X Factor is a Romanian television music competition that aims to find a new music talent to become a star. The fifth season will start airing on 17 September 2015 on Antena 1.

The hosts are the same as in the first four seasons: Răzvan Simion and Dani Oțil, who are also known for hosting a well known morning show on Antena 1. Delia Matache, Horia Brenciu and Ștefan Bănică, Jr. returned to the judging panel.

On December 27, 2015, the season concluded and was won by Florin Răduţă, mentored by Bănică. Xenia Chitoroagă, mentored also by Bănică finished in second place.

Judges

Delia Matache

Delia Matache is a famous Romanian Eurobeat singer-songwriter, TV celebrity, dancer, philanthropist, former model, fashion designer. She has started her stage music activity in 1999 in N&D music band with Nicolae Marin and had released 4 albums, and after the split off in 2003 she had released another two solo albums.

Horia Brenciu

Horia Brenciu is a Romanian singer, television host for the Romanian version of Dancing with the Stars, successful entertainer, and philanthropist. He studied at National College Andrei Şaguna from Braşov, then he continued to Şcoala Populară de Artă Braşov, at piano and canto class, and in 1998 he finished The Theater Academy in Bucharest.

Ștefan Bănică, Jr.

Ștefan Bănică, Jr. is a Romanian entertainer, of roma people origin from his father side, TV presenter, one of the most important Romanian TV personality, the son of actor Ștefan Bănică. He is well known in Romanian for presenting the Romania version of "Dancing with the Stars", the most longevive dance competition ever aired in Romania, broadcast on Pro TV.

Auditions

Audition process was based on the British and American version. First up were "The Producer's Audition", where the producers chose singers to proceed to the second phase which was "The Audition before the Judging panel". The first auditions took place at Craiova, on 26 April 2015. They then took place in Sibiu, on 28 April, in Arad, on April 30, in Cluj Napoca on May 2, 2015, on May 5 in Iași, on May 8 in Galați, May 10 in Bucharest and concluded on May 16, 2015, in Chișinău, Moldova.

+Summary of auditions City Auditions date VenueCraiova April 26, 2015Craiova UniversitySibiu April 28, 2015 Arad April 30, 2015Hotel ParcCluj Napoca May 2, 2015Iulius MallIași May 5, 2015Palas MallGalați May 8, 2015Hotel Faleza By VegaBucharest May 10, 2015Children's PalaceChișinău May 16, 2015

The auditions were broadcast from 17 September 2015 until 20 November 2015. The auditions consisted in 11 episodes.

Bootcamp This season, the categories follow the age-based format from the past two seasons. The judges learnt which category they will mentor after the Auditions 11. Brenciu will mentor the Groups, Bănică the Under 20s and for the second time, Matache will mentor the Over 20s.

Complete Teams Color key – Eliminated in Six-chair challenge – Eliminated in Duels – Finalist – Wildcard

Category (mentor) Top 42 acts Under 20s (Bănică) Florin RăduţăEndy GlikmanErika Isac Mădălina Căuş Xenia ChitoroagăPaul BătinaşEmanuel VargaAntinia SimionAfina MadoianDumitru CharbelTeodora ConstantinEdina BodorZuo DragomirescuDaniela Stoica Groups (Brenciu) B52BravissimoTomato Brain Band Twins Tea Rock Trupa MariaDeea & GeorgeUptownHelloGrupul VeraDivasElevenHip Over 20s (Matache) Andrei IonițăAnastasia UrsuAlex Vasilache Dana Markitan Randy Roberts Sasha Călinescu Andrei Ciobanu Mirko OlivaGabriela LazărNicoleta MihăilăNatalie MerchantGeorge SecioreanuDaniela RogovschiAlexandru Petcu

Six-chair challenge Like last season, the stage called "The Six-Chair challenge" will be back. This season, the categories follow the age-based format from season four. From the 42 acts competing, at the end of this round, only 18 acts will go further in the competition.

The Six-Chair Challenge consisted in three editions that were broadcast on November 27, December 4 and December 9, 2015.

