The second series of the Greek music talent show The X Factor began airing on ANT1 on 2 October 2009, and was won by Stavros Michalakakos of Limassol (Lemesos), Cyprus on 12 February 2010. The show was presented for a second year by Sakis Rouvas. It was also broadcast abroad via ANT1's international stations. The series featured Eleftheria Eleftheriou and Ivi Adamou who both participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 representing Greece and Cyprus as well as Hovig who represented Cyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017.[1] Also the runner up of the series, Nini Shermadini, was one of the Georgian backing vocalists.
| The X Factor | |
|---|---|
| Series 2 | |
| Hosted by | Sakis Rouvas (live shows) Giorgos Lianos (audition shows) Despina Kampouri (audition shows) |
| Judges | George Levendis Giorgos Theofanous Katerina Gagaki Nikos Mouratidis |
| Winner | Stavros Michalakakos |
| Runner-up | Nini Shermadini |
| Release | |
| Original network | ANT1 |
| Original release | 2 October 2009 – 12 February 2010 |
| Series chronology | |
Selection process
editPublic auditions by aspiring pop singers began in July 2009 and were held in three cities; Athens and Thessaloniki (Greece) and Larnaka (Cyprus). All four series 1 judges, George Levendis, Giorgos Theofanous, Katerina Gagaki and Nikos Mouratidis returned to judge the contestants. Following initial auditions, in September 2009, around 200 acts attended the boot camp. The contestants were initially split into groups of three, and judges gave instant decisions on who would leave based on the group performances, bringing the number of acts down to 150. The judges then cut the number of acts down to 80. These were split into four categories: Boys, Girls, Over 25s and Groups, before the judges discovered which category they would mentor for the rest of the competition. In series 2, the Boys (16–24) are being mentored by Nikos Mouratidis, Giorgos Theofanous has the Girls (16–24), Katerina Gagaki mentors the Over 25s, and George Levendis takes charge of the Groups. At the last stage of boot camp, the 80 acts were reduced to 32. During "Judges' Houses", the 32 acts were reduced to 16, who went on to the live finals, with one act being eliminated each week by a combination of public vote and judges' decision until a winner was found.
Contestants and categories
editThe top 16 acts were confirmed as follows:
Key:
- – Winner
- – Runner-up
- – Third Place
| Category (mentor) | Acts | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Groups (George Levendis) | 360 Moires | 48 Ores | Pale Faces | X-odos |
| Boys 16-24 (Nikos Mouratidis) | Dimitris Maniatis | Nikiforos | Stavros Michalakakos | Hovig Demirjian |
| Over 25s (Katerina Gagaki) | Eleni Alexandri | Polina Christodoulou | Elena Andreou | Harikleia Charitsavvidou |
| Girls 16-24 (Giorgos Theofanous) | Giouli Tassou | Ivi Adamou | Eleftheria Eleftheriou | Nini Shermadini |
Live shows
editThe live shows started on 30 October 2009. The acts are performing every Friday night with the results announced on the same day. As a marked difference from series 1, in this series the televoters have the chance to vote from the beginning of the show.
Results summary
edit- Colour key
| – | Contestant was in the bottom two/three and had to sing again in the final showdown |
| Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8 | Week 10 | Week 11 | Week 12 | Week 13 | Week 14 | Week 15 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stavros Michalakakos | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | 4th | Safe | Winner | |
| Nini Shermadini | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Bottom 2 | Safe | Bottom 2 | Safe | Safe | Runner-Up | |
| 48 Ores | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | 10th | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | 3rd | 3rd | |
| Eleni Alexandri | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | 4th | Eliminated (week 14) | |
| Polina Christodoulou | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Bottom 2 | Safe | Safe | Safe | 5th | Eliminated (week 13) | ||
| Ivi Adamou | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Bottom 2 | Bottom 2 | Eliminated (week 12) | |||
| Hovig Demirjian | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | 9th | Safe | Safe | Bottom 2 | Eliminated (week 11) | ||||
| Nikiforos | Bottom 2 | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Bottom 2 | Eliminated (week 10) | |||||
| Dimitris Maniatis | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Bottom 2 | Eliminated (week 8) | ||||||
| Pale Faces | Safe | Safe | Bottom 2 | Safe | 12th | Safe | 10th | Eliminated (week 7) | |||||||
| 360 Moires | Safe | Safe | Safe | Bottom 2 | Safe | 11th | Eliminated (week 6) | ||||||||
| Eleftheria Eleftheriou | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | 11th | Eliminated (week 5) | |||||||||
| Elena Andreou | Safe | Safe | Safe | Bottom 2 | Eliminated (week 4) | ||||||||||
