-21, Ayrshire	Groups	4th quarter-final	Fewest public votes
	Ben Mills 26, Chatham, Kent	Over 25s	3rd semi-final	Fewest public votes
	Ray Quinn 18, Liverpool	16-24s	Runner-up final	Fewest public votes
	Leona Lewis 21, North London	16-24s	Winner final	Most public votes

Selection process

Auditions

See: List of The X Factor UK auditionees (series 3)

Eventual finalist Nikitta Angus first applied for the show the previous year but was knocked down by a car on the way to her audition. Max George who was part of boyband Avenue, who were originally selected for the live shows and eventually disqualified after it was discovered they already had a contract, would go on to be part of English/Irish boyband The Wanted.

This series saw the return of Mollie King as part of the girl group Fallen Angelz. In Series 2 she was criticized in her audition for her outfit by Sharon Osbourne and failed to advance. The group was eliminated at bootcamp but she went on to find fame as part of the British-Irish girl group The Saturdays.

One member of the group Eskimo Blonde also auditioned again & was sent through to bootcamp. The group found a new member, but after getting a no from Simon Cowell, they ended up clashing with Sharon Osbourne & were escorted out of the audition room by security.

Bootcamp

See: Bootcamp (UK series 3)

Judges' Houses

See: Judges' Houses (UK series 3)

Summary of judges' houses

Judge	Category	Location	Guest mentor(s)	Contestants eliminated
Cowell	16-24s	Miami	Sinitta	Carlo Muscutelli, Gemma Sampson, Shaun Rogerson, Stacey Barnes
Osbourne	Over 25s	London	Mark Hudson, Adrian Williams	Jonathan Bremner, Katie Angus, Lyn Fairbanks, Tiwa Savage
Walsh	Groups	Dublin	Kian Egan, Yvie Burnett	[Avenue, Brother's One, The Dolly Rockers, Pure Liberty

Results Summary

Weekly results per act
Week		1	2	3		4	5	6	7	Quarter-Final	Semi-Final	Final
Eliminated
	Leona Lewis	Safe	Safe	Safe		Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Winner (final)
	Ray Quinn	Safe	Safe	Safe		Safe	Bottom Two	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Runner-Up (final)
	Ben Mills	Safe	Safe	Safe		Safe	Safe	Safe	Bottom Two	Safe	3rd	Eliminated (semi-final)
	The MacDonald Brothers	Safe	Safe	Safe		Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	4th	Eliminated (quarter-final)
	Eton Road	Safe	Safe	Safe		Safe	Safe	Bottom Two	Bottom Two	Eliminated (week 7)
	Robert Allen	Safe	Bottom Two	Safe		Bottom Two	Safe	Bottom Two	Eliminated (week 6)
	Nikitta Angus	Safe	Safe	Safe		Safe	Bottom Two	Eliminated (week 5)
	Ashley McKenzie	Safe	Safe	Bottom Three		Bottom Two	Eliminated (week 4)
	Kerry McGregor	Safe	Safe	Bottom Three		Eliminated (week 3)
	Dionne Mitchell	Bottom Two	Safe	10th
	4Sure	Safe	Bottom Two	Eliminated (week 2)
	The Unconventionals	Bottom Two	Eliminated (week 1)
Final Showdown		Mitchell, The Unconventionals	4Sure, Allen	McGregor, McKenzie		Allen, McKenzie	Angus, Quinn	Allen, Eton Road	Eton Road, Mills	No final showdown or judges' votes; results were based on public votes alone
Walsh's vote to eliminate		Mitchell	Allen	McGregor		McKenzie	Quinn	Allen	Mills
Osbourne's vote to eliminate		The Unconventionals	4Sure	McKenzie		McKenzie	Angus	Eton Road	Eton Road
Cowell's vote to eliminate		The Unconventionals	4Sure	McGregor		Allen	Angus	Allen	Eton Road
Eliminated		The Unconventionals (2 of 3) Majority Vote	4Sure (2 of 3) Majority Vote	Dionne Mitchell Public Vote To Save	Kerry McGregor (2 of 3) Majority Vote	Ashley McKenzie (2 of 3) Majority Vote	Nikitta Angus (2 of 3) Majority Vote	Robert Allen (2 of 3) Majority vote	Eton Road (2 of 3) Majority Vote	The MacDonald Brothers Public Vote To Save	Ben Mills Public Vote To Save	Ray Quinn Public Vote To Win

Live show details

Week 1 (14 October)

• Theme: Motown
• Musical guests: Lionel Richie ("I Call It Love")

Contestants' performances on the first live show

Act	Order	Song	Result
Robert Allen	1	"All Night Long (All Night)"	Safe
Eton Road	2	"My Girl"	Safe
Nikitta Angus	3	"Heaven Must Have Sent You"	Safe
Ben Mills	4	"The Tracks of My Tears"	Safe
The MacDonald Brothers	5	"Three Times a Lady"	Safe
Ray Quinn	6	"Ben"	Safe
Dionne Mitchell	7	"I'm Gonna Make You Love Me"	Bottom two
The Unconventionals	8	"Dancing in the Street"	Eliminated
Ashley McKenzie	9	"Easy"	Safe
Kerry McGregor	10	"You Are the Sunshine of My Life"	Safe
4Sure	11	"What Becomes of the Brokenhearted"	Safe
Leona Lewis	12	"I'll Be There"	Safe

Judges' votes to eliminate

• Walsh: Dionne Mitchell – backed his own act, The Unconventionals.
• Osbourne: The Unconventionals – backed her own act, Dionne Mitchell.
• Cowell: The Unconventionals – stated that Mitchell had better vocals than The Unconventionals.