Color key – Contestant was immediately eliminated after performance without switch – Contestant was switched out later in the competition and eventually eliminated – Contestant was not switched out and made the final six of their own category

+ Contestants performances on the six-chair challenge Episode Category (mentor) Act Order Song Mentor's decision Switched with Episode 12 Under 20s (Bănică)Paul Bătinaş1"I Can't Make You Love Me"Put in chair 1 —Daniela Stoica2"At Last"Eliminated Afina Madoian3"Girl on Fire"Put in chair 2 Florin RăduţăDumitru Charbel4"All of Me"Put in chair 3 Erika IsacAntinia Simion5"Lost"Put in chair 4 Mădălina CăuşZuo Dragomirescu6"I Won't Give Up on You"Eliminated Xenia Chitoroagă7"Can't Help Falling in Love"Put in chair 5 —Edina Bodor8"Blank Page"Eliminated Teodora Constantin9"We Found Love"Eliminated Emanuel Varga10"You Are Not Alone"Put in chair 6 Endy GlikmanErika Isac11"Don't Speak"Put in chair 3 —Florin Răduţă12"How Am I Supposed to Live Without You"Put in chair 2 —Mădălina Căuş13"Bésame Mucho"Put in chair 4 —Endy Glikman14"I'm Not the Only One"Put in chair 6 — Episode 13 Over 20s (Matache)Gabriela Lazăr1"Habits (Stay High)"Put in chair 1 Sasha CălinescuNatalie Merchant2"If I Were a Boy"Put in chair 2Andrei IonițăAlexandru Petcu3"Locul Potrivit"EliminatedDaniela Rogovschi4"Believe"EliminatedGeorge Secioreanu5"Je t'aime"EliminatedAnastasia Ursu6"Love Me like You Do"Put in chair 3 — Dana Markitan7"Over the Rainbow" Put in chair 4 — Randy Roberts8"When I Was Your Man"Put in chair 5 — Nicoleta Mihăilă9"Read All About It"Put in chair 6 Alex VasilacheAndrei Ioniță10"Lume, lume, soro lume"Put in chair 2 —Alex Vasilache11"You Are So Beautiful"Put in chair 6 —Sasha Călinescu12"Born This Way"Put in chair 1 —Mirko Oliva13"I See Fire"EliminatedAndrei Ciobanu14"It's My Life"Eliminated Episode 14 Groups (Brenciu)Hello1"Stay" Put in chair 1 TwinsUptown2"Californication" Put in chair 2 B52Trupa Maria3"Crocodile Rock"Put in chair 3 BravissimoHip4"Flashlight"EliminatedBrain Band5"Bach's Songs Mix"Put in chair 4 —Eleven6"Story of My Life"EliminatedDivas7"Nu Sunt"EliminatedGrupul Vera8"Wake Me Up"EliminatedDeea & George9"Nu Pune la Suflet"Put in chair 5 TomatoTea Rock10"Come Together"Put in chair 6 —Twins11"Swing-Medley"Put in chair 1 —B5212"Crazy in Love"Put in chair 2 —Tomato13"I Believe I Can Fly"Put in chair 5 —Bravissimo14"Say Something"Put in chair 3 —

The Duels After the Six-chair challenge, each mentor will have six contestants for the Duels. Each contestant will sing a song of their own choice, back to back, and each duel concludes with the respective mentor eliminating one of the two contestants; the three winners for each mentor will advance to the Live shows.

The Duels were broadcast on December 11, 2015.

Colour key:

- Artist won the Duel and advanced to the Live shows

- Artist lost the Duel and was eliminated

+ Contestants performances on the duels challenge Episode Category (mentor) Duel Act Order Song Result Episode 15 Groups (Brenciu)Duel 1Tea Rock 1 "The Show Must Go On" Eliminated Tomato 2 "A Chi Mi Dice" FinalistDuel 2 B52 7 "Love Runs Out" Finalist Twins 8 "So Emotional" EliminatedDuel 3 Brain Band 17 "Mambo Italiano" Eliminated Bravissimo 18 "Largo al factotum" Finalist Over 20s (Matache)Duel 1 Sasha Călinescu 3 "Toxic" Eliminated Andrei Ioniță 4 "Rugă Pentru Părinţi" FinalistDuel 2 Randy Roberts 9 "Love Never Felt So Good" Eliminated Alex Vasilache 10 "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" FinalistDuel 3 Dana Markitan 13 "A Little Party Never Killed Nobody (All We Got) " Eliminated Anastasia Ursu 14 "Bunica Bate Toba"Finalist Under 20s (Banica)Duel 1 Endy Glikman 5 "Take Me to Church" Finalist Paul Bătinaş 6 "Sugar" EliminatedDuel 2 Xenia Chitoroagă 11 "Unfaithful" Eliminated Erika Isac 12 "Hey Mama" FinalistDuel 3 Mădălina Căuş 15 "Rollin' on the River" Eliminated Florin Răduţă 16 "I Have Nothing" Finalist

Wildcard In this season, the public will have the chance to save one of the acts that competed in the Auditions. The most voted act will go directly to the Live Shows. In the first live show if one of the mentor decides to take him in his team, then he will go further in the competition, otherwise he will be sent home. On December 18, 2015, Xenia Chitoroagă was declared the winner public.

