The X Factor was an Australian television reality music competition, based on the original British version, to find new singing talent; the winner of which received a Sony Music Australia recording contract. The eighth season, branded as X Factor: Next Generation, premiered on Seven Network on 3 October 2016. Jason Dundas replaced Luke Jacobz as host; with the judging panel consisting of Mel B, Guy Sebastian, Iggy Azalea and Adam Lambert. The winner was Isaiah Firebrace and his winner's single "It's Gotta Be You" was released after the final. He was mentored by Lambert, who won as mentor for the first and only time.
Judges and Host
In February 2016, reports claimed that Seven Network was mulling over whether or not to delay the series' planned season 8 until 2017. It was later confirmed that The X Factor would return in 2016.
Dannii Minogue reported that she would not be returning to the programme after three series on the judging panel. On 12 June 2016, Iggy Azalea was announced as Chris Isaak's replacement, with Guy Sebastian. The following day, Adam Lambert was confirmed to be the third judge for season 8 replacing James Blunt. On 11 October 2016, shortly before the three-seat challenge, former judge Mel B was announced as the "underdog judge" also to replace Minogue, after months of rumours, whereby three acts who failed to secure a seat in this challenge can be recruited by her for inclusion in the "underdogs" category.
On 24 November 2015, Luke Jacobz announced on his Twitter account that he would not be returning as the host for the eighth season in 2016. On 25 June 2016, Jason Dundas was announced as Jacobz's replacement.
Selection process Open auditions in front of the show's producers took place in 17 cities and ran from 18 April to 21 May 2016.
Auditions
Open auditions Open auditions began on 18 April in Geelong and concluded on 21 May 2016 in Melbourne.
City Dates Venue Geelong 18 April 2016 Novotel Geelong Ballarat 19 April 2016 Mercure Ballarat Bendigo 20 April 2016 All Seasons Bendigo Wagga Wagga 21 April 2016 Commercial Club Orange 22 April 2016 Orange Ex-Services Club Gosford 26 April 2016 The Youth Arts Warehouse, Regional Youth Support Services Inc Port Macquarie 27 April 2016 Rydges Port Macquarie Gold Coast 30 April 2016 Brisbane Sofitel Toowoomba 2 May 2016 Burke & Wills Hotel Bundaberg 3 May 2016 Brothers Sports Club Sydney 7 May 2016 Sydney Olympic Park Cairns 11 May 2016 Shangri-La Hotel Darwin 13 May 2016 Oaks Elan Darwin Perth 15 May 2016 Parmelia Hilton Perth Bunbury 17 May 2016 Mercure Sanctuary Resort Adelaide 19 May 2016 AAMI Stadium Melbourne 21 May 2016 Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Center
Judges' auditions Judges' auditions took at Sydney Olympic Park from 29 June to 1 July and again from 5 to 6 July 2016.
City Dates Venue Sydney 29 June to 1 July 2016 Sydney Olympic Park 5 to 6 July 2016
Bootcamp Bootcamp was briefly shown during the last audition episode, where the judges found out which category they would mentor. Once the judges found out their categories, they had each of their acts sing acapella for their judge and once everyone sang, the category judge narrowed their category down to 12 acts who would move on to the Three Chair Challenge.
Three seat challenge The three seat challenge round of the competition was held at the Sydney Olympic Park between 28 and 29 July 2016. This will be a replacement as the super home visits used in previous seasons. Three acts who were not successful were recruited by underdog judge Mel B.