Week 2 (21 October)

• Theme: Songs by Rod Stewart
• Musical guest: Rod Stewart ("It's a Heartache")

Contestants' performances on the second live show

Act	Order	Song	Result
Leona Lewis	1	"The First Cut Is the Deepest"	Safe
Kerry McGregor	2	"I Don't Want to Talk About It"	Safe
The MacDonald Brothers	3	"Sailing"	Safe
Ashley McKenzie	4	"I'd Rather Go Blind"	Safe
Dionne Mitchell	5	"Tonight's the Night (Gonna Be Alright)"	Safe
4Sure	6	"You're in My Heart (The Final Acclaim)"	Eliminated
Nikitta Angus	7	"Bring It On Home to Me"	Safe
Robert Allen	8	"Try a Little Tenderness"	Bottom two
Eton Road	9	"This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You)"	Safe
Ray Quinn	10	"What a Wonderful World"	Safe
Ben Mills	11	"Maggie May"	Safe

Judges' votes to eliminate

• Walsh: Robert Allen – backed his own act, 4Sure.
• Osbourne: 4Sure – backed her own act, Robert Allen.
• Cowell: 4Sure – stated that Allen had taken the panel's advice and improved his vocals.

Week 3 (28 October)

• Theme: Big band
• Musical guest: Tony Bennett ("The Best Is Yet to Come" / "For Once in My Life")

Cowell appeared on GMTV on the morning of Wednesday 25 October and said that "something big is going to happen this week that none of the contestants know about – a change that will shake some of them up." It was revealed on the show that this surprise was to be a double elimination. The three acts with the fewest public votes were announced as the bottom three and then the act with the fewest votes was automatically eliminated. The remaining two acts then performed in the final showdown and faced the judges' votes.

Contestants' performances on the third live show

Act	Order	Song	Result
Ray Quinn	1	"Ain't That a Kick in the Head"	Safe
Dionne Mitchell	2	"For Once in My Life"	Eliminated (public vote)
Nikitta Angus	3	"Sway"	Safe
Ben Mills	4	"Smile"	Safe
The MacDonald Brothers	5	"Can't Take My Eyes Off You"	Safe
Leona Lewis	6	"Summertime"	Safe
Kerry McGregor	7	"They Can't Take That Away from Me"	Eliminated (judges' vote)
Ashley McKenzie	8	"Moondance"	Bottom three
Robert Allen	9	"Mr. Bojangles"	Safe
Eton Road	10	"Mack the Knife"	Safe

Judges' votes to eliminate

• Osbourne: Ashley McKenzie – backed her own act, Kerry McGregor.
• Cowell: Kerry McGregor – backed his own act, Ashley McKenzie.
• Walsh: Kerry McGregor – stated that McGregor had reached the limit of her abilities, whereas McKenzie still had potential to improve.

Week 4 (4 November)

• Theme: Songs by ABBA
• Musical guests: Björn Ulvaeus & The Cast of Mamma Mia! ("Mamma Mia" / "Dancing Queen")

Contestants' performances on the fourth live show

Act	Order	Song	Result
Nikitta Angus	1	"Dancing Queen"	Safe
Eton Road	2	"Does Your Mother Know"	Safe
Robert Allen	3	"Take a Chance on Me"	Bottom two
Leona Lewis	4	"Chiquitita"	Safe
The MacDonald Brothers	5	"Fernando"	Safe
Ray Quinn	6	"Waterloo"	Safe
Ben Mills	7	"SOS"	Safe
Ashley McKenzie	8	"The Winner Takes It All"	Eliminated

Judges' votes to eliminate

• Osbourne: Ashley McKenzie – backed her own act, Robert Allen.
• Cowell: Robert Allen – backed his own act, Ashley McKenzie.
• Walsh: Ashley McKenzie – stated that Allen delivered a more polished performance on the night.

Week 5 (11 November)

• Theme: Love songs
• Musical guest: Julio Iglesias ("I Want to Know What Love Is")

Contestants' performances on the fifth live show

Act	Order	Song	Result
Ben Mills	1	"I Don't Want to Miss a Thing"	Safe
The MacDonald Brothers	2	"She's the One"	Safe
Ray Quinn	3	"Crazy Little Thing Called Love"	Bottom two
Nikitta Angus	4	"Last Dance"	Eliminated
Eton Road	5	"From Me to You"	Safe
Leona Lewis	6	"Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word"	Safe
Robert Allen	7	"Always and Forever"	Safe

Judges' votes to eliminate

• Osbourne: Nikitta Angus – gave no reason.
• Walsh: Ray Quinn – stated that Quinn did not have a strong enough voice to be a recording artist.
• Cowell: Nikitta Angus – gave no reason but stated that neither act deserved to be in the bottom two.

