The X Factor (American season 3)

The third and final season of the American music competition television show The X Factor premiered on Fox on September 11, 2013, and ended on December 19, 2013.[1] This season was hosted by Mario Lopez. Simon Cowell and Demi Lovato returned to the judging panel, while Kelly Rowland and Paulina Rubio joined the panel as replacements for the departing judges.

The X Factor
Season 3
Hosted byMario Lopez
JudgesDemi Lovato
Simon Cowell
Paulina Rubio
Kelly Rowland
WinnerAlex & Sierra
Winning mentorSimon Cowell
Runner-upJeff Gutt
Release
Original networkFox
Original releaseSeptember 11 (2013-09-11) –
December 19, 2013 (2013-12-19)
Season chronology
← Previous
Season 2

Producer auditions began on March 6, 2013, in Los Angeles, and ended on May 4, 2013, in Denver. The judges auditions, which are televised, began on May 21, 2013, in Charleston, and ended on July 12, 2013, in Los Angeles. New for this season is the removal of the boot camp and judges' houses rounds of the competition which have been replaced with a new middle section, more reminiscent of the live shows.

On December 19, 2013, Alex & Sierra won the show, as mentored by Cowell. On February 7, 2014, Cowell announced he was returning to the UK show to judge the 2014 UK series, which was followed by Fox announcing that they would not be renewing the show for a fourth season.[2]

Judges and hosts edit

On October 22, 2012, it was announced that The X Factor would be returning for a third season,[3] with Simon Cowell confirmed to be returning.[4] On December 14, 2012, L.A. Reid announced he would not return to the show for its third season, as he wished to refocus his work on his record company, Epic Records.[5] Britney Spears stated her intentions on returning to the show for its third season,[6] but she eventually did not return, in order to focus on her music career.[7]

Following the conclusion of season two, Demi Lovato questioned whether she would return for another season, or instead focus on her own career as a performer, stating, "I have no idea what's gonna happen next season, and I don't think anybody does."[8] On March 28, 2013, it was confirmed that Lovato would return. On April 22, it was confirmed by Fox that Mario Lopez would be returning to host season three, along with the news of Khloé Kardashian not returning as co-host.[9]

Rumors passed that Reba McEntire and Jennifer Love Hewitt would be judges.[10]

Eventually, Cowell confirmed via his Twitter account that the full judging panel would be announced on May 20, 2013, with auditions beginning the next day.[11] On that same day, Fox confirmed that Destiny's Child member and judge on the 2011 series of the UK show (who previously replaced Dannii Minogue), Kelly Rowland, and Mexican singer and former La Voz... México judge Paulina Rubio had been hired to replace Reid and Spears.[12]

Selection process edit

Auditions edit

 
 
Charleston
 
New Orleans
 
Los Angeles
 
Denver
 
Long Island
Cities where auditions were held.

In addition to having online auditions, it was announced at the conclusion of season 2 that auditions for season 3 would be held throughout the country in Charleston, South Carolina; Denver, Colorado; Long Island, New York; Los Angeles, California and New Orleans, Louisiana. On the "Registration and Audition Rules" document[13] on The X Factor's website about the auditions, it was announced where the auditions were going to be taking place.

Summary of judges' auditions[14]
City Auditions dates Venue Judges
Charleston, South Carolina May 21–22, 2013 North Charleston Coliseum Rowland Lovato Rubio Cowell
New Orleans, Louisiana June 11–12, 2013 Lakefront Arena
Long Island, New York June 19–21, 2013 Nassau Coliseum
Denver, Colorado June 30 – July 2, 2013 Denver Coliseum
Los Angeles, California July 10–11, 2013 Galen Center
July 12, 2013

Deliberations edit

Instead of the traditional bootcamp stages, a deliberation stage (very similar to Britain's Got Talent) was introduced to cut down the "yes" from the auditions to perform at Four-chair challenge. The judges cut the acts from 218 to 40. This took place on July 31, 2013.

After the Deliberation and Reveal Stages, but before the start of the four-chair challenge, the judges found out their categories and they are as follows: Rowland has the Overs, Rubio has the Boys, Lovato has the Girls and Cowell has the groups. They were revealed at Shrine Auditorium.

