X Factor is an Albanian television reality music competition, based on the original British series, and an addition to The X Factor, to find new singing talent. The show began airing on 8 January 2012 and was broadcast by TV Klan.
The judging panel for the most recent season consisted of Adi Krasta, Arilena Ara, Young Zerka and Soni Malaj. Other judges from previous seasons consisted of Pandi Laço, Alban Skënderaj, Juliana Pasha, Vesa Luma, Altuna Sejdiu, Miriam Cani, Bleona Qereti and Elhaida Dani. The show is hosted by Alketa Vejsiu. She applied to acquire the rights of the show along with Top Channel and TV Klan. Syco TV gave the rights to her, then she sold parts of the rights to TV Klan. After losing the rights of The X Factor, Top Channel acquired the rights of the talent show, The Voice.(15 August 2011).Alketa sjell “X Factor” në Shqipëri (Alketa brings "X Factor" to Albania Retrieved 5 December 2011.
The show ran for 4 seasons, with the last episode airing on 1 June 2015, and then TV Klan announced that there were no plans to air another series of the programme. On 6 June 2022, Alketa Vejsiu announced that after 7 years, the show would return, with his fifth season in 2023 on TV Klan. The fifth season began airing on 8 December 2023.
There have been six winners: Sheila Haxhiraj, Arilena Ara, Ergi Dini, Edea Demaliaj, Alis Kallaçi, and Rigersa Loka.
On 9 January 2025, was announced a new version with the name X Factor Kids, for children until the ages of 12. The show began airing on 7 November 2025 on TV Klan, with Alketa Vejsiu as the host.
Overview It was announced that there would be four categories on the show, Males 15 to 23, Females 15 to 23, over 23s and The Groups. Since the fifth season, are only three categories on the show, the Boys category, the Girls category and the Mix category.
Also it was announced that there would be five stages of the competition. The first stage is known as the "Producers audition", the producers of the show choose which of the contestants will have the right to audition in front of the judges. Next the contestants audition in front of the judges where they sing at least one song with instrumentals or A Capella. The third stage of the competition is Bootcamp, where from thousands of contestants only 150 are left. The fourth stage includes the "Judge's houses" or known in Albania as "Vilat e Jurive", where only 32 contestants,8 per category would fight for their place in the live shows. And the last stage of the competition would be the Live shows, where four contestants per category will make it.(20 September 2011). Alketa, në kërkim të talenteve për “X Factor” (Alketa in search of talents for The X Factor) Retrieved 5 December 2011.
In the first live show the public couldn't vote or make a decision. In the second live show and on, only the public had the right to vote and decide which contestants from all categories would end up in the bottom two. The two contestants with the lowest number of votes would end up in the bottom two, then they sing again for survival, the four judges would decide which contestant they want to eliminate. If one of the judges has his or her contestant on the bottom two, he or she usually decides to eliminate the other contestant in the bottom two, so the real decision is in the hands of the two or (if one judge has two of its contestants in the bottom two) three judges that don't have their own contestants in the bottom two. The show goes this way on the live shows every week one or two contestants are voted off, until the grand finale on June 10 when the winner is announced.
The auditions were held in different cities across Albania and Kosovo, the producers auditions included many cities but the auditions in front of the judges were held only in a few. The cities that auditions were held with the judges are Tirana, Vlora, Elbasan, Shkoder and the Kosovan capital Pristina. The first episode aired half of Tirana's auditions on January 8. Vesa Luma wasn't the judge on all of the city auditions, she was chosen as the fourth judge only after all of the city auditions ended. She judged on the Shkodra's audition also. It was reported that more than 7000 people auditioned for the show, which broke a record for the biggest number of auditions in any talent show across Albania, Kosovo and the Balkans.
On the official Facebook page of the X Factor, it was announced that the show would be first aired on January 8, 2012. It was reported that the winner of the show would be signed to the famous label Syco Music, which has signed the likes of Leona Lewis, One Direction, Susan Boyle, Little Mix, Cher Lloyd, Alexandra Burke, Westlife etc. The winner of the first season of X factor Albania was Sheila Haxhiraj.
