X Factor Malta is the Maltese version of the British television music competition The X Factor, created by Simon Cowell. The first season premiered on 7 October 2018 and has since been broadcast on Television Malta. The show was used to determine the artist that would represent Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest in and . In July 2020, it was announced that the show would be replaced by Malta's Got Talent, but after a one-year hiatus, a third season began in October 2021. Season four started on 8 October 2023.
Season summary To date, five seasons have been broadcast, as summarised below.
Contestant in "Ray Mercieca" Contestant in "Alexandra Alden" Contestant in "Howard Keith Debono" Contestant in "Ira Losco" Contestant in "Ivan Grech" Contestant in "Philippa Naudi" Contestant in "Gianluca Bezzina" Contestant in "Amber Bondin" Contestant in "Aleandro Spiteri Monsigneur"
+ Season Start Finish Winner Main judges 17 October 201826 January 2019Michela PaceOwen LeuellenNicole FrendoPetra ZammitHoward Keith Debono Ben Camille Howard Keith DebonoIra LoscoAlexandra AldenRay Mercieca 26 October 20198 February 2020Destiny ChukunyereJustine ShorfidF.A.I.T.HKyle CutajarIra Losco 33 October 202112 February 2022Ryan HiliLisa GauciAidan DrakardCheryl BalzanHoward Keith DebonoHoward Keith DebonoIra LoscoIvan GrechPhilippa Naudi 48 October 202311 February 2024Richard AquilinaLapes u NadineShanice MicallefAmelia KalabicHoward Keith DebonoGianni ZammitHoward Keith DebonoIra LoscoGianluca BezzinaAmber Bondin 511 January 202621 February 2026 Lisa Gauci Miguel Bonello Jasmine Abela Amelia Kalabic Philippa NaudiHoward Keith DebonoPhilippa NaudiAmber BondinAleandro Spiteri Monsigneur
Judges' categories and their contestants In each season, each judge is allocated a category to mentor and chooses three acts to progress to the live finals. This table shows, for each series, which category each judge was allocated and which acts he or she put through to the live finals.
Key: – Winning judge/category. Winners are in bold, eliminated contestants in small font.
Season Howard Keith Debono Ira Losco Alexandra Alden Ray Mercieca 1 GirlsMichela PaceNicole FrendoKelsey Bellante BoysOwen LeuellenLuke ChappellNorbert Bondin Groups4th LineXtremeKayati OversPetra ZammitBen PurplleFranklin Calleja 2 GroupsF.A.I.T.HBloodlineYazmin & JamesGirlsDestiny ChukunyereJustine ShorfidJasmine Abela OversCeline AgiusPaul AnthonyEd Abdilla BoysKyle CutajarKarl SchembriDav. Jr Season Howard Keith Debono Ira Losco Philippa Naudi Ivan Grech 3 BoysRyan HiliAidan DrakardKevin Paul OversCheryl BalzanAudrienne FenechJimmy Tyrrell GroupsCeci & KrissSoul TideBeyond GirlsLisa GauciTimea FarrShauna Vassallo Season Howard Keith Debono Ira Losco Amber Bondin Gianluca Bezzina 4 OversRichard AquilinaRose Marielle MamaclaySean Kamati GroupsLapes & NadineXOKelsie & Martina BoysIsaac TomKodin CamilleriMattia Adduocchio GirlsShanice MicallefAmelia KalabicKristy Spiteri Season Howard Keith Debono Philippa Naudi Amber Bondin Aleandro Spiteri Monsigneur 5 Miguel BonelloAmelia KalabicLapes & Nadine Lisa GauciBloodlineMaya Sesay Owen LeuellenKyle George CutajarMamaclay Jasmine AbelaShanice MicallefShauna Vassallo
Presenter and judges On 2 July 2018, it was announced that Ben Camille was selected to host the show. From Season 4, Gianni Zammit hosted the show instead after Ben Camille's 3 seasons hosting the program.
The full judges' panel was revealed on 31 July 2018, and was composed of music producer Howard Keith Debono, The Rifffs' frontman Ray Mercieca, Maltese singer and songwriter Alexandra Alden, and singer/star Ira Losco.
Season 1
Pre-auditions
The first appeal for applicants was made on 26 June 2018, with the launch of the online submission form. Auditioning artists were also able to send a video audition via the WhatsApp messaging platform. In addition, a number of pop-up booths were set up around Malta in early July to encourage people to enter.