Four-chair challenge edit

For this season of The X Factor, Cowell confirmed that the boot camp and judges' houses sections of the competition, which traditionally followed the audition rounds, had been dropped and replaced with a brand new stage called "The Four-Chair challenge", which took place at the Shrine Auditorium and was filmed over 2 days in September 2013. Speaking on the change, he said "It [boot camp and Judges' houses] was the one element of the show I wasn't happy with, and it looked too similar to what everybody else is doing." He went on to describe the new "middle section" as "really dramatic, very tough on us and the contestants, and very high pressure", and compared the new round as similar to the live shows.[15]

This season, the categories did not follow the age-based format from season two but rather the format from season one: Boys, Girls, Over 25s and Groups. Rowland mentored Over 25s, Lovato the Girls, Rubio the Boys, and for the second season in a row, Cowell mentored the Groups.[16] Groups Restless Road, Sweet Suspense, and Forever in Your Mind all consist of contestants who originally auditioned as soloists.

The four-chair challenge episodes were broadcast on two 2-hour Wednesdays and two 1-hour Thursdays shows on October 2, 3, 9 and 10.

Key:

  – Act was immediately eliminated after performance without switch
  – Act was switched out later in the competition and eventually eliminated
  – Act was not switched out and made the final four of their own category
Contestants performances on the four-chair challenge
Episode Category (mentor) Act Order Song[17][18][19][20] Mentor's decision Switched with
Episode 7
(October 2)
Over 25s (Rowland) Victoria Carriger 1 "Make You Feel My Love" Put in chair 1
Kristine Mirelle 2 "Oops!... I Did It Again" Put in chair 2
Jeff Gutt 3 "Amazing Grace" Put in chair 3
Rachel Potter 4 "Irreplaceable" Put in chair 4
Lorie Moore 5 "I'll Make Love to You" Put in chair 2 Kristine Mirelle
Allison Davis 6 "Tik Tok" / "Push It" Eliminated
Jeff Brinkman 7 "Without You" Put in chair 1 Victoria Carriger
Denny Smith 8 "In the Midnight Hour" Eliminated
James Kenney 9 "Lean on Me" Put in chair 1 Jeff Brinkman
Lillie McCloud 10 "A House Is Not a Home" Put in chair 2 Lorie Moore
Girls (Lovato) Bree Randall 11 "Glad You Came" Put in chair 1
Khaya Cohen 12 "Locked Out of Heaven" Put in chair 2
Jamie Pineda 13 "Don't Speak" Put in chair 3
Ashly Williams 14 "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" Put in chair 4
Episode 8
(October 3)
Simone Torres 15 "A Change Is Gonna Come" Put in chair 1 Bree Randall
Danie Geimer 16 "Georgia on My Mind" Put in chair 1 Simone Torres
Rylie Brown 17 "Angels" Eliminated
Primrose Martin 18 "Blame It on the Boogie" Eliminated
Rion Paige 19 "I Won't Let Go" Put in chair 4 Ashly Williams
Ellona Santiago 20 "Clarity" Put in chair 3 Jamie Pineda
Episode 9
(October 9)
Boys (Rubio) Al Calderon 21 "Call Me Maybe" Put in chair 1
Isaiah Alston 22 "The Greatest Love of All" Eliminated
Isaac Tauaefa 23 "Bubbly" Eliminated
Carlos Guevara 24 "Ain't No Sunshine" Put in chair 2
Stone Martin 25 "Torn" Put in chair 3
Chase Goehring 26 "Airplanes" Put in chair 4
Tim Olstad 27 "The Climb" Put in chair 3 Stone Martin
Carlito Olivero 28 "Dreaming of You" Put in chair 4 Chase Goehring
Timmy Thames 29 "The New Girl in Town" Put in chair 3 Tim Olstad
Tim Olstad N/A N/A (reinstated by mentor)1 Put in chair 1 Al Calderon
Josh Levi 30 "I Can't Make You Love Me" Put in chair 3 Timmy Thames
Groups (Cowell) Girls United 31 "Yeah 3x" Put in chair 1
Wild Thingz 32 "Party Rock Anthem" Put in chair 2
Glamour 33 "When I'm Gone" Put in chair 3
Restless Road 34 "Somebody Like You" Put in chair 4
Episode 10
(October 10)
Sweet Suspense 35 "Wishing on a Star" Put in chair 2 Wild Thingz
Yellow House Canyon 36 "Hell on Heels" Eliminated
Forever in Your Mind 37 "Lovebug" Put in chair 3 Glamour
Good News 38 "Landslide" Eliminated
Alex & Sierra 39 "You're the One That I Want" Put in chair 1 Girls United
RoXxy Montana 40 "Man in the Mirror" Put in chair 3 Forever in Your Mind

^1 Rubio initially switched out Tim Olstad for Timmy Thames, but after some consideration brought him back and instead switched out Al Calderon.