Key: – Act was immediately eliminated after performance without given a seat – Act was given a seat but swapped out later in the competition and eventually eliminated – Act was given a seat and made the top three of their own category – Act did not make the top three of their own category but was later saved by Mel B
+ Contestants performances on the three-seat challenge Episode Category (mentor) Act Order Song Mentor's decision Swapped with Episode 6 14-21s (Lambert) Isaiah Firebrace 1 "If I Ain't Got You" Put in seat 1 — Episode 7 Bailey Spalding 2 "Heroes" Put in seat 2 — Maddison Milewski 3 "Who Wants to Live Forever" Put in seat 3 — Benny Nelson 4 "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" Eliminated — James Kernick 5 "If I Ain't Got You" Eliminated — Veronica Bravo 6 "Should've Been Us" Eliminated — Vlado Saric 7 "Wildest Dreams" Put in seat 3 Maddison Milewski Janae Rosa 8 "I'd Rather Go Blind" Eliminated — Mi-kaisha Masella 9 "Sledgehammer" Eliminated — Ivy Adara 10 "Remind Me" Put in seat 3 Vlado Saric Amalia Foy 11 "Piece by Piece" Put in seat 2 Bailey Spalding Natalie Ong 12 "I'd Rather Go Blind" Put in seat 3 Ivy Adara Episode 8 Groups (Azalea) Beatz 13 "Me Too" Put in seat 1 — Fifth Element 14 "FourFiveSeconds" Eliminated — Brentwood 15 "Lush Life" Put in seat 2 — IndiElla 16 "Don't Worry About Me" Put in seat 3 — Aroza 17 "See You Again" Eliminated — The Dennis Sisters 18 "Fire and the Flood" Eliminated — FD3 19 "Waiting for a Star to Fall" Eliminated — Time & Place 20 "You Don't Know Love" Put in seat 3 IndiElla Montage 21 "Break Free" Put in seat 1 Beatz Episode 9 Over 22s (Sebastian) Ruby Mills 22 "When We Were Young" Put in seat 1 — Calvin Orosa 23 "Can't Stop the Feeling!" Put in seat 2 — Davey Woder 24 "Stand by Me" Put in seat 3 — Trojahn Tuna 25 "Send My Love (To Your New Lover)" Eliminated — Stevie-Leigh 26 "California Dreamin'" Eliminated — Josh 27 "Human" Eliminated — Omar Terzic 28 "To Love Somebody" Eliminated — Naisa Lasalosi 29 "Love Me Harder" Put in seat 2 Calvin Orosa Zebulen Howell 30 "Stole the Show" Put in seat 1 Ruby Mills Miss Powers 31 "Fame" Eliminated — Dave Stergo 32 "Running Up That Hill" Eliminated — Chynna Taylor 33 "My Hero" Put in seat 2 Naisa Lasalosi Timmy Knowles 34 "Love on the Brain" Put in seat 1 Zebulen Howell
Acts
Key: – Winner – Runner-up
ActAge(s)HometownCategory (mentor)ResultIsaiah Firebrace17Portland, Victoria14-21s (Lambert)WinnerDavey Woder34Logan, QueenslandOver 22s (Sebastian)Runner-upVlado17SydneyUnderdogs (Mel B)3rd placeAmalia Foy14Melbourne14-21s (Lambert)4th placeBEATZ19–22SydneyUnderdogs (Mel B)5th placeChynna Taylor26Corpus Christi, Texas, United States/South Coast, New South WalesOver 22s (Sebastian)6th placeBrentwood25 & 29New Zealand/Melbourne Groups (Azalea)7th placeAYA16–18Sydney8th placeMaddison Milewski16Gold Coast, QueenslandUnderdogs (Mel B) 9th–12th placeTimmy Knowles30MelbourneOver 22s (Sebastian)Time and Place17–21VariousGroups (Azalea)Natalie Ong15Singapore/Melbourne14-21s (Lambert) *AYA (originally named Chai) was previously known as Montage. Their name was changed a second time after the three-seat challenge.
Live shows The live shows began airing on 23 October 2016. Initially, ten live shows were planned, but they were cut down to five, apparently due to scheduling conflicts. Guy Sebastian mentored the Over 22s, Iggy Azalea mentored the Groups and Adam Lambert mentored the 14-21s. Mel B was announced as the mentor of the Underdogs category, where she chose three acts who were eliminated in the three-seat challenge, join her category; the contestants of this category were not revealed until the first live show.No Cookies | The Chronicle The live shows concluded on 21 November 2016, where this would be the final episode of The X Factor to be aired, as the programme was cancelled in January 2017 due to declining ratings.
