The X Factor UK (Series 5)

The X Factor UK (Series 5)

Series	5
Broadcast from	16 August 2008 – 13 December 2008
Judges	Simon Cowell Cheryl Cole Dannii Minogue Louis Walsh
Presenters	Dermot O'Leary Holly Willoughby
Network	ITV ITV2
Number of finalists	12
Winner	Alexandra Burke
Runner-up	JLS
Notable returnees	Rikki Loney (1) Alexandra Burke (2) Marlon McKenzie (2) Austin Drage (4)
Ratings	10.51 millions
Chronology
Previous	Series 4
Next	Series 6

Series 5 of The X Factor premiered on August 16, 2008 and ended on Decemvber 13, 2008 on ITV.

It was during auditions that viewers were introduced to 15-year-old Jade Thirlwall, who in Series 8 would form one quarter of the winning act that year, Little Mix. The fifth series also introduced 14-year-old Liam Payne who became a member of successful boy band One Direction, formed in Series 7.

It was won by 20-year old R&B singer Alexandra Burke who was part of the Girls category mentored by Cheryl Cole. She had previously made it to Judges' Houses in Series 2 but was sent home by Louis Walsh.

Runners-up JLS and semi finalist Diana Vickers also secured record deals after the show and both went on to have chart success.

This series was watched by 10.51 million viewers - almost 2 million more than the previous series.

Production

Dermot O'Leary returned to present the main show on ITV, while Fearne Cotton was replaced by Holly Willoughby as presenter of spin-off show The Xtra Factor on ITV2. Simon Cowell, Louis Walsh and Dannii Minogue returned to the judging panel. Sharon Osbourne left after four series and was replaced by Cheryl Cole.

Twists/Changes

Age Limit: The minimum age was changed back to 16 after attracting criticism during the previous series.

Charity single: In a change to previous series, the twelve finalists released a cover of Mariah Carey's 1993 single "Hero" with all proceeds going to the Help for Heroes and The Royal British Legion charities. This format would continue up to and including 2011.

Finalists

Contestant		Category	Finish	Elimination
	Bad Lashes 19-24, various places	Groups	12th week one	Deadlock
	Girlband 18-22, South-West England	Groups	11th week two	Deadlock
	Scott Bruton 20, Manchester	Boys	10th week three	Majority vote
	Austin Drage 22, Grays, Thurrock	Boys	9th week four	Majority vote
X Factor 2009 Live Tour
	Laura White 21, Atherton, Wigan	Girls	8th week five	Majority vote
	Daniel Evans 39, Leyton, London	Over 25s	7th week six	Majority vote
	Rachel Hylton 27, London	Over 25s	6th week seven	Majority vote
	Ruth Lorenzo 26, Murcia, Spain	Over 25s	5th week eight	Fewest public votes
	Diana Vickers 17, Accrington, Lancashire	Girls	4th week nine	Fewest public votes
	Eoghan Quigg 16, County Londonderry	Boys	Winner week ten	Fewest public votes
	JLS 20-23, various places	Groups	Runner-up week ten	Fewest public votes
	Alexandra Burke 20, London	Girls	Winner week ten	Most public votes

Selection process

Auditions

See: List of The X Factor UK auditionees (series 5)

Notable returnees included eventual winner Alexandra Burke who first auditioned for the show in Series 2, making as far as Judges Houses' before being sent home. Other notable auditionees included Nikk Mager who first came to public attention as a participant on Popstars: The Rivals alongside Cheryl Cole, who went on to be part of the winning girlband Girls Aloud.

Bootcamp

See: Bootcamp (UK series 5)

Judges' Houses

See: Judges' Houses (UK series 5)

Summary of judges' houses
Judge	Category	Location	Guest mentor(s)	Contestants eliminated
Cole	Girls	Cannes	Kimberly Walsh	Annastasia Baker, Hannah Bradbeer, Amy Connelly
Cowell	Boys	Barbados	Sinitta	Mali-Michael McCalla, Liam Payne, Alan Turner
Minogue	Over 25s	Saint Tropez	Emma Bunton	Suzie Furlonger, Louise Heatley, James Williams
Walsh	Groups	Glaslough, Co. Monaghan	Shane Filan	4Instinct, Desire, Priority

Live Shows

Results Summary

Weekly results per contestant
Week		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Eliminated
	Alexandra Burke	6th 7.20%	7th 7.15%	6th 8.83%	6th 8.82%	2nd 18.35%	4th 13.31%	4th 14.97%	1st 24.53%	2nd 31.04%	1st 44.02%	Winner (week 10) 58.34%
	JLS	7th 5.03%	3rd 9.21%	4th 10.81%	2nd 17.00%	4th 13.26%	5th 9.91%	5th 11.75%	2nd 24.34%	1st 35.03%	2nd 30.65%	Runner-up (week 10) 41.66%
	Eoghan Quigg	1st 21.19%	1st 26.77%	1st 20.73%	1st 19.81%	1st 27.39%	2nd 19.56%	1st 31.79%	3rd 19.58%	3rd 21.14%	3rd 25.33%	Eliminated (week 10)
	Diana Vickers	4th 7.35%	2nd 16.24%	2nd 15.13%	3rd 15.24%	N/A	1st 31.30%	2nd 18.94%	4th 16.32%	4th 12.79%	Eliminated (week 9)
	Ruth Lorenzo	10th 3.47%	10th 2.95%	5th 8.93%	5th 10.25%	7th 6.94%	3rd 13.91%	3rd 16.07%	5th 15.23%	Eliminated (week 8)
	Rachel Hylton	8th 4.77%	8th 5.01%	3rd 12.21%	9th 3.81%	5th 10.39%	7th 4.48%	6th 6.48%	Eliminated (week 7)
	Daniel Evans	5th 7.21%	6th 8.23%	9th 5.94%	4th 10.83%	3rd 13.77%	6th 7.53%	Eliminated (week 6)
	Laura White	3rd 16.99%	4th 8.99%	7th 7.53%	7th 7.38%	6th 9.90%	Eliminated (week 5)
	Austin Drage	9th 3.63%	5th 8.98%	8th 6.22%	8th 6.86%	Eliminated (week 4)
	Scott Bruton	2nd 19.48%	9th 4.17%	10th 3.67%	Eliminated (week 3)
	Girlband	11th 2.17%	11th 2.30%	Eliminated (week 2)
	Bad Lashes	12th 1.51%	Eliminated (week 1)

Bottom two		Bad Lashes, Girlband	Girlband, Lorenzo	Bruton, Evans	Drage, Hylton	Lorenzo, White	Evans, Hylton	Hylton, JLS	No final showdown or judges' votes; results were based on public votes alone
Walsh's vote to eliminate		Bad Lashes	Lorenzo	Bruton	Drage	White	Evans	Hylton
Minogue's vote to eliminate		Girlband	Bad Lashes	Bruton	Drage	White	N/A	JLS
Cole's vote to eliminate		Girlband	Bad Lashes	Bruton	Drage	Lorenzo	Evans	Hylton
Cowell's vote to eliminate		Bad Lashes	Lorenzo	Evans	Hylton	White	Evans	Hylton
Eliminated		Bad Lashes (2 of 4) Deadlock	Girlband (2 of 4) Deadlock	Scott Bruton (3 of 4) Majority vote	Austin Drage (3 of 4) Majority vote	Laura White (3 of 4) Majority vote	Daniel Evans (3 of 3) Majority vote	Rachel Hylton (3 of 4) Majority vote