Contestants edit

The top 16 contestants were confirmed as follows;

Key:

  – Winner
  – Runner-Up
Act Age(s) Hometown Category (mentor) Result
Alex & Sierra 22 New Smyrna Beach, Florida/Orlando, Florida Groups (Cowell) Winner
Jeff Gutt 37 Marine City, Michigan Over 25s (Rowland) Runner-Up
Carlito Olivero 24 Chicago, Illinois Boys (Rubio) 3rd Place
Restless Road 18-19 Various Groups (Cowell) 4th Place
Rion Paige 13 Jacksonville, Florida Girls (Lovato) 5th Place
Ellona Santiago 17 San Lorenzo, California 6th Place
Josh Levi 15 Houston, Texas Boys (Rubio) 7th Place
Lillie McCloud 55 Orlando, Florida Over 25s (Rowland) 8th Place
Tim Olstad 23 Winona, Minnesota Boys (Rubio) 9th Place
Khaya Cohen 16 New York City, New York Girls (Lovato) 10th Place
Rachel Potter 29 New Orleans, Louisiana Over 25s (Rowland) 11th Place
Sweet Suspense 14-17 Various Groups (Cowell) 12th Place
Carlos Guevara 16 Lexington, South Carolina Boys (Rubio) 13rd Place
RoXxy Montana 20-22 Wayne, Michigan Groups (Cowell) 14th-16th Place
James Kenney 35 Portland, Oregon Over 25s (Rowland) 14th-16th Place
Danie Geimer 15 Northridge, California Girls (Lovato) 14th-16th Place

Live shows edit

The first two-hour live show aired on a special Tuesday time slot on October 29; which followed the same format as the first season with each of the judges narrowing their number of acts down to three, without a public vote. The public vote then started with the following performance and results shows starting November 6, which aired on Wednesdays and Thursdays respectively. As with previous seasons, each live show had a different theme. The live final took place in on December 18 and 19. Cowell had also said on Twitter that there may be a wildcard this season.[21] The leaderboard that showed which act had received the most public votes did not return.[citation needed]

Musical guests edit

Each results show featured musical performances from at least two artists. There was no guest performer on the first result show. Selena Gomez was supposed to perform on the second result show, but was postponed to third result show night[22] which featured a performance from season 2 finalist Fifth Harmony.[23] One Direction performed on the third results show.[24] Michael Bublé performed on the fifth performance show,[25] then again on the fifth results show alongside judge Demi Lovato.[26] Emblem3 and Little Mix performed on the sixth results show,[27] while Enrique Iglesias performed during the seventh results show.[28] Paulina Rubio,[29] Mary J. Blige, Lea Michele,[30] Leona Lewis, Pitbull and One Direction performed on the finale.[31]

