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The third season premiered on Fox on September 11, 2013. The original show is in the United Kingdom. Simon Cowell and Demi Lovato returned as judges for their respective third and second season. Kelly Rowland and Paulina Rubio joined Cowell and Lovato on the panel as replacements for former judges, Britney Spears and LA Reid. The show is hosted by America's Best Dance Crew host Mario Lopez. 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 bootcamp and judges' houses rounds of the competition which have been replaced with a new middle section, more reminiscent of the live shows.

On December 18, 2013 Demi Lovato announced her departure from the show.

This season was won by the indie folk-pop duo Alex & Sierra.

This season was also the last season for this show as it was officially canceled on February 7, 2014.

This season was preceded by the first and second seasons in 2011 and 2012 respectively.

Judges and hosts[]

DemiLovatoPink

Demi Lovato


Moses

Simon Cowell


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Mario Lopez

On October 22, 2012, it was announced that The X Factor would be returning for a third season with Simon Cowell confirmed to be returning. On December 14, L.A. Reid announced that he would not be returning as a judge for a third season, as he wished to refocus his work on his record company, Epic Records. Britney Spears stated her intentions on returning to the show for its third season, but it was confirmed on January 11, 2013, that she would not be returning, in order to focus on her music career. 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." However, on March 28, 2013, it was confirmed that Lovato will return. On April 22, it was confirmed by Fox that Mario Lopez would be returning to host season three, but Khloé Kardashian was not asked to return as co-host for a second season. Cowell confirmed via his Twitter account that the full judging panel will be announced on May 20, 2013, with auditions beginning the next day. On May 20, 2013, the day before auditions began, Fox officially confirmed that former Destiny's Child member and The X Factor UK judge Kelly Rowland, and Mexican singer and former La Voz... México judge Paulina Rubio had been hired to replace Spears and Reid.

Paulina Rubio Biografia

Paulina Rubio


Kelly Rowland Booty

Kelly Rowland

Auditions[]

City Auditions dates Venue
Producers Judges
Los Angeles, California March 6, 2013 July 10–12, 2013 Galen Center
New Orleans, Louisiana April 14, 2013 June 11–12, 2013 Lakefront Arena
Charleston, South Carolina March 19, 2013 May 21–22, 2013 North Charleston Coliseum
Long Island, New York April 25, 2013 June 19–21, 2013 Nassau Coliseum
Denver, Colorado May 14, 2013 June 30 – July 2, 2013 Denver Coliseum

Final 40[]

On September 26, 2013, the top forty acts, ten for each category, were revealed as follows;

Summary of Final 40 contestants
Judge Category Contestants eliminated
Lovato Girls Primrose Martin, Rylie Brown, Jamie Pineda, Bree Randall, Simone Torres, Ashly Williams
Rubio Boys Isaiah Alston, Al Calderon, Chase Goehring, Stone Martin, Isaac Tauaefa, Timmy Thames
Rowland Over 25s Jeff Brinkman, Victoria Carriger, Allison Davis, Kristine Mirelle, Lorie Moore, Denny Smith
Cowell Groups Forever in Your Mind, Girls United, GLAMOUR, Good News, WiLD THiNGZ, Yellow House Canyon

Four-chair challenge[]

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". 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.

This season, the categories will not follow the age-based format from Season Two but rather the format from Season One: Boys, Girls, Over 25s and Groups. Rowland will mentor Over 25s, Lovato the Girls, Rubio the Boys, and for the second season in a row, Simon Cowell will mentor the Groups. The Four-chair challenge episodes were broadcast on 2 two-hour Wednesdays and 2 one-hour Thursdays shows on October 2,3, 9 and 10.

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 four of their own category
Contestants performances on the four-chair challenge
Episode Category (mentor) Act Order Song 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 "New Girl in Town" Put in chair 3 Tim Olstad
Tim Olstad N/A N/A (reinstated by mentor)* 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

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

Finalists[]

The final 16 finalists were confirmed as follows;

Key:

     – Winner
     – Runner-up
     – Third place
Category (mentor) Acts
Boys (Rubio) Carlos Guevara Josh Levi Carlito Olivero Tim Olstad
Girls (Lovato) Khaya Cohen Danie Geimer Rion Paige Ellona Santiago
Over 25s (Rowland) Jeff Gutt James Kenney Lillie McCloud Rachel Potter
Groups (Cowell) Alex & Sierra Restless Road RoXxy Montana Sweet Suspense

Live shows[]

Results summary[]

Color key
     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)
Weekly results per act
Contestant Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Quarter-Final Semi-Final Final
Wednesday Vote Thursday Vote First Vote Second Vote
Alex & Sierra Saved N/A 1st 1st 2nd 1st 1st 1st 1st 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 Eliminated 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 N/A N/A N/A 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 N/A* 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
  • There was no public vote in the first week and therefore no final showdown. Each judge was required to reduce their number of acts to three.
  • Levi returned to the competition in week 2 because the judges felt that he "deserves a second shot".
  • Owing to graphics error in which incorrect voting numbers were displayed on screen during the performance recap, there was no elimination in week 2. All acts performed again on Thursday night in week 2 and a public re-vote was conducted. Carlos Guevara was eliminated on Wednesday night in week 3 after receiving the least amount of votes in week 2.
  • In Week 4, Cowell did not need to vote as there was already a majority. However, he stated that he would have voted to eliminate Tim Olstad.

