Season two of the American television music competition show The X Factor premiered on Fox on September 12, 2012, and ended on December 20, 2012.

Based on the British format, the competition consists of auditions, in front of producers and then the judges with a live audience; bootcamp; judges' houses and then the live finals. Auditions for the show began in May 2012 and concluded in July 2012. The show is hosted by reality star Khloé Kardashian and Extra host Mario Lopez, replacing Steve Jones from the previous year. Simon Cowell and L.A. Reid returned as judges, while Paula Abdul and Nicole Scherzinger were replaced by Demi Lovato and Britney Spears.

Judges and hosts

On January 9, 2012, Fox announced that The X Factor would undergo some changes for its second season. On January 30, it was confirmed that host Steve Jones and judges Nicole Scherzinger and Paula Abdul would not be returning for the second season. Following Scherzinger's departure, she transferred to the UK show to replace Kelly Rowland as a judge for the 2012 UK series. On February 6, Simon Cowell and L.A. Reid were the only confirmed judges for season 2. Prior to her death, Whitney Houston was approached as a potential replacement judge. It was also reported that Cowell was in talks with Britney Spears for her to join the show, reportedly offering her $15 million. On May 9, reports surfaced that Spears officially signed on to judge the show. It was also rumored that Demi Lovato and Miley Cyrus were in talks to be the second replacement judge. Lovato reportedly signed the deal on May 13, making her the youngest ever X Factor judge. The following day, it was officially confirmed that Spears and Lovato would join The X Factor as the two newest judges. When asked about the new judges, Cowell said:

On June 26, 2012, Cowell confirmed that in his search for a new host he had narrowed the possibilities to five candidates. On June 29, Cowell revealed that there would be one male and one female host, and neither of them had hosted before. People considered for hosting slots included Stacy Keibler, Mario Lopez, Khloé Kardashian, Kelly Osbourne, Terrence J, Erin Andrews, and Mike Catherwood. It was also reported that Glee star Kevin McHale was in talks for the male hosting position. According to then-recent reports, Kardashian, McHale, and Nick Jonas were the front runners to host the show.‘X Factor’ Host 2012 — Nick Jonas & Kevin McHale Are Top Picks - HollywoodLife.comKhloe Kardashian Insists Hosting 'X Factor' USA Won't Stop Her Trying For Baby - TaleTelaKhloe Kardashian's Husband Lamar Odom Is 'Very Excited' To See His Wife 'Host The X Factor' - Celebrity Gossip, News & Photos, Movie Reviews, Competitions - Entertainmentwise On October 15, 2012, it was officially confirmed by E! News that Kardashian had officially signed on as co-host for the show, with Lopez close to signing a deal and was later confirmed as co-host the next day.

Irish music manager and The X Factor UK judge Louis Walsh filled in for Cowell at the Kansas City auditions while Cowell was recovering from bronchitis. On August 27, it was reported that Nick Jonas had signed a deal to help Lovato at judges' houses. It was later reported that Justin Bieber would be helping Reid, Marc Anthony helping Cowell, and will.i.am helping Spears.

This was the final season to feature L.A. Reid as a judge, after he announced that he was quitting the show in order to concentrate on other projects.

Selection process

Auditions

The producers' auditions began on March 14, 2012, at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri. More producers' auditions were held on March 22 at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas, April 20 at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, California, May 1 at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina and concluded on May 10 at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island.

The judges' auditions took place between May and July. The auditions went without a host as they had yet to hire new hosts by the time auditions started.

+Summary of judges' auditions City Date Venue Date aired Judges Austin, Texas May 24–25, 2012 Frank Erwin Center September 12 & 19, 2012 Reid Spears Lovato Cowell Kansas City, Missouri June 8–9, 2012 Sprint Center September 19, 2012 Walsh San Francisco, California June 16–18, 2012Cow PalaceSeptember 12–13, 19, & 26-27 2012 Cowell Providence, Rhode Island June 27–29, 2012 Dunkin' Donuts Center September 12–13 & 26, 2012 Greensboro, North Carolina July 8–10, 2012 Greensboro Coliseum September 20, & 26-27 2012

Bootcamp Filming for bootcamp was held on July 25–27, 2012 in Miami. As with the auditions, there were no hosts at bootcamp.

