The X Factor was an Australian television reality music competition, based on the original UK series, to find new singing talent; the winner of which received a Sony Music Australia recording contract and a new car. The fourth season premiered on the Seven Network on 20 August 2012 and ended on 20 November 2012. The winner was Samantha Jade and her winner's single "What You've Done to Me" was released after the final. Jade was mentored throughout by Guy Sebastian, who won as mentor for the second year in a row. The main live shows was presented by Luke Jacobz, while season three finalist Johnny Ruffo presented the digital live streaming show The X Stream. Mel B, Guy Sebastian, Natalie Bassingthwaighte and Ronan Keating returned as judges.
The competition was split into several stages: auditions, super bootcamp, home visits and live shows. Auditions in front of the show's producers took place throughout February and March 2012. The successful auditionees chosen by the producers were then invited back to the last set of auditions that took place in front of the judges and a live studio audience in May 2012. After the auditions was super bootcamp, where all four judges worked together and collectively chose 24 acts, including six from each of the four categories: Boys, Girls, Over 25s and Groups. Following super bootcamp was the home visits stage, where each of the judges reduced their six acts to three, with help from guest mentors Alicia Keys, Kesha, One Direction and Usher. The live shows began on 17 September 2012.
The fourth season sparked controversy when contestant Josh Brookes was disqualified from The X Factor for behaving "in an inappropriate manner" on social media. He was later replaced by Carmelo Munzone. The grand final decider was watched by 1.92 million people, making it the highest rated television episode of the season.
Judges
In 2012 it was confirmed that Mel B, Sebastian, Bassingthwaighte and Keating would return for the series.
Selection process
Auditions
Auditions in front of the show's producers began in February 2012 in seven cities: Hobart (Hotel Grand Chancellor, 18 February), Launceston (Hotel Grand Chancellor, 19 February), Albury (Albury Entertainment Centre, 22 February), Dubbo (RSL Club Resort, 24 February), Darwin (Crowne Plaza Hotel, 26 February), Cairns (Shangri-La Hotel, The Marina Cairns, 28 February), Brisbane (Suncorp Piazza, 3–4 March), Newcastle (Hunter Stadium, 7 March), Sydney (Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre, 10–12 March), Perth (Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre, 18 March), Adelaide (Adelaide Convention Centre, 20 March) and Melbourne (Flemington Racecourse, 24–26 March). Online auditions were also introduced into the season for the acts who missed out on auditioning in front of the producers. The successful auditionees chosen by the producers were then invited back to the last set of auditions that took place in front of the judges and a live studio audience. These auditions were held in three cities: Melbourne (Hisense Arena, 3–5 May), Gold Coast (Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre, 11–12 May) and Sydney (Sydney Entertainment Centre, 17–19 May).
Super bootcamp The super bootcamp stage of the competition saw all four judges working together, unlike in previous series where they disband to manage their own categories. It was filmed on 28, 29 and 30 May 2012. The first day saw the judges split the acts into four categories: Boys, Girls, Over 25s and Groups. Each category was given a list of four songs which they had to choose from to perform for the judges. At the end of the day, a third of the acts were sent home. On the second day, the remaining 74 acts were put into ensembles and were each given a song which they had to learn and perform for the judges. Each ensemble received vocal coaching from Gary Pinto and choreography practice from Squared Division. At the end of day, the judges sent 28 acts home. On the third day, the remaining 46 acts each individually performed one song to a live audience of one thousand. On the fourth day of super bootcamp, the judges narrowed down the acts to 24. Five from the Boys and six rejected soloists from the Girls categories were asked by the judges to form two groups, The Collective (boy band) and Black Ivory (girl band).
