X Factor is an Italian television music competition to find new singing talent; the winner receives a €300,000 recording contract with Sony Music. The fifth season started on Sky Uno on 20 October 2011 and ended on 5 January 2012. It was the first season to be broadcast on a digital satellite television platform, after four seasons televised on state owned channel Rai 2. For the first time, the final was also broadcast in 3D.
The show was presented by Alessandro Cattelan, with spin-off Xtra Factor hosted by Max Novaresi and Brenda Lodigiani. Elio was the only judge from the previous season to return. Mara Maionchi, Anna Tatangelo and Enrico Ruggeri was replaced by new judge Arisa and original judges Simona Ventura and Morgan. The winner was Francesca Michielin, mentored by Ventura, and her debut single "Distratto" was released as a digital EP the day after the final, together with the ones by the remaining Top 6 contestants.
The competition was split into several stages: auditions, bootcamp, judges' houses and live shows. The first auditions took place in Milan on 5 July 2011. On 12 September 2011, contestants performed for the first time in front of an audience, at the Teatro della Luna in Milan. After the auditions, 113 acts were admitted to the bootcamp, and only 24 of them make it to the judge's house. Following bootcamp, successful contestants were split into four categories: Boys (male soloists aged 16 to 24), Girls (female soloists aged 16 to 24), Over 24s (soloists aged 25 and over) and Vocal Groups. Each judge mentored six acts through judges' houses, and eliminated three of them before the first live show. The live shows started on 17 November 2011. The final took place on 5 January 2012 and it was watched by 1,048,358 people, making it the highest rated show to be broadcast by Sky Uno.
Judges The fifth edition maintained the new formula with four judges return to the jury Simona Ventura and Morgan, were confirmed Elio and newcomer Arisa. Just as in the previous edition, at time of disposal, if there were to be a tie, will be used to tilt or to a televoting period of 200 seconds that will decide the eliminated.
Judges Houses Before proceeding with the final stage of selection, each judge would be assigned one of the four categories. Each judge, with his or her vocal coach, would have to choose three singers who would complete the live shows of the fifth edition of X Factor.
The twelve eliminated acts were: Boys: Steven Patrick Piu, Daniel Adomako, Jeremy Fiumefreddo Girls: Nadia Burzotta, Paola Marotta, Alessia De Vito 25+: Michele Leonardo Cavada, Tania Furia, Paolo Bernardini Groups: Mescla, 2080, I Malviventi
Contestants and categories Key: – Winner – Runner-up – Third place Category (mentor)Acts Boys (Morgan) Valerio De Rosa Vincenzo Di Bella Davide Papasidero Girls (Ventura) Jessica Mazzoli Francesca Michielin Nicole Tuzii 25+ (Arisa) Claudio Cera Rahma Hafsi Antonella Lo Coco Groups (Elio) Cafè Margot Le 5 I Moderni
Live shows
Results summary The number of votes received by each act was released by Sky Italia after the final.
Colour key –Contestant was in the bottom two/three and had to sing again in the final showdown –Contestant was in the bottom three but received the fewest votes and was immediately eliminated –Contestant received the fewest public votes and was immediately eliminated (no final showdown) –Contestant received the most public votes
+ Weekly results per contestant Contestant Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Quarter-final Semi-final Final Part 1 Part 2 Part 1 Part 2 Part 1 Part 2 Part 1 Part 2 Round 1 Round 2 Round 1 Round 2 Round 1 Round 2 Round 1 Round 2 Francesca Michielin 2nd24.89% 1st26.71% 1st26.55% 1st25.78% 5th12.78% 3rd18.55% 1st23.80% 1st24.65% 2nd26.84% 1st38.92% Winner57.91% I Moderni 3rd19.44% 4th16.02% 3rd18.16% 4th22.33% 1st18.08% 2nd18.92% 3rd22.91% 3rd24.44% 3rd24.69% 2nd32.33% Runner-up42.09% Antonella Lo Coco 2nd20.61% 1st28.48% 2nd27.29% 1st28.60% 2nd14.60% 1st21.03% 2nd23.26% 2nd24.61% 1st27.32% 3rd28.75% Eliminated(final) Nicole Tuzii 1st33.77% 2nd27.74% 1st31.76% 2nd25.49% 4th12.92% 4th15.86% 4th15.54% 5th13.04% 4th21.15% Eliminated(semi-final) Jessica Mazzoli 1st21.90% 2nd19.14% 4th17.19% 3rd24.10% 3rd14.35% 5th13.82% 5th14.50% 4th13.26% Eliminated(semi-final) Vincenzo Di