Week 6 (18 November)

• Theme: Number ones
• Musical guests: Westlife and Delta Goodrem ("All Out of Love")

Contestants' performances on the sixth live show

Act	Order	Song	Result
Ray Quinn	1	"Livin' la Vida Loca"	Safe
Robert Allen	2	"You Are Not Alone"	Eliminated
Eton Road	3	"I Don't Feel Like Dancin'"	Bottom two
Leona Lewis	4	"Bridge over Troubled Water"	Safe
Ben Mills	5	"With a Little Help from My Friends"	Safe
The MacDonald Brothers	6	"Love Is All Around"	Safe

Judges' votes to eliminate

• Osbourne: Eton Road – backed her own act, Robert Allen.
• Walsh: Robert Allen – backed his own act, Eton Road.
• Cowell: Robert Allen – stated that Eton Road could progress further in the competition than Allen.

Week 7 (25 November)

• Theme: Songs from the movies
• Musical guest: Il Divo ("Desde El Día Que Te Fuiste (Without You)")

Contestants' performances on the seventh live show

Act	Order	First song	Order	Second song	Result
Leona Lewis	1	"Lady Marmalade"	6	"I Will Always Love You"	Safe
The MacDonald Brothers	2	"When You Say Nothing at All"	7	"I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)"	Safe
Ben Mills	3	"Live and Let Die"	8	"Your Song"	Bottom two
Eton Road	4	"Everybody Needs Somebody to Love"	9	"Can You Feel the Love Tonight"	Eliminated
Ray Quinn	5	"The Way You Look Tonight"	10	"Jailhouse Rock"	Safe

Judges' votes to eliminate

• Walsh: Ben Mills – backed his own act, Eton Road.
• Osbourne: Eton Road – backed her own act, Ben Mills.
• Cowell: Eton Road – stated that Mills was more talented than Eton Road.

Week 8: Quarter-Final (2 December)

• Themes: Songs by Barry Manilow; contestant's choice
• Musical guest: Barry Manilow ("Everybody Loves Somebody")

Contestants' performances on the eighth live show

Act	Order	First song	Order	Second song	Result
The MacDonald Brothers	1	"Can't Smile Without You"	5	"Shang-a-lang"	Eliminated
Ray Quinn	2	"Mandy"	6	"My Way"	Safe
Ben Mills	3	"I Made It Through the Rain"	7	"Somebody to Love"	Safe
Leona Lewis	4	"Could It Be Magic"	8	"Without You"	Safe

The quarter-final did not feature a final showdown and instead the act with the fewest public votes, The MacDonald Brothers, were automatically eliminated.

Week 9: Semi-Final (9 December)

• Theme: "Songs to get you into the final" (no specific theme)
• Musical guest: Gloria Estefan ("Anything for You" / "Can't Stay Away from You" / "Rhythm Is Gonna Get You")

Contestants' performances on the ninth live show

Act	Order	First song	Order	Second song	Result
Ray Quinn	1	"Smile"	4	"You'll Never Walk Alone"	Safe
Leona Lewis	2	"I Have Nothing"	5	"Over the Rainbow"	Safe
Ben Mills	3	"(Everything I Do) I Do It for You"	6	"I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"	Eliminated

The semi-final did not feature a final showdown and instead the act with the fewest public votes, Ben Mills, was automatically eliminated.

Week 10: Final (16 December)

• Themes: Favourite performance ("song of the series"); celebrity duets; no theme; winner's single
• Group performances: "Earth Song" (auditionees) and "That's What Friends Are For" (all finalists)
• Musical guests: Take That ("Patience") and Shaun Rogerson ("Right Here Waiting")

Contestants' performances on the final live show

Act	Order	First song	Order	Second song (duet)	Order	Third song	Order	Fourth song	Result
Ray Quinn	1	"My Way"	3	"That's Life" (with Westlife)	5	"Fly Me to the Moon"	7	"A Moment Like This"	Runner-up
Leona Lewis	2	"I Will Always Love You"	4	"A Million Love Songs" (with Take That)	6	"All by Myself"	8	"A Moment Like This"	Winner

Ratings

Template:UK3ratings

Team Rankings

1.16-24s (mentored by Simon Cowell)

2.Over 25s (mentored by Sharon Osbourne)

3.Groups (mentored by Louis Walsh)

Trivia

• This was the first series where the winning mentor had two acts as the winner and runner-up
• This was the first series to have a Double Elimination Week.
• This was the first series where the act who performed first on the first live show was not in the final showdown in the first week.
• This was the final series to feature Kate Thornton on The X Factor UK. She was the first original cast member to depart the show.
• This is the second consecutive series where only one judge had all of their acts on The X Factor Live Tour.
• This is the only series where only a single judge had their last two acts in the final.
• This is the one of two series where only two acts were in the final.
• This is the first series where every judge had an act in the quarter-final.
• Unlike the previous 2 series, Kate's armpit wasn't exposed when she was announcing the winner in the final. This is due to her wearing a long-sleeve dress.