The 24 successful acts were: Boys: Josh Brookes, Matt Cenere, Matt Gresham, Adil Memon, Carmelo Munzone, Jason Owen Girls: Bella Ferraro, Shiane Hawke, Bella Hunter, Morgan Sheather, Angel Tupai, Vendulka Wichta Over 25s: Danielle Blakey, Chris Cayzer, Samantha Jade, Justin Standley, Rob Vegas, Nathaniel Willemse Groups: Black Ivory, D&D, Fourtunate, Good Question, The Collective, What About Tonight
Judges' House The final round of the selection process, the home visits, saw the top 24 acts travel to exclusive locations around the world to find out which judge would become their mentor. The Boys, Girls and Over 25s travelled to New York City, while the Groups visited London. Each judge reduced their six acts to three, with help from celebrity guest mentors. The Boys were assigned to Mel B and mentored by Usher, the Girls were assigned to Natalie Bassingthwaighte and mentored by Kesha, the Over 25s were assigned to Guy Sebastian and mentored by Alicia Keys, and the Groups were assigned to Ronan Keating and mentored by One Direction. During the first day of home visits, each act was given a private mentoring session with their mentor, ahead of their solo performance in front of their mentor and guest mentor the next day. After, the judges along with their guest mentors, narrowed down the contestants to three each.
+Summary of judges' houses Judge Category Location Assistant Contestants eliminated Mel B Boys New York City Usher Matt Cenere, Matt Gresham, Carmelo Munzone Bassingthwaighte Girls Kesha Bella Hunter, Morgan Sheather, Vendulka Wichta Sebastian Over 25s Alicia Keys Danielle Blakey, Chris Cayzer, Rob Vegas Keating Groups London One Direction Black Ivory, D&D, Good Question
Acts
Key: – Winner – Runner-Up – Ejected
ActAge(s)HometownCategory (mentor)ResultSamantha Jade25Perth, Western AustraliaOver 25s (Sebastian)WinnerJason Owen18Dubbo, New South WalesBoys (Mel B)Runner-UpThe Collective17–22VariousGroups (Keating)3rd PlaceBella Ferraro18Sydney, New South Wales Girls (Bassingthwaighte)4th PlaceShiane Hawke14Darwin, Northern Territory5th PlaceNathaniel Willemse27South Africa/MelbourneOver 25s (Sebastian)6th PlaceFourtunate17–20Sydney, New South WalesGroups (Keating)7th PlaceAngel Tupai19Parramatta, New South WalesGirls (Bassingthwaighte)8th PlaceCarmelo Munzone23Sydney, New South WalesBoys (Mel B)9th PlaceJustin Standley41BundabergOver 25s (Sebastian)10th PlaceWhat About Tonight15–19VariousGroups (Keating)11th PlaceJosh Brookes20Perth, Western AustraliaBoys (Mel B)12th PlaceAdil Memon18Ipswich, QueenslandBoys (Mel B)13th Place
Live shows
Results summary Colour key Act in Boys Act in Girls Act in Over 25s Act in Groups
– Act in the bottom two and had to perform again in the final showdown – Act received the fewest public votes and was immediately eliminated (no final showdown) – Act was ejected from the competition without singing or facing the public vote
+ Weekly results per act Act Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Quarter-Final Semi-Final Final Monday Vote Tuesday Vote Samantha Jade Bottom Two Safe Safe Safe 7th Safe 5th Safe Safe Safe Winner Jason Owen Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Runner-Up The Collective Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Bottom Two 3rd 3rd Eliminated(Final) Bella Ferraro Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Bottom Two Safe Safe 4th Eliminated(Semi-Final) Shiane Hawke Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Bottom Two Eliminated(Quarter-Final) Nathaniel Willemse Safe 10th