Bella3rd13.67% 3rd18.85% 3rd16.94% 4th14.41% 8th7.41% 39.30% 6th11.82% Eliminated(quarter-final) Claudio Cera4th10.81% 4th18.11% 2nd22.08% 3rd20.02% 6th10.30% 17.81% Eliminated(Week 5) Valerio De Rosa 4th14.36% 5th10.55% 5th16.02% 2nd24.97% 7th9.56% 42.89% Cafè Margot 5th10.66% 3rd17.22% 4th13.15% 5th14.31% Eliminated(Week 4) Davide Papasidero 5th12.18% 5th8.87% 5th10.85% Eliminated(Week 3) Le 5 6th11.51% 6th8.32% Eliminated(Week 2) Rahma Hafsi 6th 6.20% Eliminated(Week 1) Bottom two Rahma Hafsi,Le 5 Le 5,Valerio De Rosa Davide Papasidero,Valerio De Rosa Cafè Margot,I Moderni Claudio Cera,Vincenzo Di Bella Vincenzo Di Bella,Jessica Mazzoli Jessica Mazzoli,Nicole TuziiNo final showdownor judges' vote:results were basedon public votes alone Judges' vote to eliminate Arisa's vote Le 5 Valerio De Rosa Davide Papasidero Cafè Margot Vincenzo Di Bella Vincenzo Di BellaNicole Tuzii Elio's vote Rahma Hafsi Valerio De Rosa Davide Papasidero Cafè Margot Claudio Cera Vincenzo Di Bella Jessica Mazzoli Morgan's vote Rahma Hafsi Le 5 Valerio De Rosa I Moderni Claudio Cera Jessica Mazzoli Nicole Tuzii Ventura's vote Rahma Hafsi Le 5 Davide Papasidero Cafè Margot Claudio Cera Vincenzo Di Bella Jessica Mazzoli Eliminated Rahma Hafsi3 of 4 votesmajority Le 5Public vote65.79%to eliminate DavidePapasidero3 of 4 votesmajority Cafè Margot3 of 4 votesmajority Valerio De RosaPublic vote42.89% to eliminate Vincenzo Di Bella3 of 4 votesmajority Jessica MazzoliPublic vote56.19 to eliminateNicole TuziiPublic vote21.15%to saveAntonellaLo CocoPublic vote28.75%to win I ModerniPublic vote42.09%to win Claudio Cera3 of 4 votesmajority Francesca MichielinPublic vote57.91%to win
Notes During week 5, after the first round, the public was asked to vote the act to be eliminated, and not the act to be saved, among the three contestants who received fewer votes.
Live show details
Week 1 (17 November 2011) Celebrity performers: Kasabian ("Days Are Forgotten") Other guests: Miguel Bosé Group performance: "Pride (In the Name of Love)"
+ Contestants' performances on the first live show Part 1 Act Order Song Result Nicole Tuzii 1 "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" Safe Cafè Margot 2 "50mila" Safe Claudio Cera 3 "My Immortal" Safe Vincenzo Di Bella 4 "Azzurro" Safe Francesca Michielin 5 "Someone Like You" Safe Rahma Hafsi 6 "Street Life" Bottom twoPart 2 Act Order Song Result Valerio De Rosa 7 "Misfit" Safe I Moderni 8 "Overdose (d'amore)" Safe Antonella Lo Coco 9 "What Else Is There?" Safe Jessica Mazzoli 10 "Caffè nero bollente" Safe Davide Papasidero 11 "My Way" Safe Le 5 12 "Birdland" Bottom twoFinal showdown details Act Order Songs ResultRahma Hafsi 13"Blame It on the Boogie" Eliminated 15"Se c'è una cosa che mi fa impazzire" (a cappella)Le 5 14"I Get Around" Safe 16"Come foglie" (a cappella)
Judge's vote to eliminate Arisa: Le 5 – backed his own act, Rahma Hafsi. Elio: Rahma Hafsi – backed his own act, Le 5. Morgan: Rahma Hafsi – based on the final showdown performance. Ventura: Rahma Hafsi – wanted to support Le 5's musical projects.
Week 2 (24 November 2011) Celebrity performers: James Morrison ("I Won't Let You Go") Other guests: Francesco Mandelli and Fabrizio Biggio (I soliti idioti) + Contestants' performances on the second live show Part 1 Act Order Song Result Claudio Cera 1 "Dog Days Are Over" Safe Jessica Mazzoli 2 "Messaggio" Safe Davide Papasidero 3 "Jealous Guy" Safe Le 5 4 "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" Bottom two Francesca Michielin 5 "La guerra è finita" Safe Vincenzo Di Bella 6 "Ritornerai" SafePart 2 Act Order Song Result I Moderni 7 "I Gotta Feeling" Safe Antonella Lo Coco 8 "Morirò d'amore" Safe Valerio De Rosa 9 "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" Bottom two Cafè Margot 10 "It's Oh So Quiet" Safe Nicole Tuzii 11 "La differenza tra me e te" SafeFinal showdown detail Act Order Songs ResultLe 5 12"Because" Eliminated 14"La donna cannone" (a cappella)Valerio De Rosa 13"Come il sole all'improvviso" Safe 15"All in Love Is Fair" (a cappella)
Judge's vote to eliminate Elio: Valerio De Rosa – backed his own act, Le 5. Morgan: Le 5 – backed his own act, Valerio De Rosa. Ventura: Le 5 – felt that Le 5 still needed to find their right musical direction. Arisa: Valerio De Rosa – could not decide so chose to take it to deadlock.