Results summary edit

Color key

  Act in team Demi Lovato

  Act in team Simon Cowell

  Act in team Paulina Rubio

  Act in team Kelly Rowland

  Act did not face the public vote
  Act was eliminated by their mentor (no public vote or final showdown)
  Act was in the bottom three and had to sing 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)
  Act received the most public votes
Weekly results per act
Act Week 1 Week 23 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Quarter-Final Semi-Final Final
Wednesday Vote3 Thursday Vote First Vote Second Vote
Alex & Sierra Saved 3 1st5 1st5 2nd5 1st5 1st5 1st5 1st5 Winner
Jeff Gutt 6th 5th 4th 4th 2nd 2nd 2nd Runner-Up
Carlito Olivero 7th 8th 8th 5th 4th 3rd 3rd Eliminated (final)
Restless Road 8th 3rd 7th 3rd 3rd 4th Eliminated (semi-final)
Rion Paige 3rd 6th 1st 6th 5th Eliminated (quarter-final)
Ellona Santiago 2nd 2nd 6th 2nd 6th
Josh Levi Eliminated2 5th 4th 3rd 7th Eliminated (week 5)
Lillie McCloud Saved 9th 7th 5th 8th
Tim Olstad 12th 9th 9th Eliminated (week 4)
Khaya Cohen 11th 11th 10th
Rachel Potter 4th 10th Eliminated (week 3)
Sweet Suspense 10th 12th
Carlos Guevara 13th Eliminated (week 3)
RoXxy Montana Eliminated Eliminated (week 1)
James Kenney
Danie Geimer
Final Showdown None1 3 No final showdown or judges' votes; results were based on public votes alone Cohen,
Potter
Olivero,
Olstad
Levi,
Paige
Olivero,
Paige
No final showdown or judges' votes; results were based on public votes alone
Judges voted to Send Through Eliminate
Rowland's vote Potter,
Gutt,
McCloud
Cohen Olstad Paige Paige
Rubio's vote Olivero,
Guevara,
Olstad
Potter Olstad Paige Paige
Lovato's vote Santiago,
Paige,
Cohen
Potter Olstad Levi Olivero
Cowell's vote Restless Road,
Alex & Sierra,
Sweet Suspense
Potter 4 Levi Paige
Eliminated Danie Geimer
by Lovato
Carlos Guevara
Public vote
to save
Sweet Suspense
Public vote
to save
Khaya Cohen
Public vote
to save
Lillie McCloud
Public vote
to save
Ellona Santiago
Public vote
to save
Restless Road
Public vote
to save
Carlito Olivero
Public vote
to win
Jeff Gutt
Public vote
to win
Josh Levi
by Rubio
James Kenney
by Rowland
Rachel Potter
3 of 4 votes
Majority
Tim Olstad
3 of 3 votes
Majority
Josh Levi
2 of 4 votes
Deadlock
Rion Paige
3 of 4 votes
Majority
RoXxy Montana
by Cowell
Reference(s) [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37] [38] [39] [40]
  • ^1 There was no public vote in the first week and therefore no final showdown. Each judge was required to save three of their own acts.
  • ^2 Levi returned to the competition in week two because the judges felt that he should not have been eliminated in week one.
  • ^3 Owing to graphic errors in which incorrect voting numbers were displayed on screen during the performance recap, there was no elimination in week two. All acts performed again on Thursday night in week two and a public re-vote was conducted. Carlos Guevara was eliminated on Wednesday night in week three after receiving the fewest votes in week two.
  • ^4 Cowell was not required to vote as there was already a majority, but said after the show that he would have voted to eliminate Olstad.
  • ^5 Cowell revealed in an interview that Alex & Sierra "won every single week" in the public vote except the fourth.

Live show details edit

Week 1 (October 29) edit

Acts performances on the first live show
Act Category (mentor) Order Song[41] Result[32]
Ellona Santiago Girls (Lovato) 1 "Till the World Ends" Safe
Danie Geimer Girls (Lovato) 2 "Wrecking Ball" Eliminated
Rion Paige Girls (Lovato) 3 "Skyscraper" Safe
Khaya Cohen 4 "Mercy"
Josh Levi Boys (Rubio) 5 "Only Girl (in the World)" Eliminated
Carlos Guevara Boys (Rubio) 6 "Don't You Worry Child" Safe
Carlito Olivero 7 "Maria Maria"
Tim Olstad 8 "Always"
Lillie McCloud Over 25s (Rowland) 9 "When a Man Loves a Woman"
Jeff Gutt 10 "Try"
Rachel Potter 11 "I Hope You Dance"
James Kenney Over 25s (Rowland) 12 "Red" Eliminated
RoXxy Montana Groups (Cowell) 13 "Royals"
Sweet Suspense Groups (Cowell) 14 "I Love It" Safe
Alex & Sierra 15 "Blurred Lines"
Restless Road 16 "Roar"

There was no public vote in the first week. Instead, each of the judges selected one of their own acts to eliminate.

Judges' votes to eliminate[32]
  • Lovato: Danie Geimer – gave no reason.
  • Rubio: Josh Levi – gave no reason.
  • Rowland: James Kenney – based on the performances.
  • Cowell: RoXxy Montana – gave no reason.

