The X Factor: Battle of the Stars
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British television series
Season of television series
The X Factor: Battle of the Stars is a UK celebrity special edition of The X Factor, which screened on ITV, started on 29 May 2006 and lasting for eight consecutive nights. Pop Idol was meant to air in its place as Celebrity Pop Idol but was stopped shortly before transmission, when ITV picked The X Factor over it.
Nine celebrity acts participated, singing live in front of the nation and facing the judges of the previous The X Factor series, Simon Cowell, Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh. Voting revenues were donated to the celebrities’ chosen charities.
Cowell originally axed the format after its first airing, describing as “pointless”, however, a revamped variation of the format aired in 2019, titled The X Factor: Celebrity with Cowell and Walsh reprising their roles as judges and Nicole Scherzinger replacing Osbourne on the panel as well as Dermot O’Leary taking over from Kate Thornton as host.
Contestants[edit]
Key:
- – Winner
- – Runner-up
Live shows[edit]
Results summary[edit]
- Colour key
– | 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) |
Act | Show 1 | Show 2 | Show 3 | Show 4 | Show 5 | Quarter-Final | Semi-Final | Final | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lucy Benjamin | Safe | Safe | Bottom Two | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Winner (day 8) |
|
Matt Stevens | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Runner-up (day 8) |
|
Chris Moyles | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | 3rd | Eliminated (day 7) |
|
The Chefs | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Bottom Two | 4th | Eliminated (day 6) |
||
Nikki Sanderson | Safe | Safe | Safe | Bottom Two | Bottom Two | Eliminated (day 5) |
|||
James & Rebecca | Safe | Safe | Safe | Bottom Two | Eliminated (day 4) |
||||
Michelle Marsh | Safe | Bottom Two | Bottom Two | Eliminated (day 3) |
|||||
Gillian McKeith | Bottom Two | Bottom Two | Eliminated (day 2) |
||||||
Paul & Debbie | Bottom Two | Eliminated (day 1) |
|||||||
Final showdown | McKeith, Paul & Debbie |
McKeith, Marsh |
Benjamin, Marsh |
James & Rebecca, Sanderson |
The Chefs, Sanderson |
No final showdown or judges’ votes; results were based on public votes alone | |||
Walsh’s vote to eliminate (Over 25s) | Paul & Debbie | Marsh | Marsh | James & Rebecca | Sanderson | ||||
Osbourne’s vote to eliminate (16-24s) | Paul & Debbie | McKeith | Benjamin | James & Rebecca | The Chefs | ||||
Cowell’s vote to eliminate (Groups) | McKeith | McKeith | Marsh | Sanderson | Sanderson | ||||
Eliminated | Paul & Debbie 2 of 3 votes Majority |
Gillian McKeith 2 of 3 votes Majority |
Michelle Marsh 2 of 3 votes Majority |
James & Rebecca 2 of 3 votes Majority |
Nikki Sanderson 2 of 3 votes Majority |
The Chefs Public vote to save |
Chris Moyles Public vote to save |
Matt Stevens Public vote to win |
Live show details[edit]
Show 1 (29 May 2006)[edit]
- Judges’ votes to eliminate
- Cowell: Gillian McKeith – backed his own act, Paul & Debbie.
- Walsh: Paul & Debbie – backed his own act, Gillian McKeith.
- Osbourne: Paul & Debbie – based on the final showdown performance.
Show 2 (30 May 2006)[edit]
- Judges’ votes to eliminate
- Walsh: Michelle Marsh – backed his own act, Gillian McKeith.
- Osbourne: Gillian McKeith – backed her own act, Michelle Marsh.
- Cowell: Gillian McKeith – based on the final showdown performance.
Show 3 (31 May 2006)[edit]
- Judges’ votes to eliminate
- Osbourne: Lucy Benjamin – backed her own act, Michelle Marsh.
- Walsh: Michelle Marsh – backed his own act, Lucy Benjamin.
- Cowell: Michelle Marsh – based on the final showdown performance.
Show 4 (1 June 2006)[edit]
- Judges’ votes to eliminate
- Cowell: Nikki Sanderson – backed his own act, James & Rebecca.
- Osbourne: James & Rebecca – backed her own act, Nikki Sanderson
- Walsh: James & Rebecca – based on the final showdown performance.
Show 5 (2 June 2006)[edit]
- Judges’ votes to eliminate
- Osbourne: The Chefs – backed her own act, Nikki Sanderson.
- Cowell: Nikki Sanderson – backed his own act, The Chefs.
- Walsh: Nikki Sanderson – based on the final showdown performance.
Show 6: Quarter-final (3 June 2006)[edit]
For the first time in the series, there was no bottom two. The act with the fewest votes was eliminated.
Show 7: Semi-final (4 June 2006)[edit]
Show 8: Final (5 June 2006)[edit]
All the contestants appeared to perform “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing” and Shayne Ward performed “Stand by Me”.
Axing and revival[edit]
It was reported on 26 August 2006 that Cowell had axed the show, describing it as “pointless” and adding “we are never going to do it again.”[2] However, Cowell later stated in an interview with The Sun on 30 November 2018 that he would consider reviving the show for a second series as a charity special.[3]
The show’s format was reported to return in 2019, along with a separate series for former contestants with a similar format, as the regular series is being put on hiatus due to declining ratings.[4][5] On 7 July 2019, Walsh spoke about the return of the series, stating, “I go to Los Angeles on Tuesday, I go to Simon’s house in Malibu, it’s me Simon and Nicole [Scherzinger] and we’re doing the celebrity one.”[6]
References[edit]
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