Finalists The ten finalists will compete in the Live Shows. Color Key – Winner – Runner-up – Third place

Category (mentor)Acts Under 20s (Bănică) Xenia Chitoroagă Endy Glikman Erika IsacFlorin Răduţă Over 20s (Matache) Andrei Ioniță Anastasia Ursu Alex Vasilache Groups (Brenciu) B52 Bravissimo Tomato

Live shows

Results summary Color key  –Contestant received the most public votes –Contestant was in the bottom two and had to sing again in the final showdown –Contestant received the fewest public votes and was immediately eliminated (no final showdown)

+ Live shows results per contestant Contestant Live Show 1 Live Show 2 Live Show 3 Wildcard Elimination Elimination Round 1 Round 2 Florin Răduţă SafeSafe1st33,44%Winner51,78% Xenia ChitoroagăReturned Week 1 SafeSafe2nd28,45% Runner-up48,22% B52 SafeSafe3rd25,82%Eliminated (Live Show 3) Bravissimo Bottom twoSafe 4th12,29% Andrei Ioniță Safe5thEliminated (Live Show 2) Anastasia Ursu Bottom two6th Endy Glikman Bottom two7th Erika Isac Bottom twoEliminated (Live Show 1) Tomato Bottom two Alex Vasilache Bottom two Final showdown None Anastasia Ursu Alex Vasilache No judges vote or final showdown: public votes alone decide who is eliminated BravissimoTomato Erika IsacEndy Glikman Brenciu's vote to eliminate Tomato Matache's vote to eliminate Alex Vasilache Bănică's vote to eliminate Erika Isac EliminatedTomato by BrenciuEndy Glikman Public voteBravissimo12,29%Public voteXenia Chitoroagă 48,22%Public voteto winAlex Vasilacheby Matache Anastasia UrsuPublic vote B5225,82%Public vote Florin Răduţă 51,78%Public voteto winErika Isacby Bănică Andrei IonițăPublic vote Reference(s)

Live show details

Live Show 1 - December 18, 2015 Theme: Romanian Gala Group performance: "Gură, taci!", "Cum ne noi", "A naibii dragoste" Musical guests: Jo, Nadir, Uddi and Randi ("Aseară ți-am luat basma", "Melodia mea" și "Până vara viitoare"), Nicoleta Nucă ("Nu sunt", "Adevăr sau minciună" feat. Cabron) + Contestants' performances on the first live show Act Order Song Result Alex Vasilache 1 "Robot Armăsar" Bottom two Anastasia Ursu 2 "Mi-am pus busuioc în păr" Bottom two Andrei Ioniță 3 "Acolo este ţara mea" Safe Tomato 4 "De dragul tău" Bottom two B52 5 "Stinge lumina" Safe Bravissimo 6 "Lume, lume, soro lume" Bottom two Endy Glickman 7 "De la capăt" Bottom two Erika Isac 8 "Zig Zagga" Bottom two Florin Răduţă 9 "Oameni" Safe Xenia Chitoroagă 10 "Săracă inima mea" Safe Final showdown details Over 20s Alex Vasilache 1 "Copacul" Eliminated Anastasia Ursu 2 "Mociriță cu trifoi" Safe Groups Tomato 1 "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" Eliminated Bravissimo 2 "You Raise Me Up" Safe Under 20s Erika Isac 1 "Do It like a Dude" Eliminated Endy Glickman 2 "Use Somebody" Safe

Judges' votes to eliminate Brenciu: Tomato - He stated that "My decision today is based on one thing: those who have given me more emotions and can win X Factor! I will go further along with Bravissimo!" Matache: Alex Vasilache - gave no reason. Bănică : Erika Isac - He stated that "For me it was an experience! Today evening, my vote would be like this: who was the most motivated ?! The competitor who was the most motivated and understood what I wanted from him was Endy Glikman! "

Live Show 2 - December 25, 2015

Theme: Show Song, Christmas Song Musical guests: Gabriel Cotabiță - "Noapte albastră"