X Factor (Danish TV series)

X Factor
Created by	Simon Cowell
Presented by	Lise Rønne (1–2, 4–5) Signe Muusmann (3) Signe Molde (6) Eva Harlou (7–8) Sofie Linde Lauridsen (9–)
Judges	Thomas Blachman (1–2, 4–) Lina Rafn (1–2, 7–8) Remee (1–3, 7–) Soulshock (3) Pernille Rosendahl (3–5) Cutfather (4–5) Ida Corr (6) Anne Linnet (6) Mette Lindberg (9–)
Country of origin	Denmark
No. of series	9
No. of episodes	117
Production
Producer(s)	DR1 fremantle Media SYCOtv
Location(s)	Site of the final DR Byen (1–2, 7, 9) Parken Stadium (3–4) Jyske Bank Boxen (5–6, 8)
Running time	60–120 minutes
Release
Original network	DR1
Picture format	16:9
Original release	4 January 2008 – present
Chronology
Related shows	The X Factor
External links
Website

X Factor is the Danish version of The X Factor, a show originating in the United Kingdom and is created by talent show judge and record and TV producer Simon Cowell. There has been nine winners to date: Martin Hoberg Hedegaard, Linda Andrews, Thomas Ring Petersen, Sarah Skaalum Jørgensen, Ida Østergaard Madsen, Chresten Falck Damborg, Anthony Jasmin, Emilie Esther, and Embrace.

The original judging panel consisted of Thomas Blachman, Lina Rafn and Remee. Soulshock and Pernille Rosendahl took the places of Blachman and Rafn in season 3. Blachman returned to the panel in season 4 and Cutfather joined, replacing Soulshock and Remee. Ida Corr and Anne Linnet joined the panel in season 6 as replacements for Rosendahl and Cutfather. Rafn will not return for season 9. The original host was Lise Rønne. Signe Muusmann took Rønne's place in season 3, though Muusmann did not return for season 4 and was replaced by Rønne. Signe Molde replaced Rønne in season 6. From seasons 7 to 8, the show has been hosted by Eva Harlou. Since Season 9, the show was hosted by Sofie Linde Lauridsen who replaced Harlou.

Series overview

To date, nine series have been broadcast, as summarised below.

     Contestant in (or mentor of) "15–24s", "15–23s", "14–22s" or "15–22s" category
     Contestant in (or mentor of) "Over 25s", "Over 24s" or "Over 23s" category
     Contestant in (or mentor of) "Groups" category

Season	Year	Winner	Runner-up	Third place	Winning mentor	Host(s)	Judges	Finale Destination
One	2008	Martin Hoberg Hedegaard	Laura Arensbak Kjaergaard	Heidi Svelmøe Herløw	Remee	Lise Rønne	Thomas Blachman Lina Rafn Remee	DR Byen
Two	2009	Linda Andrews	Alien Beat Club	Mohamed Ali	Lina Rafn
Three	2010	Thomas Ring Petersen	Tine Midtgaard Madsen	Jesper Nohrstedt Boesgaard	Pernille Rosendahl	Signe Muusmann	Remee Soulshock Pernille Rosendahl	Parken
Four	2011	Sarah Skaalum Jørgensen	Annelouise Sørensen	Babou	Cutfather	Lise Rønne	Thomas Blachman Pernille Rosendahl Cutfather
Five	2012	Ida Østergaard Madsen	Line Dissing Karred Larsen	Sveinur	Pernille Rosendahl	Jyske Bank Boxen
Six	2013	Chresten Falck Damborg	Karoline	Wasteland	Ida Corr	Signe Molde	Thomas Blachman Ida Corr Anne Linnet
Seven	2014	Anthony Jasmin	Lucy Mardou	Henriette Haubjerg	Thomas Blachman	Eva Harlou	Thomas Blachman Lina Rafn Remee	DR Byen
Eight	2015	Emilie Esther	Jógvan	Ivarsson, Bang & Neumann	Remee	Jyske Bank Boxen
Nine	2016	Embrace	Reem Hamze	Alex Benson	Remee	Sofie Linde Lauridsen	Thomas Blachman Mette Lindberg Remee	DR Byen
Ten	2017

Judges

Judge	Season 1	Season 2	Season 3	Season 4	Season 5	Season 6	Season 7	Season 8	Season 9	Season 10
Thomas Blachman
Lina Rafn
Remee
Soulshock
Pernille Rosendahl
Cutfather
Ida Corr
Anne Linnet
Mette Lindberg

The judges in seasons 1 and 2 were Thomas Blachman, Lina Rafn and Remee.