Week 2 (November 6/7) edit

November 6

One of the four acts that did not face the public vote in week 1, and was eliminated by their mentor, was reinstated to the show as the judges felt that the act "deserves a second shot". The reinstated act was announced as Josh Levi.[44]

Acts performances on the second live show (Wednesday)
Act Category (mentor) Order Song[44]
Josh Levi Boys (Rubio) 1 "Who's Lovin' You"
Rachel Potter Over 25s (Rowland) 2 "This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You)"
Carlos Guevara Boys (Rubio) 3 "What's Going On"
Restless Road Groups (Cowell) 4 "Easy"
Ellona Santiago Girls (Lovato) 5 "Baby Love"
Jeff Gutt Over 25s (Rowland) 6 "Say You, Say Me"
Alex & Sierra Groups (Cowell) 7 "I Heard It Through the Grapevine"
Khaya Cohen Girls (Lovato) 8 "My Girl"
Carlito Olivero Boys (Rubio) 9 "Stop! In the Name of Love"
Lillie McCloud Over 25s (Rowland) 10 "All In Love Is Fair"
Sweet Suspense Groups (Cowell) 11 "You Keep Me Hangin' On"
Rion Paige Girls (Lovato) 12 "Ain't No Mountain High Enough"
Tim Olstad Boys (Rubio) 13 "I'll Be There"
November 7
  • Theme: "Save Me" songs[33]

Owing to graphics error in which incorrect voting numbers were displayed on screen during the performance recap, there was no elimination this week, instead all the acts performed their "Save Me" songs on Thursday night and a public re-vote was conducted after the show. The results were announced the following week, at the start of the live show on Wednesday night.[33]

Selena Gomez was going to perform her single "Slow Down" but due to graphics issues, she performed on the second night in week 3.[citation needed]

Acts performances on the second live show (Thursday)
Act Category (mentor) Order Song[45] Result
Josh Levi Boys (Rubio) 1 "Stay" Safe
Rachel Potter Over 25s (Rowland) 2 "Anyway"
Carlos Guevara Boys (Rubio) 3 "Cannonball" Eliminated
Restless Road Groups (Cowell) 4 "Don't You Wanna Stay" Safe
Ellona Santiago Girls (Lovato) 5 "Titanium"
Jeff Gutt Over 25s (Rowland) 6 "In the Air Tonight"
Alex & Sierra Groups (Cowell) 7 "Give Me Love" Safe (Highest Votes)
Khaya Cohen Girls (Lovato) 8 "Distant Dreamer" Safe
Carlito Olivero Boys (Rubio) 9 "If You're Not the One"
Lillie McCloud Over 25s (Rowland) 10 "Who Wants to Live Forever"
Sweet Suspense Groups (Cowell) 11 "That Should Be Me"
Rion Paige Girls (Lovato) 12 "Born This Way"
Tim Olstad Boys (Rubio) 13 "I Believe I Can Fly"

Week 3 (November 13/14) edit

Carlos Guevara, the act that received the fewest votes from the public re-vote in week 2, was eliminated at the start of the November 13 episode.[34] He would have performed "Mad World".[34] Starting from week three, two acts were eliminated from each results show until week six. The three acts with the fewest public votes were announced and then the act with the fewest votes was automatically eliminated. The remaining two acts then performed in the final showdown and face the judges' votes.[citation needed]

Acts performances on the third live show
Act Category (mentor) Order Song[34] Year Result[35]
Lillie McCloud Over 25s (Rowland) 1 "Ain't Nobody" 1983 Safe
Carlito Olivero Boys (Rubio) 2 "Rhythm Is Gonna Get You" 1987
Rion Paige Girls (Lovato) 3 "We Belong" 1984
Sweet Suspense Groups (Cowell) 4 "Mickey" 1981 Eliminated
Tim Olstad Boys (Rubio) 5 "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" 1984 Safe
Khaya Cohen Girls (Lovato) 6 "Borderline" 1984 Bottom Three
Restless Road Groups (Cowell) 7 "Footloose" 1984 Safe
Rachel Potter Over 25s (Rowland) 8 "Alone" 1987 Bottom Three
Ellona Santiago Girls (Lovato) 9 "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" 1987 Safe
Josh Levi Boys (Rubio) 10 "Straight Up" 1988
Jeff Gutt Over 25s (Rowland) 11 "(I Just) Died in Your Arms" 1986
Alex & Sierra Groups (Cowell) 12 "Addicted to Love" 1986 Safe (Highest Votes)
Final showdown details[35]
Khaya Cohen Girls (Lovato) 1 "Don't Give Up on Me" Safe
Rachel Potter Over 25s (Rowland) 2 "From This Moment On" Eliminated
Judges' votes to eliminate[35]
  • Rowland: Khaya Cohen – based on the final showdown performances, effectively backing her act, Rachel Potter.
  • Rubio: Rachel Potter – gave no reason.
  • Lovato: Rachel Potter – gave no reason, though effectively backed their own act, Khaya Cohen.
  • Cowell: Rachel Potter – felt that Cohen had more potential.