Live show details[]

Week 1 (October 29)[]

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

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

Judges' decisions to eliminate[2]
  • 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)[]

November 6
  • Theme: Motown songs (billed as "Motown Night")[3]
  • Group performance: "ABC" / "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours" / "Reach Out I'll Be There" / "Dancing in the Street"Template:Cn

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.[4]

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

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.[5]

Selena Gomez was going to perform her single "Slow Down" but due to graphics issues, she performed on the second night in week 3.Template:Cn

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

Week 3 (November 13/14)[]

  • Theme: Songs from the 1980s (billed as "80s Night")[6]
  • Group performance: "Perfect Day"[7]
  • Musical guests: Selena Gomez ("Slow Down")[8] and Fifth Harmony ("Me & My Girls")[9]

Starting from week three, two acts will be eliminated from each results show until week six. The three acts with the fewest public votes will be announced and then the act with the fewest votes will be automatically eliminated. The remaining two acts will then perform in the final showdown and face the judges' votes.Template:Cn 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.[10] He would have performed "Mad World".[10]

Contestants performances on the third live show
Act Order Song[10] Result[7]
Carlos Guevara N/A N/A (already eliminated) Eliminated
Lillie McCloud 1 "Ain't Nobody" Safe
Carlito Olivero 2 "Rhythm Is Gonna Get You" Safe
Rion Paige 3 "We Belong" Safe
Sweet Suspense 4 "Mickey" Eliminated
Tim Olstad 5 "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" Safe
Khaya Cohen 6 "Borderline" Bottom three
Restless Road 7 "Footloose" Safe
Rachel Potter 8 "Alone" Bottom three
Ellona Santiago 9 "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" Safe
Josh Levi 10 "Straight Up" Safe
Jeff Gutt 11 "(I Just) Died in Your Arms" Safe
Alex & Sierra 12 "Addicted to Love" Safe
Final showdown details[7]
Khaya Cohen 1 "Don't Give Up on Me" Safe
Rachel Potter 2 "From This Moment On" Eliminated
Judges' votes to eliminate[7]
  • Rowland: Khaya Cohen – based on the final showdown performances, effectively backing her own act, Rachel Potter
  • Rubio: Rachel Potter – gave no reason
  • Lovato: Rachel Potter – gave no reason, though effectively backed her own act, Khaya Cohen
  • Cowell: Rachel Potter – felt Cohen has more potential in the competition

Week 4 (November 20/21)[]

  • Theme: Songs by British artists (billed as "British Invasion Night")[11]
  • Musical guests: One Direction ("Story of My Life")[12]
Contestants performances on the fourth live show
Act Order Song Result
Rion Paige TBA
Ellona Santiago TBA
Khaya Cohen TBA
Carlito Olivero TBA
Josh Levi TBA
Tim Olstad TBA
Jeff Gutt TBA
Lillie McCloud TBA
Restless Road TBA
Alex & Sierra TBA
Final showdown details
1
2

-->

Notable past contestants[]

  • Ashly Williams, who was eliminated in the 4-Chair Challenge, later tried out for the BET show Chasing Destiny, created by former judge Kelly Rowland, in 2016 and won a spot in an all-female singing group called June's Diary. The group's first single, "All of Us", was released on June 6, 2016 via Epic Records. They released their second single, "L.A.N.C.E.", on June 24, 2016.

Team Rankings[]

1.Groups

Moses

The Groups were mentored by Simon Cowell

1007 xf s3 top16 904x508 alexsierra-contestant wall Restless Road Post-1109-1381625972 1007 xf s3 top16 904x508 Roxxy Montana2-contestant wall
Alex & Sierra (22) - 1/16: Final Restless Road (18-19) - 4/16: Semi-Final Sweet Suspense (14-17) - 12/16: Week 3 RoXxy Montana (20-22) - 14/16: Week 1

2.Boys

Paulina Rubio Biografia

The Boys were mentored by Paulina Rubio

Carlito-olivero XFactor 33-Josh-metal 0934.rc-Copy Timolstadxfactor Post-1109-1382913900
Carlito Olivero (24) - 3/16: Final Josh Levi (15) - 7/16: Week 5 Tim Olstad (25) - 9/16: Week 4 Carlos Guevara (16) - 13/16: Week 2

3.Over 25s

Kelly Rowland Booty

The Over 25s were mentored by Kelly Rowland

Top-13-jeff-gutt 15-Top13-BW-portraits-480x270 retina Rachel Potter-Dress-Sunlit-Mar2012a James-kenney
Jeff Gutt (37) - 2/16: Final Lillie McCloud (55) - 8/16: Week 5 Rachel Potter (29) - 11/16: Week 3 James Kenney (35) - 15/16: Week 1

4.Girls

DemiLovatoPink

The Girls were mentored by Demi Lovato

27-Top13-BW-portraits-480x270 retina Ellona-Santiago 25-bts-liveshows-week2-1170x658-480x270 retina Danie+Geimer
Rion Paige (13) - 5/16: Quarter-Final Ellona Santiago (17) - 6/16: Quarter-Final Khaya Cohen (16) - 10/16: Week 4 Danie Geimer (15) - 16/16: Week 1
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