Remee continued as a judge in season 3, while Blachman and Rafn resigned and were replaced by Soulshock and Pernille Rosendahl.

Rosendahl continued as a judge in seasons 4 and 5, while Soulshock and Remee were replaced with Blachman, who returned after one season away, and Cutfather.

Blachman continued as a judge in season 6, while Rosendahl and Cutfather decided to leave and were replaced by Ida Corr and Anne Linnet.

Seasons 7 and 8 returned to the original judging panel consisting of Blachman, Rafn and Remee following the departures of Corr and Linnet.

Season 9 Blachman and Remee returned as judges joined by a newcomer Mette Lindberg.

Judges' categories and their finalists

Key:

     – Winning judge/category. Winners are in bold, eliminated contestants in small font.

Season	Thomas Blachman	Lina Rafn	Remee
One	Over 25s Heidi Svelmøe Herløw Lisa Maria Birkekvist Frederik Konradsen	Groups Vocaloca RaiDen Søren & Anne	15-24s Martin Hoberg Hedegaard Laura Arensbak Kjaergaard Basim Moujahid
Two	15-24s Mohamed Ali Sidsel Lieknins Vestertjele Lucas Francis Claver	Over 25s Linda Andrews Claus Seest Claus Lillelund	Groups Alien Beat Club Asian Sensation Tårnhøj
Season	Soulshock	Pernille Rosendahl	Remee
Three	Groups The Fireflies 8210 In-Joy	Over 25s Thomas Ring Petersen Daniel Vengsgaard Peter Søborg	15-24s Tine Midtgaard Madsen Jesper Boesgaard Anna Nygaard
Season	Thomas Blachman	Pernille Rosendahl	Cutfather
Four	Over 25s Annelouise Sørensen Patricia Ercan	Groups Rikke & Trine JR Deevibez	15-24s Sarah Skaalum Jørgensen Babou Rasmus
Five	Groups Nicoline Simone & Jean Michel Tandberg & Østenby Phuong & Rasmus	15-24s Ida Østergaard Madsen Line Morten Benjamin	Over 25s Sveinur Mulila Katrine
Season	Thomas Blachman	Ida Corr	Anne Linnet
Six	15-23s Karoline Amanda Zaina	Over 24s Chresten Falck Damborg Stephanie Jonas	Groups Wasteland Anna & Lusanda Lotus
Season	Thomas Blachman	Lina Rafn	Remee
Seven	Groups Anthony Jasmin ManBand lickety-split	14-22s Henriette Haubjerg Fie Winther Mathias Chrøis	Over 23s Lucy Mardou Pernille Nordtorp Steffen Gilmartin
Eight	Groups Ivarsson, Bang & Neumann Citybois Finn & Rie	Over 23s Jógvan Sophia Nanni	15-22s Emilie Esther Baraa Qadoura Tannaz Hakami
Season	Thomas Blachman	Mette Lindberg	Remee
Nine	Over 23s Andrew Murray Sarah Glerup Jacob Bering	15-22s Reem Hamze Alex Benson Mads Christian	Groups Embrace Clifforth & Hein The Competition

Season 1 (2008)

The judges were Remee, Lina Rafn and Thomas Blachman. Remee had the Under 25s, Rafn was given the Groups and Blachman was in charge of the Over 25s. The winner was Martin Hoberg Hedegaard, mentored by Remee.