However, voting statistics revealed that Potter received more votes than Cohen which meant that if Cowell sent the result to deadlock, Potter would have been saved.

Week 4 (November 20/21) edit

Acts performances on the fourth live show
Act Category (mentor) Order Song[48] British Musician Result[36]
Jeff Gutt Over 25s (Rowland) 1 "Bohemian Rhapsody" Queen Safe
Tim Olstad Boys (Rubio) 2 "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" Elton John Bottom Three
Khaya Cohen Girls (Lovato) 3 "Let It Be" The Beatles Eliminated
Josh Levi Boys (Rubio) 4 "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" Eurythmics Safe
Alex & Sierra Groups (Cowell) 5 "Best Song Ever" One Direction
Rion Paige Girls (Lovato) 6 "Your Song" Elton John Safe (Highest Votes)
Carlito Olivero Boys (Rubio) 7 "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" The Rolling Stones Bottom Three
Lillie McCloud Over 25s (Rowland) 8 "This Woman's Work" Kate Bush Safe
Ellona Santiago Girls (Lovato) 9 "Burn" Ellie Goulding
Restless Road Groups (Cowell) 10 "Fix You" Coldplay
Final showdown details[36]
Tim Olstad Boys (Rubio) 1 "You Raise Me Up" Eliminated
Carlito Olivero Boys (Rubio) 2 "Beneath Your Beautiful" Safe
Judges' votes to eliminate[49]
  • Rowland: Tim Olstad – based on the final showdown performances.
  • Lovato: Tim Olstad – gave no reason.
  • Rubio: Tim Olstad – gave no reason.
  • Cowell was not required to vote since there was already a majority, but said after the show that his "heart went out to" Olivero, so he would have voted to eliminate Olstad.[50]

Week 5 (November 27/28) edit

Acts performances on the fifth live show
Act Category (mentor) Order Song[53] Result[37]
Rion Paige Girls (Lovato) 1 "Swingin'" Bottom Three
Restless Road Groups (Cowell) 2 "Life Is a Highway" Safe
Jeff Gutt Over 25s (Rowland) 3 "Feeling Good"
Josh Levi Boys (Rubio) 4 "Treasure" Bottom Three
Carlito Olivero Boys (Rubio) 5 "La Copa de Vida"/"María" Safe
Alex & Sierra Groups (Cowell) 6 "I Knew You Were Trouble" Safe (Highest Votes)
Lillie McCloud Over 25s (Rowland) 7 "Summertime" Eliminated
Ellona Santiago Girls (Lovato) 8 "Mamma Knows Best" Safe
Final showdown details[37]
Rion Paige Girls (Lovato) 1 "Perfect" Safe
Josh Levi Boys (Rubio) 2 "When I Was Your Man" Eliminated
Judges' votes to eliminate[54]
  • Lovato: Josh Levi – gave no reason, though effectively backed their own act, Rion Paige.
  • Rubio: Rion Paige – backed her own act, Josh Levi.
  • Rowland: Rion Paige – gave no reason.
  • Cowell: Josh Levi – 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. Levi was eliminated as the act with the fewest public votes.[54]

Week 6: Quarter-Final (December 4/5) edit

For the first time this season, each act performed two songs.