Producers auditions were held from 13 to 15 July at Fort St Elmo. There the show's producers assessed the auditioning acts and determined who would progress to the judges auditions.
Judges' auditions
The auditionees chosen by the producers were invited back to the last set of auditions that took place in front of the judges. These auditions were filmed at Fort St Angelo from 1 to 8 August and broadcast from 7 October, as well as short daily extra auditions on the X Factor Malta YouTube channel and on the Facebook page of Vodafone Malta.
The 120 successful contestants then progressed to the bootcamp round.
Bootcamp
The bootcamp round was filmed at the Hilton Malta Conference Centre from 9 to 12 September and broadcast on 11 and 18 November.
Contestants were given three performance challenges. On the first day, the 120 contestants were split into the four category groups - Boys, Girls, Overs and Groups. Acts in each category were given one song to sing a cappella: "A Million Reasons" (Girls), "See You Again" (Boys), "Don’t Let the Sun Go Down On Me" (Overs) "My Girl" (Groups). After the performances, the judges sent home 30 acts.
For the second challenge, the remaining acts each selected a song from the Wall of Songs, which they had to perform with three others who had selected the same song. Contestants were either put through to the next stage, or went to the Waiting Room, where they later had the possibility of being called on to be part of a newly formed group.
In the final challenge, the remaining acts - including newly formed groups - performed a song of their own choice. The jury then selected 12 participants from each category to go through to the Six Chair Challenge.
Six Chair Challenge
The Six Chair Challenge was filmed at the Malta Fairs & Conventions Centre (MFCC) in Attard on 11 and 12 October 2018.
The 24 successful acts were: Boys: Mark Anthony Bartolo, Norbert Bondin, Aidan Cassar, Luke Chappell, Owen Leuellen, Claudio Zammit Girls: Kelsey Bellante, Karin Duff, Nicole Frendo, Danica Muscat, Michela Pace, Jade Vella Overs: Anna Azzopardi, Franklin Calleja, Anna Faniello, Ben Purplle, Vanessa Lee Sultana, Petra Zammit Groups: 4th Line, Horizon, Kayati, Prism, Systm12, Xtreme
Judges' Houses
The Judges' Houses episodes were broadcast on 23 and 30 December 2018.
+Summary of Judges' Houses Judge Category Assistant Contestants eliminatedLosco Boys Joseph Calleja Mark Anthony Bartolo, Aidan Cassar, Claudio Zammit Debono Girls Mike Hedges Karin Duff, Danica Muscat, Jade Vella Mercieca Overs Matthew James Borg Anna Azzopardi, Anna Faniello, Vanessa Lee SultanaAlden Groups Carlo Borg Bonaci Horizon, Prism, Systm12
Contestants Key: – Winner – Runner-up – Third Place
Category (mentor)Acts Boys (Losco) Norbert Bondin Luke Chappell Owen Leuellen Girls (Debono) Kelsey Bellante Nicole Frendo Michela Pace Overs (Mercieca) Franklin Calleja Ben Purplle Petra Zammit Groups (Alden) 4th Line Kayati Xtreme
Live shows The live shows began on Sunday, 6 January 2019. They were filmed at the Malta Fairs & Conventions Centre (MFCC) in Attard, Malta. Dance groups contracted for all live shows were The Unit Collective (Deedee Clark, Kimberly Lowell, Nicole Schembri), Southville Dancers (Christian Scerri), Kinetic Dance Academy (Clayton Mifsud, Daphne Gatt) and Annalise Dance Studio (Annalise Ellul).