Finalists Season 1

     – Winner

     – Runner-up

     – Third place

Categories (mentor)	Acts
15-24s (Remee)	Martin Hoberg Hedegaard	Laura Arensbak Kjaergaard	Basim Moujahid
Over 25s (Blachman)	Lisa Maria Birkekvist	Heidi Svelmøe Herløw	Frederik Konradsen
Groups (Rafn)	RaiDen	Søren & Anne	Vocaloca

Results summary

Colour key:

– Constestant 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)

Contestants' colour key:

– Remee's contestants (15-24s)

– Blachman's contestants (Over 25s)

– Rafn's contestants (Groups)

Contestant		Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	Week 5	Week 6	Week 7	Week 8
	Martin	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	WINNER (Week 8)
	Laura	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	RUNNER-UP (Week 8)
	Heidi	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	3rd	Eliminated (Week 7)
	Basim	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Bottom two	4th	Eliminated (Week 6)
	Vocaloca	Safe	Safe	Bottom two	Bottom two	Bottom two	Eliminated (Week 5)
	Lisa	Bottom two	Safe	Safe	Bottom two	Eliminated (Week 4)
	RaiDen	Safe	Bottom two	Bottom two	Eliminated (Week 3)
	Frederik	Safe	Bottom two	Eliminated (Week 2)
	Søren & Anne	Bottom two	Eliminated (Week 1)
Bottom two		Lisa Søren & Anne	Frederik RaiDen	RaiDen Vocaloca	Lisa Vocaloca	Basim Vocaloca	No bottom two, public votes alone decide who is eliminated.
Remee voted out		Søren & Anne	Frederik	RaiDen	Lisa	Vocaloca
Rafn voted out		Lisa	Frederik	RaiDen	Lisa	Basim
Blachman voted out		Søren & Anne	RaiDen	Vocaloca	Vocaloca	Vocaloca
Eliminated		Søren & Anne 9th	Frederik 8th	RaiDen 7th	Lisa 6th	Vocaloca 5th	Basim 4th	Heidi 3rd	Laura RUNNER-UP
									Martin WINNER

Season 2 (2009)

Remee, Lina Rafn and Thomas Blachman returned as judges. Remee was given the Groups, Rafn was given the Over 25s and Blachman was in charge of the Under 25s. The winner was Linda Andrews, mentored by Rafn.

Season 3 (2010)

Remee returned as a judge, while Thomas Blachman and Lina Rafn were replaced by Soulshock and Pernille Rosendahl. Soulshock was given the Groups, Rosendahl was given the Over 25s and Remee was in charge of the Under 25s. The winner was Thomas Ring Petersen, mentored by Rosendahl. British singer and X Factor UK judge Cheryl Cole performed her number one single "Fight for This Love".

Finalists Season 3

– Winner      – Runner-up      – Third place	Categories (Mentor)	Acts
15-24s (Remee)	Jesper Boesgaard	Tine Midtgaard Madsen	Anna Nygaard
Over 25s (Rosendahl)	Thomas Ring Petersen	Peter Søberg	Daniel Vensgaard
Groups (Soulshock)	8210	The Fireflies	In-Joy

Results summary

Colour key:

– Constestant 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)

Contestants' colour key:

– Remee's contestants (15-24s)

– Rosendahl's contestants (Over 25s)

– Soulshock's contestants (Groups)

Contestant		Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	Week 5	Week 6	Final Week 7
								Round 1	Round 2
	Thomas	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Winner
	Tine	Safe	Safe	Safe	Bottom two	Safe	Safe	Safe	Runner-up
	Jesper	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Bottom two	Safe	3rd	Eliminated (Week 7)
	The Fireflies	Safe	Safe	Bottom two	Safe	Safe	4th	Eliminated (Week 6)
	Anna "Faroe" Nygaard	Safe	Safe	Safe	Safe	Bottom two	Eliminated (Week 5)
	Daniel	Safe	Bottom two	Safe	Bottom two	Eliminated (Week 4)
	8210	Safe	Safe	Bottom two	Eliminated (Week 3)
	In-Joy	Bottom two	Bottom two	Eliminated (Week 2)
	Peter	Bottom two	Eliminated (Week 1)
Bottom two		Peter In-Joy	Daniel In-Joy	8210 The Fireflies	Daniel Tine	Anna Jesper	No bottom two, public votes alone decide who is eliminated.
Remee voted out		Peter	In-Joy	The Fireflies	Daniel	Anna
Rosendahl voted out		In-Joy	In-Joy	8210	Tine	Anna
Soulshock voted out		Peter	Daniel	8210	Daniel	Jesper
Eliminated		Peter 9th	In-Joy 8th	8210 7th	Daniel 6th	Anna 5th	The Fireflies 4th	Jesper 3rd	Tine RUNNER-UP
									Thomas WINNER

