The X Factor (American TV series) Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids The X Factor

Genre	Reality television
Created by	Simon Cowell
Creative director(s)	Brian Friedman Jamie King
Presented by	Mario Lopez Khloé Kardashian Steve Jones
Judges	Simon Cowell L.A. Reid Paula Abdul Nicole Scherzinger Britney Spears Demi Lovato Kelly Rowland Paulina Rubio
Composer(s)	Simon Cowell
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	80
Production
Executive producer(s)	Simon Cowell (uncredited) Cecile Frot-Coutaz Siobhan Greene Richard Holloway Andrew Llinares Rob Wade
Production location(s)	Various (auditions) CBS Television City (live shows)
Running time	60–150 minutes
Production company(s)	FremantleMedia North America Syco Entertainment
Distributor	FremantleMedia Enterprises
Release
Original network	Fox
Picture format	720p ( HDTV)
Original release	September 21, 2011 (2011-09-21) – December 19, 2013 (2013-12-19)
Chronology
Related shows	The X Factor

The X Factor was an American reality television music competition show created by Simon Cowell and produced by FremantleMedia North America and SYCOtv, a partnership between Cowell and Sony Music Entertainment, which aired on Fox. Based on the original UK show, and an addition to The X Factor franchise, the series found new singing talent (solo artists and groups ages 12 and over), drawn from public auditions, and they competed against each other for votes. The winner is determined by the show's viewers via telephone, the Internet, and SMS text voting, and is awarded a recording contract with Cowell's record label Syco Music, worth $5 million in seasons one and two, and $1 million in season three. America voted for the following winners: Melanie Amaro, Tate Stevens, and Alex & Sierra, respectively.

The show began airing on September 21, 2011, and aired annually from September through December. The series employs a panel of judges who critique the contestants' performances. Each contestant is assigned to one of four categories. The group acts are one category and the others are based on age or gender. For example, in season 1 the categories were girls, boys, groups, and over 30s. Each judge was assigned to one of the categories, and acted as a mentor to the contestants in his or her category, helping with song choices, styling, and staging, while also judging contestants from the other categories after each of the live performances. They competed with each other to try to get one of the contestants in their category to win the competition, thus making them the winning judge.

The most successful act to emerge from the series is Fifth Harmony, with all members launching solo careers.

The original judging panel consisted of Cowell, Paula Abdul, Cheryl Cole, and L.A. Reid, with Nicole Scherzinger and Steve Jones as co-hosts. Scherzinger later replaced Cole on the panel after two audition sites. Demi Lovato and Britney Spears joined the panel in the second season as replacements for Abdul and Scherzinger, while Khloé Kardashian and Mario Lopez replaced Jones as co-hosts. Reid and Spears did not return for the third season and were replaced by Kelly Rowland and Paulina Rubio, while Lopez became sole host after Kardashian was not asked to come back.