Presenter(s) Kate Thornton (ITV1) Genre(s) Pop, R&B Host Kate Thornton (ITV1) Presented by Kate Thornton (ITV1) | Co-presenter(s) Ben Shephard (ITV2) Mentor Simon Cowell Air date August 19, 2006 Song A Moment Like This | |
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Broadcast from 19 August – 16 December 2006 Origin Islington, London, England Judges Simon Cowell, Sharon Osbourne, Louis Walsh, Paula Abdul (guest) Broadcasters ITV, ITV2 (The Xtra Factor) Winner Leona Lewis | ||
The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. The third series was broadcast on ITV from 19 August 2006 until 16 December 2006. 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. After the semi-final on 9 December, Cowell became the winning judge even though the series had not yet finished, as two of his acts, Ray Quinn and Leona Lewis, became the two finalists. Lewis won the series on 16 December, with Quinn finishing as runner-up.
Contents
- Judges and personnel
- Auditions
- Bootcamp
- Judges houses
- Finalists
- Results summary
- Week 1 14 October
- Week 2 21 October
- Week 3 28 October
- Week 4 4 November
- Week 5 11 November
- Week 6 18 November
- Week 7 25 November
- Week 8 2 December
- Week 9 Semi final 9 December
- Week 10 Final 16 December
- Winners single
- References
Instead of the earlier red and purple colour scheme, this year's theme was red and blue. A new-look website for the third series was launched on 11 August 2006. The final on 16 December brought in the show's then-highest ever audience, with 12.6 million people tuning in (a 56% audience share), and 8 million votes were cast, with Lewis receiving 60%. Lewis released a cover of Kelly Clarkson's "A Moment Like This" as her winner's single, and it went on the become the Christmas number one on 24 December despite only going on sale four days before on 20 December. It was reported that 1 million copies of the winner's single were pre-ordered by stores and that it was downloaded 50,000 times within 30 minutes of being available online. It ended as the United Kingdom's second best selling single of the year. In January 2007, the single was awarded platinum status by the British Phonographic Industry. According to the Official Charts Company, the song has sold 895,000 copies in the United Kingdom as of December 2012.
Lewis emerged as the most successful contestant to appear on the X Factor having sold over 30 million records worldwide as well as being the only former contestant to be nominated for a Grammy.
This was the last series with only three judges (excluding times when a judge was absent).
Judges and personnel
Simon Cowell, Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh 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.
This was both Thornton and Shephard's last series of The X Factor, as Thornton announced her departure on 8 March 2007 and was replaced for the fourth series by Dermot O'Leary. Shephard also quit the show after being passed over for promotion to main presenter. He was replaced by Fearne Cotton.
Auditions
Auditions began on 7 June 2006. Simon Cowell said on ITV's This Morning "The next international boyband or girlband is what I want to see in this year's show". 100,000 people applied to audition, the most so far. Nearly 20,000 attended an open audition at Old Trafford, Manchester on 18 June 2006.
All three judges, Cowell, Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh, returned. Hints by Cowell and the surrounding media that a fourth full-time judge mentoring a fourth category of contestants might be added proved to be false. However, American Idol judge Paula Abdul did make an appearance as a guest judge at the London auditions, and further celebrity guests appeared during the live shows. Auditions were held in cities around the UK and Republic of Ireland – London, Manchester, Birmingham, Dublin, Leeds and Glasgow. Cowell had also stated that there could be a 14–24s category but during the audition process the category was named as 16–24s, as in the previous two series. Cowell was given the 16–24s, Osbourne had the Over 25s, and Walsh mentored the Groups. (Both rumoured changes – the lowering of the age limit and the addition of a fourth category – were actually implemented in series 4.)
Bootcamp
It was originally intended that 21 acts (seven for each judge) should remain by the conclusion of the bootcamp stage. However, Cowell decided that he had made a mistake with his seven by failing to include Ray Quinn, and asked the producers to allow one more contestant or act to go through. The other two judges were then allowed to increase their quota to eight as well, giving a total of 24 acts.
Judges' houses
In the "judges' houses" round this was cut down to 12 to go through to the live finals. Avenue were chosen to go through but were later disqualified, having misled the judges over an existing record contract with a manager who was no longer associated with the show. As a consequence of this disqualification, Eton Road were put through in their place.
Finalists
The following artists made it to the live shows.
Key:
– Winner – Runner-up – Third placeResults summary
Week 1 (14 October)
Week 2 (21 October)
Week 3 (28 October)
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.
Week 4 (4 November)
Week 5 (11 November)
Week 6 (18 November)
Week 7 (25 November)
Week 8 (2 December)
This week 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)
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)
Winner's single
Winner Leona Lewis's debut single was "A Moment Like This", and was released on 20 December 2006. Contestant Ben Mills reportedly claimed that the contest had been fixed for Lewis to win, as the winner's song was more suited to a female vocal. This rumour subsequently proved to be unfounded and show bosses said that they had made arrangements for the song to fit any singer's voice.