Safe Safe Safe Safe 6th Eliminated(Week 7) Fourtunate Safe Safe Safe Bottom Two Safe Bottom Two Eliminated(Week 6) Angel Tupai Safe Safe Bottom Two Safe 8th Eliminated(Week 5) Carmelo Munzone Eliminated Safe Safe Bottom Two Eliminated(Week 4) Justin Standley Safe Safe Bottom Two Eliminated(Week 3) What About Tonight Safe 11th Eliminated(Week 2) Josh Brookes Safe Ejected(Week 2) Adil Memon Bottom Two Eliminated(Week 1) Final Showdown Adil, Jade What About Tonight, Willemse Standley, Tupai Munzone, Fortunate Tupai, Jade Fourtunate, Ferraro Jade, Willemse The Collective, Hawke Ferraro, The Collective No bottom two/judges' vote; public votes alone decide who wins Judges voted toEliminate Send Through Keating's vote (Groups) Memon Willemse Standley Munzone Tupai Ferraro Willemse Hawke The Collective Bassingthwaighte's vote (Girls) Memon What About Tonight Standley Munzone Jade Fourtunate Jade The Collective Ferraro Sebastian's vote (Over 25s) Memon What About Tonight Tupai Munzone Tupai Fourtunate Willemse Hawke The Collective Mel B's vote (Boys) Jade Willemse Standley Fourtunate Jade Fourtunate Jade Hawke Ferraro Eliminated Adil Memon3 of 4 votesMajority What About Tonight2 of 4 votesDeadlock Justin Standley3 of 4 votesMajority Carmelo Munzone3 of 4 votesMajority Angel Tupai2 of 4 votesDeadlock Fourtunate3 of 4 votesMajority Nathaniel Willemse2 of 4 votesDeadlock Shiane Hawke3 of 4 votesMajority Bella Ferraro2 of 4 votesDeadlock The CollectivePublic Vote To Save Jason OwenPublic Vote To Win
Notes – Josh Brookes was ejected from the show due to rule violations. Carmelo Munzone replaced him on the second live show. – Sebastian was not present for this results show. As one of his acts (Nathaniel Willemse) was in the bottom two, a vote against What About Tonight was cast on Sebastian's behalf on the typical assumption that Sebastian would have voted against What About Tonight.
Live show details
Week 1 (17/18 September) Theme: Judges' Choice Celebrity performers: Ronan Keating ("Fires") and Guy Sebastian featuring Lupe Fiasco ("Battle Scars") Group performance: "Call Me Maybe"
+ Acts' performances on the first live show Act Category (mentor) Order Song Result What About Tonight Groups (Keating) 1 "Glad You Came" Safe Josh Brookes Boys (Mel B) 2 "Don't Wanna Go Home" Angel Tupai Girls (Bassingthwaighte) 3 "Happy" Justin Standley Over 25s (Sebastian) 4 "Father and Son" Fourtunate Groups (Keating) 5 "Payphone" Jason Owen Boys (Mel B) 6 "Heaven" Samantha Jade Over 25s (Sebastian) 7 "Wide Awake" Bottom Two Adil Memon Boys (Mel B) 8 "Fast Car" The Collective Groups (Keating) 9 "Domino" Safe Bella Ferraro Girls (Bassingthwaighte) 10 "Brother" Nathaniel Willemse Over 25s (Sebastian) 11 "Love on Top" Shiane Hawke Girls (Bassingthwaighte) 12 "Crazy" Final showdown details Act Category (mentor) Order Song Result Adil Memon Boys (Mel B) 1 "Just the Way You Are" Eliminated Samantha Jade Over 25s (Sebastian) 2 "Without You" Safe
Judges' vote to eliminate Sebastian: Adil Memon – backed his own act, Samantha Jade. Mel B: Samantha Jade – backed her own act, Adil Memon. Bassingthwaighte: Adil Memon – stated that Jade had improved more. Keating: Adil Memon – based on the final showdown performance.
Notes The Collective's performance of "Domino" debuted on the ARIA Singles Chart at number 35 on 24 September 2012.
Week 2 (25/26 September) Theme: Party All Night Celebrity performers: James Morrison ("I Won't Let You Go") and The Script ("Hall of Fame") Group performance: "R.I.P."/"How We Do (Party)" with Rita Ora