| Harikleia Charitsavvidou | Safe | Bottom 2 | Bottom 2 | Eliminated (week 3) | |||||||||||
| Giouli Tassou | Safe | Bottom 2 | Eliminated (week 2) | ||||||||||||
| X-odos | Bottom 2 | Eliminated (week 1) | |||||||||||||
| Final showdown | Nikiforos, X-odos |
Giouli Tassou, Harikleia Charitsavvidou |
Harikleia Charitsavvidou, Pale Faces |
360 Moires, Elena Andreou |
Eleftheria Eleftheriou, Pale Faces |
360 Moires, 48 Ores |
Hovig Demirjian, Pale Faces |
Dimitris Maniatis, Polina Christodoulou |
Nikiforos, Nini Shermadini |
Hovig Demirjian, Ivi Adamou |
Ivi Adamou, Nini Shermadini |
Polina Christodoulou, Stavros Michalakakos |
48 Ores, Eleni Alexandri |
No final showdown or judges' vote: results are based on public votes alone | |
| Mouratidis's vote to eliminate | X-odos | Giouli Tassou | Harikleia Charitsavvidou | Elena Andreou | Eleftheria Eleftheriou | 360 Moires | Pale Faces | Polina Christodoulou | Nini Shermadini | Ivi Adamou | Ivi Adamou | Polina Christodoulou | Eleni Alexandri | ||
| Gagaki's vote to eliminate | X-odos | Giouli Tassou | Pale Faces | 360 Moires | Eleftheria Eleftheriou | 360 Moires | Hovig Demirjian | Dimitris Maniatis | Nikiforos | Hovig Demirjian | Nini Shermadini | Stavros Michalakakos | 48 Ores | ||
| Levendis's vote to eliminate | Nikiforos | Giouli Tassou | Harikleia Charitsavvidou | Elena Andreou | Eleftheria Eleftheriou | 360 Moires | Hovig Demirjian | Dimitris Maniatis | Nikiforos | Hovig Demirjian | Ivi Adamou | Polina Christodoulou | Eleni Alexandri | ||
| Theofanous's vote to eliminate | X-odos | Harikleia Charitsavvidou | Harikleia Charitsavvidou | Elena Andreou | Pale Faces | 360 Moires | Pale Faces | Dimitris Maniatis | Nikiforos | Hovig Demirjian | Nini Shermadini | Stavros Michalakakos | 48 Ores | ||
| Eliminated | X-odos 3 of 4 votes Majority |
Giouli Tassou 3 of 4 votes Majority |
Harikleia Charitsavvidou 3 of 4 votes Majority |
Elena Andreou 3 of 4 votes Majority |
Eleftheria Eleftheriou 3 of 4 votes Majority |
360 Moires 4 of 4 votes Majority |
Pale Faces 2 of 4 votes Deadlock |
Dimitris Maniatis 3 of 4 votes Majority |
Nikiforos 3 of 4 votes Majority |
Hovig Demirjian 3 of 4 votes Majority |
Ivi Adamou 3 of 5 votes Majority |
Polina Christodoulou 2 of 4 votes Deadlock |
Eleni Alexandri 2 of 4 votes Deadlock |
Nini Shermadini Runner-Up |
Stavros Michalakakos Winner |
| 48 Ores Third Place | |||||||||||||||
- 1. ^ George's vote counted as two votes and therefore Ivi had 3 votes while Nini had only two.
Week 14 (5 February – Semi-Final)
edit- Theme: Mentor's choice
- Celebrity Performers:Professional Sinnerz "Tha rthw na se brw", "Otan Se Eicha Protodei" / Apostolina Mai "Save me"
| Act | Order | First song (Contestant's choice) | Order | Second song (Contestant's choice) | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eleni Alexandri | 1 | "Ignorance" | 5 | "Den Thelw" | Bottom two | |
| Stavros Michalakakos | 2 | "Ta karabia mou kaiw" | 6 | "Impossible" | Safe | |
| Nini Shermadini | 3 | "To swma pou zhtas" | 7 | "My All" | Safe | |
| 48 Ores | 4 | "Fly Away" | 8 | "Stepping Stone" | Bottom two | |
| Final showdown details | ||||||
| Eleni Alexandri | 1 | "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" | Eliminated | |||
| 48 Ores | 2 | "Stayin' Alive" | Safe | |||
- Judges' votes to eliminate
- Katerina Gagaki: 48 Ores
- George Levendis: Eleni Alexandri
- Nikos Mouratidis: Eleni Alexandri
- Giorgos Theofanous: 48 Ores
The result went to deadlock, and Eleni Alexandri was eliminated from the competition.
Week 15 (12 February – Final)
edit- Themes: Mentor's choice
- Celebrity performers: Oceana (singer) "Cry Cry", "Lala" / Medina (singer) "You and I (Medina song)"/ Vegas (with the finalists of Next Top Model (Greece)) "hrthe i stigmh" and Sakis Rouvas "+ Se Thelo", "Hamogela", "Irthes", "Spase to Hrono", "Ola Giro Sou Girizoun"
| Order | Artist | Mentor | Mentor's Choice | Mentor's Choice | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 48 Ores | George Levendis | "Englishman In New York" | "Wanna Be Starting Something" | Third Place |
| 2 | Nini Shermadini | Giorgos Theofanous | "Woman In Love" | "In Assenza Di Te" | Runner-up |
| 3 | Stavros Michalakakos | Nikos Mouratidis | "Jenny Don't Be Hasty" | "Sweet Disposition" | Winner |
* Even though the November 27 show was supposed to feature the remaining 12 participants, only 10 competitors took part. Two acts, Eleni Alexandri and 360 Moires, did not participate due to H1N1 symptoms. However, the fact that despite their absence they automatically qualified for the next show, coupled with the elimination of a talented participant, sparked controversy.
The presenter, Sakis Rouvas, was obviously shocked and puzzled by Eleftheria's elimination and instantly offered her the opportunity to continue her career with him in his regular performances.[2]
** Eliminated by public vote after the judges forced a tie.
References
edit- ^ "Eurovision Song Contest 2012 Grand Final". eurovision.tv. May 26, 2012. Retrieved 2012-06-06.
- ^ Gossip TV article on Eleftheria Eleftheriou (in Greek)