Season 4 (2011)

Pernille Rosendahl continued as a judge, while original judge Thomas Blachman and new judge Cutfather replaced Soulshock and Remee on the judging panel. Cutfather was given the Under 25s, Rosendahl was given the Groups and Blachman was given the Over 25s. The winner was Sarah, mentored by Cutfather.

Finalists Season 4

     – Winner

     – Runner-up

     – Third Place

Categories (Mentor)	Acts
15-24s (Cutfather)	Babou	Rasmus	Sarah Skaalum Jørgensen
Over 25s (Blachman)	Annelouise Sørensen	Ercan	Patricia
Groups (Rosendahl)	DeeVibez	JR	Rikke & Trine

Results summary

Colour key

–	Contestant was in the bottom two and had to sing again in the final showdown
–	Contestant received the second most public votes
–	Contestant received the fewest public votes and was immediately eliminated (no final showdown)
–	Contestant received the most public votes
–	Contestant became the runner-up

Contestants' colour key:

– Cutfather's contestants (15-24s)

– Blachman's contestants (Over 25s)

– Rosendahl's contestants (Groups)

Contestant		Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	Week 5	Week 6	Week 7
								1st round	2nd round
	Sarah	4th 11,84%	1st 23,80%	1st 27,10%	3rd 17,52%	1st 25,12%	1st 33,48%	1st 39,52%	Winner 50,20%
	Annelouise	6th 8,97%	6th 7,37%	5th 11,04%	6th 13,92%	4th 18,63%	2nd 26,64%	2nd 34,24%	Runner-Up 49,80%
	Babou	1st 23,05%	2nd 21,28%	3rd 15,17%	4th 16,26%	3rd 20,79%	3rd 22,48%	3rd 26,23%	Eliminated (Week 7)
	Patricia	5th 10,02%	7th 6,90%	2nd 16,12%	2nd 17,78%	2nd 21,27%	4th 17,40%	Eliminated (Week 6)
	Rikke & Trine	7th 8,70%	5th 8,55%	6th 8,51%	1st 20,53%	5th 14,19%	Eliminated (Week 5)
	Rasmus	2nd 15,06%	4th 12,44%	4th 13,73%	5th 14,00%	Eliminated (Week 4)
	JR	3rd 14,13%	3rd 13,73%	7th 8,33%	Eliminated (Week 3)
	Ercan	8th 5,78%	8th 5,93%	Eliminated (Week 2)
	DeeVibez	9th 2,45%	Eliminated (Week 1)
Least votes		Ercan, DeeVibez	Ercan, Patricia	JR, Rikke & Trine	Rasmus, Annelouise	Rikke & Trine, Annelouise	The act that received the fewest public votes was automatically eliminated.
Cutfather voted out		DeeVibez	Patricia	Rikke & Trine	Annelouise	Rikke & Trine
Rosendahl voted out		Ercan	Ercan	JR	Rasmus	Annelouise
Blachman voted out		DeeVibez	Ercan	JR	Rasmus	Rikke & Trine
Eliminated		DeeVibez 9th	Ercan 8th	JR 7th	Rasmus 6th	Rikke & Trine 5th	Patricia 4th	Babou 3rd	Annelouise Runner-Up
									Sarah Winner

Season 5 (2012)

Thomas Blachman, Pernille Rosendahl and Cutfather returned for their respective fourth, third and second seasons. Cutfather was given the Over 25s, Rosendahl was given the Under 25s and Blachman was in charge of the Groups. The winner was Ida Østergaard Madsen, mentored by Rosendahl.