120 contestants made it to the Bootcamp stage. At bootcamp the contestants had to perform two tasks. Task 1 involved the contestants had to sing solo, after which the judges eliminated half of the acts, bringing the total down to 60. In Task 2 the contestants were paired up to perform together. After Task 2 the judges narrowed down the acts to the 24 who progress on to the Judges's homes round.

The groups Fifth Harmony, Playback, and LYRIC 145 were formed from eliminated contestants from the Teens, Young Adults and Groups categories in bootcamp. Fifth Harmony was known as LYLAS at this stage; their name was changed after they made the top 16 when a group consisting of four of Bruno Mars' sisters, called "The Lylas", claimed the show stole their name. Their name changed again for the Top 13 performances, as their mentor Simon Cowell was not in favor of the name 1432 and felt that the show's viewers could make a better name for the group.

Judges' houses The judges' houses was filmed September 28 & 29, 2012. The judges received news of their categories from the producers by telephone, seen during the third bootcamp episode on October 10. Reid mentored the over 25s in Beverly Hills, California, assisted by Justin Bieber, accompanied by his manager Scooter Braun; Cowell took the groups to Miami Beach, Florida with Latin singer Marc Anthony, Spears had the teens in Malibu, California with The Black Eyed Peas member and The Voice UK coach will.i.am, and Lovato had the young adults in Los Angeles, with Jonas Brothers member Nick Jonas.

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" |+Summary of judges' houses |- ! Judge ! Category ! Location ! Assistant(s) ! Acts Eliminated |- !scope="row"|Cowell | Groups | Miami Beach, Florida | Marc Anthony | Dope CrisisPlayback |- !scope="row"| Lovato | Young Adults | Los Angeles, California | Nick Jonas | Jillian JensenNick Youngerman |- !scope="row"|Reid | Over 25s | Beverly Hills, California | Justin BieberScooter Braun | Daryl BlackTara Simon |- !scope="row"| Spears | Teens | Malibu, California | will.i.am | Reed DemingJames Tanner

Acts The top sixteen acts were confirmed as follows;

Key: – Winner – Runner-Up ActAge(s)HometownCategory (mentor)ResultTate Stevens37Belton, MissouriOver 25s (Reid)WinnerCarly Rose Sonenclar13Mamaroneck, New YorkTeens (Spears)Runner-UpFifth Harmony15-19VariousGroups (Cowell)3rd PlaceEmblem316-20Sequim, WashingtonGroups (Cowell)4th PlaceDiamond White13Los Angeles, CaliforniaTeens (Spears)5th PlaceCeCe Frey21Decatur, IllinoisYoung Adults (Lovato)6th PlaceVino Alan40Waynesville, MissouriOver 25s (Reid)7th PlacePaige Thomas22San Antonio, TexasYoung Adults (Lovato)8th PlaceBeatrice Miller13Maplewood, New Jersey Teens (Spears)9th PlaceArin Ray17Cincinnati, Ohio10th PlaceJennel Garcia18Rochester, MassachusettsYoung Adults (Lovato)11th PlaceLYRIC 14519-24Queens, New York/Flint, MichiganGroups (Cowell)12th PlaceJason Brock35San Francisco, CaliforniaOver 25s (Reid)13th PlaceSister C18-21Harris County, TexasGroups (Cowell)14th PlaceDavid Correy27Riva, MarylandOver 25s (Reid)15th PlaceWillie Jones18Shreveport, LouisianaYoung Adults (Lovato)16th Place

Live shows The live shows began on October 31, 2012. This was the debut episode for Lopez and Kardashian as hosts on the show. Each week, the contestants performed on Wednesday, with the voting lines opening after the performances. As with previous season, each live show has a different theme. The live final took place on December 19 and 20. A recording of "Live and Let Die" by The X Factor UK series five winner Alexandra Burke featured on the second week of live shows.