Acts' performances in the quarter-final
Act Category (mentor) Order First song[57] Diva Order Second song[57] Result[38]
Restless Road Groups (Cowell) 1 "Red" Taylor Swift 7 "Wake Me Up" Safe
Rion Paige Girls (Lovato) 2 "See You Again" Carrie Underwood 8 "Glass" Bottom Three
Jeff Gutt Over 25s (Rowland) 3 "Without You" Mariah Carey 9 "Daniel" Safe
Ellona Santiago Girls (Lovato) 4 "Applause" Lady Gaga 10 "If I Were a Boy" Eliminated
Alex & Sierra Groups (Cowell) 5 "Say My Name" Destiny's Child 11 "Say Something" Safe (Highest Votes)
Carlito Olivero Boys (Rubio) 6 "Let's Get Loud" Jennifer Lopez 12 "Stand by Me" Bottom Three
Final showdown details[38]
Rion Paige Girls (Lovato) 1 "The House That Built Me" Eliminated
Carlito Olivero Boys (Rubio) 2 "You Make Me Wanna..." Safe
Judges' votes to eliminate[58]
  • Lovato: Carlito Olivero – backed her own act, Rion Paige.
  • Rubio: Rion Paige – backed her own act, Carlito Olivero.
  • Rowland: Rion Paige – based on the final showdown performances though stated both acts did not give their best.
  • Cowell: Rion Paige – wanted to give Olivero the opportunity to stay in the competition as he felt the competition was "probably his last chance".

Week 7: Semi-Final (December 11/12) edit

On December 4, the song choices for the public were revealed.[59]

List of song choices for viewers' choice week
Act Category (mentor) Song Choices[59] Result[61]
Alex & Sierra Groups (Cowell) "Hold On, We're Going Home" Not Chosen
"Little Talks" Chosen
"Troublemaker" Not Chosen
Carlito Olivero Boys (Rubio) "Boyfriend" Chosen
"Hasta Ayer" Not Chosen
"Promise"
Ellona Santiago Girls (Lovato) "Love Me Again" N/A (Already Eliminated)
"Who You Are"
"You Got the Love"
Jeff Gutt Over 25s (Rowland) "Creep" Not Chosen
"Hallelujah" Chosen
"Wonderwall" Not Chosen
Restless Road Groups (Cowell) "Hey Brother"
"It Goes Like This"
"That's My Kind of Night" Chosen
Rion Paige Girls (Lovato) "Girl on Fire" N/A (Already Eliminated)
"So Small"
"Umbrella"
Acts' performances in the semi-final
Act Category (mentor) Order First song[62] Order Second song[62] Result[39]
Carlito Olivero Boys (Rubio) 1 "Boyfriend" 5 "I Need to Know" Safe
Restless Road Groups (Cowell) 2 "That's My Kind of Night" 6 "Wanted" Eliminated
Alex & Sierra Groups (Cowell) 3 "Little Talks" 7 "Gravity" Safe (Highest Votes)
Jeff Gutt Over 25s (Rowland) 4 "Hallelujah" 8 "Demons" Safe

The semi-final did not feature a final showdown and instead the act with the fewest public votes, Restless Road, was automatically eliminated.[39] The top three acts each then performed a victory song of their choice after they were announced safe, with Olivero performing "Suavemente", Alex & Sierra performing "Let Her Go", and Gutt performing "Open Arms".[39]

Week 8: Final (December 18/19) edit

The final consisted of two two-hour episodes on December 18 and 19.

December 18
Acts' performances on the Wednesday Final
Act Category (mentor) Order First song[63] Order Second song (duet)[63][64] Order Third song[63]
Carlito Olivero Boys (Rubio) 1 "Impossible" 4 "Stand by Me" (with Prince Royce) 7 "Maria Maria"
Alex & Sierra Groups (Cowell) 2 "Give Me Love" 5 "Bleeding Love" (with Leona Lewis) 8 "Say Something"
Jeff Gutt Over 25s (Rowland) 3 "Dream On" 6 "Iris" (with John Rzeznik) 9 "Creep"
December 19
Acts' performances on Thursday Final
Act Category (mentor) Order Song[65] Result[40]
Carlito Olivero Boys (Rubio) 1 "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" Eliminated
Jeff Gutt Over 25s (Rowland) 2 "O Holy Night" Runner-Up
Alex & Sierra Groups (Cowell) 3 "All I Want for Christmas Is You" Winner