For the first (and currently only) time, a judge made an unforced decision to eliminate their own act.^[1]

Season 6 (2013)

Thomas Blachman returned to the judging panel, while Pernille Rosendahl and Cutfather were replaced by new judges Ida Corr and Anne Linnet. Linnet was given the Groups, Corr was given the Over 24s and Blachman was in charge of the Under 24s. The winner was Chresten Falck Damborg, mentored by Corr.

Season 7 (2014)

The seventh season returned to the original judging panel consisting of Thomas Blachman, Lina Rafn and Remee following the departures of Ida Corr and Anne Linnet. Remee had the Over 23s, Rafn had the Under 23s and Blachman was in charge of the Groups. The winners were Anthony Jasmin, mentored by Blachman.

Season 8 (2015)

Thomas Blachman, Remee and Lina Rafn returned to the judging panel for their respective seventh, fifth and fourth seasons. Remee was given the 15-22s, Rafn was given the Over 23s and Blachman was given the Groups. Superbootcamp was replaced by 5 Chair Challenge. The winner was Emilie Esther, mentored by Remee.

Season 9 (2016)

Thomas Blachman and Remee will return as judges for season 9 along with a new judge Mette Lindberg who will replace Lina Rafn. Rafn said in the final of season 8 that she did not know if she would continue as a judge.^[2] Eva Harlou announced on 26 June 2015 that she will not return to host.^[3] Sofie Linde Lauridsen will be the new host.^[4] Rafn announced on 15 July 2015 that she would not be returning as a judge.^[5] The winners were Embrace mentored by Remee.

Season 10 (2017)

Thomas Blachman, Mette Lindberg and Remee Will all return for Season 10 and Sofie Linde will also return as host On 31 March 2016 it was announced that X Factor will return for season 10 in 2017.^[6]

Controversy

The Danish X Factor has been criticised by music expert and consultant for The Danish Musicians' Association (Dansk Musiker Forbund) Mikael Højris, who claims that the contracts for participation in the show are unfair on participants and almost amount to serfdom to DR1 (the channel airing the show) stating that clauses in the contracts forbid the participants - whether they pass the first round or not - from performing or participating in any other musical event for three months. He also criticises that participants are obliged to travel at their own expense.^[7]

Bente Boserup, leader of BørneTelefonen, criticized the Danish X Factor for exposing children under 18 to high pressure and stress, after contestants Baraa Qadoura and Tannaz Hakami broke down in tears during the fourth live show of season 8. This was supported by psychologist John Halse, as well as contestant Finn Irs, who protested by not showing up to the all-stars song during the final live show. Irs stated that the producers were more interested in their contestants showing their emotions, rather than making a musical show. Jan Lagermand Lundme, the contributing editor on DR1, stated that all contestants were checked by a psychologist to see if they were fit to handle the pressure.^[8]

References

1. http://www.dr.dk/DR1/xfactor/Artikler/2012/liveshow4.htm
2. http://www.bt.dk/x-factor/lina-rafn-jeg-ved-ikke-om-jeg-fortsaetter-i-x-factor
3. http://www.dr.dk/event/xfactor/eva-harlou-stopper-som-x-factor-vaert
4. Bak, Lene. "Sofie Linde bliver ny X Factor-vært". Billed Bladet (in Danish). Aller. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
5. Christiansen, Kasper. "Lina Rafn stopper som X Factor-dommer". DR.dk (in Danish). DR. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
6. http://www.dr.dk/event/xfactor/nyheder/alle-gode-gange-ti-x-factor-vender-tilbage-i-2017
7. Berlingske Tidende: DR beskyldes for at stavnsbinde unge (Danish)
8. Politiken: Børneeksperter: Fjern alle under 18 år fra X Factor. (Danish)

External links

• (Danish) X Factor website