Results summary Colour key Act in Team Mel B Act in Team Guy Act in Team Iggy Act in Team Adam
– Act in the bottom two and had to perform 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) + Weekly results per act Act Week 11 Week 2 Quarter-final Semi-final Final Sunday Vote Monday Vote Isaiah Firebrace Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Winner Davey Woder Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Runner-up Vlado Saric Safe Safe Safe Bottom Two 3rd Eliminated (Final) Amalia Foy Safe Safe Safe Safe 4th Beatz Safe 7th 5th Bottom Two Eliminated (Semi-final) Chynna Taylor Safe Safe 6th Eliminated (Quarter-final) Brentwood Safe Safe 7th AYA Safe8th Eliminated (Week 2) Maddison Milewski Eliminated Eliminated (Week 1) Timmy Knowles Eliminated Time and Place Eliminated Natalie Ong Eliminated Final Showdown No final showdown; public eliminates one act from each category Beatz, AYA Chynna Taylor, Beatz Beatz, Saric No bottom two/judges' vote; public votes alone decide who wins Judges voted toEliminateSend Through Lambert's vote (14-21s) Beatz Beatz Saric Azalea's vote (Groups) Beatz Taylor Saric Sebastian's vote (Over 22s) AYA Beatz Saric Mel B's vote (Underdogs) AYA Taylor 2 Eliminated Timmy Knowles Public Vote To Save AYA 2 of 4 votesDeadlock Brentwood Public Vote To Save Beatz 0 of 3 votesMinority Vlado SaricPublic Vote To Save Davey WoderPublic Vote To Win Maddison Milewski Public Vote To Save Natalie Ong Public Vote To Save Chynna Taylor 2 of 4 votesDeadlock Amalia FoyPublic Vote to Save Time and Place Public Vote To Save Notes 1 In week 1, one act from each category was eliminated, hence each category was ranked individually. 2 Mel B was not required to vote as there was already a Majority.
Live show details
Week 1 (23/24 October) Theme: Judges' Choice (Free Choice) Group performance: "Battle Scars"/"Fancy"/"Whataya Want from Me"/"Wannabe" Celebrity performers: Jessica Mauboy ("Flame Trees") and Zara Larsson ("Ain't My Fault")
One act from each category was eliminated from the competition after the first show, as voted by viewers
+ Acts' performances on the first live show Act Category (mentor) Order Song Result Beatz Underdogs (Mel B) 1 "Sax" Safe Timmy Knowles Over 22s (Sebastian) 2 "Hands to Myself" Eliminated Amalia Foy 14-21s (Lambert) 3 "Angel" Safe Time and Place Groups (Azalea) 4 "Ride" Eliminated Chynna Taylor Over 22s (Sebastian) 5 "Open Arms" Safe Maddison Milewski Underdogs (Mel B) 6 "Addicted to You" Eliminated Isaiah Firebrace 14-21s (Lambert) 7 "Lay It All on Me" Safe AYA Groups (Azalea) 8 "Secret Love Song" Vlado Underdogs (Mel B) 9 "Closer" Brentwood Groups (Azalea) 10 "Say It" Davey Woder Over 22s (Sebastian) 11 "With a Little Help from My Friends" Natalie Ong 14-21s (Lambert) 12 "When Love Takes Over" Eliminated
Week 2 (30/31 October) Theme: Judges' Makeovers (Free Choice) Group performance: "Money Maker" with Throttle, LunchMoney Lewis and Aston Merrygold Celebrity performers: Adam Lambert ("Evil In The Night") and Shawn Mendes ("Mercy")
+ Acts' performances on the second live show Act Category (mentor) Order Song Result AYA Groups (Azalea) 1 "End of Time" Bottom Two Vlado Underdogs (Mel B) 2 "Into You" Safe Chynna Taylor Over 22s (Sebastian) 3 "Pride (In the Name of Love)" Amalia Foy 14-21s (Lambert) 4 "Frozen" Brentwood Groups (Azalea) 5 "Latch" Davey Woder Over 22s (Sebastian) 6 "Small Bump" Beatz Underdogs (Mel B) 7 "If You Love Me"/"Whip My Hair" Bottom Two Isaiah Firebrace 14-21s (Lambert) 8 "Let It Be" Safe Final showdown details Act Category (mentor) Order Song Result Beatz Underdogs (Mel B) 1 "Bang Bang" Safe AYA Groups (Azalea) 2 "Domino" Eliminated
Judges' vote to eliminate Mel B: AYA – backed her own act, Beatz. Azalea: Beatz – backed her own act, AYA. Lambert: Beatz – said AYA had stronger vocals. Sebastian: AYA – could not decide and sent the result to deadlock.
With the acts in the bottom two receiving two votes each, the result went to deadlock and reverted to the earlier public vote. AYA were eliminated as the act with the fewest public votes.
Week 3: Quarter-Final (6/7 November) Theme: Viewers' Choice Guest mentors: Dami Im, Jess & Matt, Samantha Jade, Jai Waetford, Cyrus and Taylor Henderson Group performance: "Sound of Silence" Celebrity performers: Dami Im ("Fighting for Love"), Guy Sebastian ("Set in Stone"), Disturbed ("The Sound of Silence")