Each results show featured musical performances from at least two artists. There was no guest performer on the first result show. The second results show featured two performances from The X Factor UK series seven contestants One Direction, while Taylor Swift performed on the third result show.The X Factor UK series seven Contestsnt Cher Lloyd and Becky G performed on the fourth results show. Week five included the premiering of a music video by will.i.am featuring judge Spears and performances from season one runner-up Josh Krajcik and Alicia Keys. Season one winner Melanie Amaro and Kesha performed on the sixth week. The semi-final results show featured performances from Bruno Mars and Bridgit Mendler. One Direction performed again in the final, and Pitbull also performed. This was the only season to feature the leaderboard which reveals which act has the most votes.

Results summary

Color key  –Act was chosen as the bottom two by their mentor and had to sing again in the sing-off (no public vote) –Act was in the bottom two/three and had to sing again in the final showdown –Act was in the bottom three but received the fewest votes and was immediately eliminated –Act received the fewest public votes and was immediately eliminated (no final showdown) –Act received the most public votes

+ Weekly results per act Act Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Quarter-Final Semi-Final Final Mentor Vote First Vote Second Vote Tate Stevens Saved1st1st 2nd 2nd1st 3rd 2nd1st 2nd 2nd1st1st 2nd1st1st 2nd Fifth Harmony Saved 5th 6th 7th 4th4th 2nd 3rd Emblem3 Saved 6th 4th 4th 3rd 3rd 4th Eliminated (semi-final) Diamond WhiteEliminated 4th 7th 5th6th5th Eliminated (quarter-final) CeCe FreySaved12th 5th9th 5th6th Vino Alan Saved 3rd 3rd 3rd7th Eliminated (week 5) Paige Thomas 8th11th 6th8th Beatrice Miller 10th 8th8th Eliminated (week 4) Arin RaySaved 11th 9th10th Jennel Garcia Saved 7th10th Eliminated (week 3) LYRIC 145 9th12th Jason BrockSaved13th Eliminated (week 2) Sister CEliminated Eliminated (week 1) David Correy Willie Jones Final Showdown Frey,Jones Brock,Frey Garcia,Thomas Frey,Miller Alan,White Fifth Harmony,White No final showdown or judges' votes; results were based on public votes alone Brock,Correy Ray,White Fifth Harmony,Sister C Judges voted to Send Through Eliminate Reid's vote (Over 25s) Alan,Stevens Correy Frey Garcia Miller White White Spears' vote (Teens) Miller,Sonenclar White Frey Garcia Frey Alan Fifth Harmony Lovato's vote (Young Adults) Garcia,Thomas Jones Brock Thomas Miller Alan White Cowell's vote (Groups) Emblem3,LYRIC 145 Sister C Brock Garcia Miller Alan White Eliminated Willie Jonesby Lovato Jason Brock2 of 4 votesDeadlock LYRIC 145Public voteto save Arin RayPublic voteto save Paige ThomasPublic voteto save CeCe FreyPublic voteto save Emblem3Public voteto save Fifth HarmonyPublic voteto win Carly Rose SonenclarPublic voteto win David Correyby Reid Diamond Whiteby Spears Jennel Garcia3 of 4 votesMajority Beatrice Miller3 of 4 votesMajority Vino Alan3 of 4 votesMajorityDiamond White3 of 4 votesMajority Sister Cby Cowell Reference(s) There was no public vote in the first week. Each mentor selected two acts from their own category to advance to the second week and the two remaining acts as the bottom two. The bottom two acts performed another song of their choice in the sing-off and their mentor was required to eliminate one of the bottom two acts they selected. White returned to the competition in week two because the judges felt that she should not have been eliminated in week one.

Live show details

Week 1 (October 31/November 1)