Results summary Colour key – Contestant in the bottom three and had to perform in the Sing-Off – 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 Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Round One Round Two Round One Round Two Round Three Michela Pace Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe SafeWinner Owen Leuellen Safe Safe Safe 4th Safe SafeRunner-Up Nicole Frendo Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe3rd Eliminated(week 4) Petra Zammit Safe Safe Safe Safe4th Eliminated(week 4) Luke Chappell Safe Safe Safe 5th Eliminated(week 3) Norbert Bondin Safe Safe Safe 6th Eliminated(week 3) Ben Purplle Safe 8th 7th Eliminated(week 3) Kelsey Bellante Safe Safe 8th Eliminated(week 3) 4th Line Safe 9th Eliminated(week 2) Xtreme Bottom three 10th Eliminated(week 2) Franklin Calleja Bottom three Eliminated(week 1) Kayati 12th Eliminated(week 1) Sing-Off Franklin Calleja,Xtreme 4th Line,Ben Purplle No Sing Off or Judges Vote. The two acts with the fewest votes will leave the competition. Owen Leuellen,Luke Chappell No Sing Off or Judges Vote, the public votes decide who wins. Alden's vote to eliminate Franklin Calleja Ben Purplle Owen Leuellen Debono's vote to eliminate Franklin Calleja Ben Purplle Owen Leuellen Losco's vote to eliminate Franklin Calleja 4th Line Luke Chappell Mercieca's vote to eliminate Xtreme 4th Line Luke Chappell Eliminated KayatiPublic voteFranklin Calleja3 of 4 votesMajority XtremePublic vote4th Line2 of 4 votesDeadlock Kelsey BellantePublic vote Ben PurpllePublic vote Norbert BondinPublic voteLuke Chappell2 of 4 votesDeadlock Michela Pace Owen Leuellen Nicole Frendo Petra Zammit
Live show details
Week 1 (6 Jan) Theme: This is Me
+ Contestants' performances on the first live show Act Order Song Result 4th Line 1 "Survivor" Safe Luke Chappell 2 "Overthinking" (original song) Safe Nicole Frendo 3 "Too Good at Goodbyes" Safe Franklin Calleja 4 "Jealous" Bottom three Xtreme 5 "Side to Side"/"Woman Like Me" Bottom three Michela Pace 6 "Lost on You" Safe Norbert Bondin 7 "Say Something" Safe Kayati 8 "Nobody's Perfect" Eliminated Ben Purplle 9 "Dancing On My Own" Safe Owen Leuellen 10 "Can't Hold Us" Safe Petra Zammit 11 "What's Up?" Safe Kelsey Bellante 12 "Chained to the Rhythm" Safe Final showdown details Act Order Song Result Franklin Calleja 1 "Clown" Eliminated Xtreme 2 "Take Me Home" Safe
Judges' vote to eliminate Mercieca: Xtreme Alden: Franklin Calleja Losco: Franklin Calleja Debono: Franklin Calleja
Week 2 (13 Jan) Theme: Throwbacks
+ Contestants' performances on the second live show Act Order Song Result Xtreme 1 "They Don't Care About Us" Eliminated Kelsey Bellante 2 "Could You Be Loved" Safe Owen Leuellen 3 "Boom! Shake the Room" Safe Ben Purplle 4 "Yesterday" Bottom three 4th Line 5 "It's Raining Men" Bottom three Petra Zammit 6 "I Just Want to Make Love to You" Safe Luke Chappell 7 "Hey There Delilah" Safe Nicole Frendo 8 "Purple Rain" Safe Norbert Bondin 9 "The Wild Boys" Safe Michela Pace 10 "The Power of Love" Safe Final showdown details Act Order Song Result Ben Purplle 1 "Iris" Safe 4th Line 2 "Queen of the Night" Eliminated
Judges' vote to eliminate Mercieca: 4th Line Alden: Ben Purplle Losco: 4th Line Debono: Ben Purplle
With the acts in the sing-off receiving two votes each, the result went to deadlock and reverted to the earlier public vote. 4th Line was eliminated as the act with the fewest public votes.
Week 3: Semi-Final (20 Jan) Theme: Movie Spectacular, Jukebox
+ Contestants' performances on the third live show Act OrderFirst Song Result OrderSecond Song Result Owen Leuellen 1 "Gangsta's Paradise" Safe13"What Did You Expect" (original song)Bottom three Ben Purplle 2 "Oh, Pretty Woman" EliminatedN/A (Already eliminated) Nicole Frendo 3 "Skyfall" Safe 14 "Scared to Be Lonely" Safe Norbert Bondin 4 "Never Enough" Safe11"Empty Space" Eliminated Michela Pace 5 "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" Safe 12 "Shallow" Safe Luke Chappell 6 "Heathens" Safe9"What Do You Mean?"Bottom three Kelsey Bellante 7 "Pray for Me" EliminatedN/A (Already eliminated) Petra Zammit 8 "We Don't Need Another Hero" Safe 10 "Set Fire to the Rain" Safe Final showdown details Act Order Song Result Owen Leuellen N/A Safe Luke Chappell N/A Eliminated
Judges' vote to eliminate Mercieca: Luke Chappell Alden: Owen Leuellen Debono: Owen Leuellen Losco: Luke Chappell