With both acts receiving two votes each, the result went to deadlock and a new public vote commenced for 200 seconds. Le 5 were eliminated as the act with the fewest public votes.
Week 3 (1 December 2011) Theme: Disco Party Celebrity performers: Giorgia ("È l'amore che conta") Group performance: Hung Up + Contestants' performances on the third live show Part 1 Act Order Song Result Antonella Lo Coco 1 "Strict Machine" Safe Davide Papasidero 2 "Never Be Alone (We Are Your Friends)" Bottom two Nicole Tuzii 3 "Born This Way" Safe Cafè Margot 4 "Crying at the Discoteque" Safe Vincenzo Di Bella 5 "Miss You" SafePart 2 Act Order Song Result Jessica Mazzoli 6 "Slave to the Rhythm" Safe Valerio De Rosa 7 "The Look of Love" Bottom two I Moderni 8 "Judas" Safe Francesca Michielin 9 "Tainted Love" Safe Claudio Cera 10 "If I Ever Feel Better" SafeFinal showdown detail Act Order Songs ResultDavide Papasidero 11"Cuore" Eliminated 13"True Colors" (a cappella)Valerio De Rosa 12"Superstition" Safe 14"Sembra impossibile" (a cappella)
Judges' votes to eliminate Morgan: Valerio De Rosa – gave no reason but stated that he hoped for a deadlock. Ventura: Davide Papasidero – to balance Morgan's vote, hoping for a deadlock. Arisa: Davide Papasidero – stated that she preferred De Rosa. Elio: Davide Papasidero – based on the final showdown performances.
Week 4 (8 December 2011) Celebrity performers: Daniele Silvestri ("Questo Paese" and "Il flamenco della doccia" with Elio), Morgan with Davide Papasidero ("Life on Mars?")
+ Contestants' performances on the fourth live show Part 1 Act Order Song Result Nicole Tuzii 1 "Heaven" Safe Vincenzo Di Bella 2 "Portatemi Dio" Safe Claudio Cera 3 "Mi sei scoppiato dentro il cuore" Safe Cafè Margot 4 "Senza paura" Bottom two Francesca Michielin 5 "Higher Ground" SafePart 2 Act Order Song Result I Moderni 6 "Back It Up" Bottom two Jessica Mazzoli 7 "Folle città" Safe Valerio De Rosa 8 "Cigarettes and Coffee" Safe Antonella Lo Coco 9 "Mad About You" SafeFinal showdown detail Act Order Songs ResultCafé Margot 10"It's Oh So Quiet" Eliminated 12"Illusione" (a cappella)I Moderni 11"In the Air Tonight" Safe 13"Domani" (a cappella)
Judges' votes to eliminate Elio: Cafè Margot – felt he could be more helpful for I Moderni. Arisa: Cafè Margot – based on the final showdown performances. Morgan: I Moderni – felt that Cafè Margot's performance was "too redundant", but that they had potential to improve with their mentor's help. Ventura: Cafè Margot – thinking that I Moderni were more interesting for the recording industry.
Week 5 (15 December 2011) Celebrity performers: Subsonica ("Up Patriots to Arms"), Raphael Gualazzi ("Zuccherino dolce")
+ Contestants' performances on the fifth live show Part 1 Act Order Song Result Jessica Mazzoli 1 "Sally" Safe I Moderni 2 "Fuck You" Safe Valerio De Rosa 3 "Un bimbo sul leone" Bottom three Antonella Lo Coco 4 "Missing" Safe Francesca Michielin 5 "Confusa e felice" Safe Vincenzo Di Bella 6 "Time" Bottom three Nicole Tuzii 7 "Io non lascio traccia" Safe Claudio Cera 8 "Una poesia anche per te" Bottom threeFinal showdown detail Act Order Songs Result Valerio De Rosa 9"Labyrinth" Eliminated(public vote)Vincenzo Di Bella 10"Anna e Marco" Safe 12"Washing of the Water" (a cappella)Claudio Cera 11"Se stasera sono qui" Eliminated(judges) 13"The Scientist" (a cappella)