Notes edit

  • ^1 There was no public vote in the first week and therefore no final showdown. Each judge was required to save three of their own acts.[66]
  • ^2 Levi returned to the competition in week two because the judges felt that he should not have been eliminated in week one.[44]
  • ^3 Owing to graphic errors in which incorrect voting numbers were displayed on screen during the performance recap, there was no elimination in week two. All acts performed again on Thursday night in week two and a public re-vote was conducted. Carlos Guevara was eliminated on Wednesday night in week three after receiving the fewest votes in week two.[33]
  • ^4 Cowell was not required to vote as there was already a majority, but said after the show that he would have voted to eliminate Olstad.[50]
  • ^5 Cowell revealed in an interview that Alex & Sierra "won every single week" in the public vote except the fourth.[67]

Contestants who Appeared on Other Seasons or Shows edit

  • James Kenney auditioned for Season 1, but was eliminated during the Judges' Home round.
  • Jeff Gutt auditioned for Season 2, but was eliminated on the last day of the Bootcamp round.
  • Ellona Santiago competed in Season 1 as a member of InTENsity, who were eliminated in 12th place.
  • Carlito Olivero competed on Making Menudo on MTV under his real name "Carlos Olivero". He was one of the five contestants selected to become a member of Menudo
  • Chase Goehring competed on the twelfth season of America's Got Talent. He received a golden buzzer from guest judge DJ Khaled during Judges' Cuts. He finished in the Top Ten.
  • Stone Martin and Timmy Thames appeared on Boy Band. Both were eliminated on episode 1.

Famous Relations edit

  • Primrose Martin, who was eliminated during the Four Chair Challenge, is the daughter of Skip Martin

Reception edit

U.S. Nielsen ratings edit

Ep. # Episode Airdate Viewers
(millions)
Rating/share
(18–49)
Rank
(timeslot)
Rank
(night)
Source
1 Auditions 1 September 11 6.45 2.2/7 2 3 [68]
2 Auditions 2 September 12 6.87 2.2/7 2 2 [69]
3 Auditions 3 September 18 6.62 2.2/7 2 4 [70]
4 Auditions 4 September 19 6.43 2.0/7 2 4 [71]
5 Auditions 5 September 25 7.73 2.5/7 2 7 [72]
6 Auditions 6 September 26 6.47 2.1/6 2 8 [73]
7 Four-Chair challenge 1 October 2 7.80 2.4/7 3 7 [74]
8 Four-Chair challenge 2 October 3 7.13 2.0/6 2 8 [75]
9 Four-Chair challenge 3 October 9 7.25 2.2/6 3 6 [76]
10 Four-Chair challenge 4 October 10 6.49 2.0/6 2 3 [77]
11 Finalists chosen (Top 12) October 29note 1 4.90 1.5/4 3 5 [78]
12 Meet the Top 12 October 31 3.25 0.8/3 5 8 [79]
13 Top 13 perform November 6 4.54 1.5/4 2 (Tie) 4 (Tie) [80]
14 Top 13 Acts Get Another Chance November 7 3.67 1.2/4 4 9 [81]
15 Top 12 perform November 13 5.78 1.7/5 2 4 [82]
16 Live results 1 November 14 5.18 1.3/4 2 (Tie) 3 (Tie) [83]
17 Top 10 perform November 20 5.51 1.7/5 3 4 (Tie) [84]
18 Live results 2 November 21 5.88 1.6/5 2 2 [85]
19 Top 8 perform November 27 4.85 1.2/4 2 [86]
20 Live results 3 November 28 3.75 1.0/3 3 [87]
21 Top 6 perform December 4 5.41 1.4/4 4 [88]
22 Live results 4 December 5 4.93 1.4/4 3 [89]
23 Top 4 perform December 11 4.97 1.4/4
24 Live results 5 December 12 4.90 1.2/4
25 Top 3 perform December 18 5.04 1.3/4 [90]
26 Winner announced December 19 6.22 1.7/5
Notes

^1 Due to the 2013 MLB World Series running past October 28, the first live show of the season aired on October 29 to make room for Wednesday's potential deciding game.[91]

Controversy edit

Voting numbers graphic error edit

Due to graphic errors made in the top 13 round of the live shows regarding voting, all voting results posted in that episode were invalidated, and the contestants sang once more in the show of November 7, with the results revealed on November 13.[92]

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External links edit