Judges and hosts Cast Seasons 1 2 3 4 5 6 Host Alketa Vejsiu colspan="6" Judging panelists Alban Skënderaj colspan="4" colspan="2" Pandi Laço colspan="4" colspan="2" Juliana Pasha colspan="5" Vesa Luma colspan="3" colspan="1" Altuna Sejdiu colspan="2" colspan="3" Soni Malaj colspan="2" colspan="2" Bleona Qereti colspan="3" colspan="2" Miriam Cani colspan="3" colspan="2" Adi Krasta colspan="4" colspan="2" Arilena Ara colspan="4" colspan="2" Young Zerka colspan="4" colspan="2" Elhaida Dani colspan="4" colspan="2"
Series summary
Act in Juliana's Category Act in Alban's Category Act in Altuna's Category Act in Soni's Category Act in Miriam's Category Act in Bleona's Category Act in Arilena's Category Act in Zerka's Category Act in Elhaida's Category
SeasonOriginally aired Winner Third place Winning mentor Presenter Main judges (Seat order) 1 2 3 4 1 8 January 2012 10 June 2012 Sheila HaxhirajGirls Kristo ThanoBoys Xhesika PoloGirls Juliana PashaAlketa Vejsiu Alban Skënderaj Juliana Pasha Vesa Luma Pandi Laço 2 28 October 2012 31 March 2013 Arilena AraGirls Aldo BardhiBoys NatyralGroups Altuna Sejdiu Soni Malaj Altuna Sejdiu 3 15 September 2013 23 February 2014 Ergi DiniBoys Senad RrahmaniOver 23s Sarah MemmolaOver 23s 4 5 January 2015 1 June 2015 Edea DemaliajGirls Genti DedaBoys Dilan RekaBoys Miriam Cani Bleona Qereti Miriam Cani 5 8 December 2023 19 April 2024 Alis KallaçiBoys Jetmir KananiMix Kleansa SusajGirls Arilena Ara Young Zerka Elhaida Dani Arilena Ara Adi Krasta 6 8 November 2024 4 April 2025 Rigersa LokaGirls Salvatore MeteMix Leandra GodajGirls Soni Malaj
Judges' categories and their contestants In each season, each judge is allocated a category to mentor and chooses four acts to progress to the live shows. This table shows, for each season, which category each judge was allocated and which acts he or she put through to the live shows.
Key: – Winning judge/category. Winners are in bold, eliminated contestants in small font.
Season Alban Skënderaj Juliana Pasha Vesa Luma Pandi Laço One BoysKristo ThanoAnxhelo MihoAmarildo ShahinajArianit BellopojaGirlsSheila HaxhirajXhesika PoloFestina MejziniSavjana Vjerdha Over 23sLirije RashitiBesa BrecaGerald ZyfiMatilda Shushari GroupsClassic BoysX GroupFocusRed Roses Two Alban Skënderaj Soni Malaj Altuna Sejdiu Pandi Laço GroupsNatyralKSALSoul SistersFoxy Ladies BoysAldo BardhiSardi StrugajPetro XhoriHerri BeluliGirlsArilena AraAntonela ÇekixhiElisa SallaXhina KelmendiShkelqesa Sadiku No LimitKanita SumaEgzona AdemiSuela MalasiIna TorbaRezart Saliasi Three Over 23sSenad RrahmaniSarah MemmolaMia MorinaFatmir Durmishi GroupsExceptionFree SpiritNimfatDream GirlsBoysErgi DiniLeotrim ZejnullahuAmadeo GjuraAdemir Fresku GirlsEnxhi NasufiLaura KërliuArissa RexhoKristina Leka Four Alban Skënderaj Bleona Qereti Miriam Cani Pandi Laço Over 23sManuel MoscatiAliceYlenia IorioAdela Curra BoysGenti DedaDilan RekaMatteo BrentoIgli ZarkaGerald CelibashiGirlsEdea DemaliajFloriana RexhepiLediana MatoshiMirela Boka GroupsBrunettsX RoadsMama PopDouble F Five Young Zerka Elhaida Dani Arilena Ara — MixJetmir KananiFrank IbrahimiIngrid HavaljaAlba DajlaniBorana Xhemali GirlsKleansa SusajAnisa ShabaniWendy ZylajKejsi JazxhiLuna Çausholli BoysAlis KallaçiNiki ZaimiKevin MaloGent DishaAldo Prendushi GroupsThe Chemicals Six Young Zerka Soni Malaj Arilena Ara MixSalvatore MeteOrjald DebinjaEra BakoAlbi & Elvi KapedaniErgi Hasani BoysPetro FejzoFortunato CugilariValdrin MustafaAmarildo VeshoLorian Dedaj GirlsRigersa LokaLeandra GodajAlda "Troy" CukaVashatAnja MyrtajBletisa Karaj
References