Andrea Faustini (born 17 June 1994) is an Italian singer. He is best known for his role as a contestant on the eleventh series of The X Factor in 2014.[1] In 2015, Faustini released his debut studio album, Kelly, which peaked at number 14 on the UK Albums Chart.

Andrea Faustini
Born (1994-06-17) 17 June 1994 (age 30)
Rome, Italy
Genres
OccupationSinger
Years active2009–present
LabelsRCA Records

Career

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2008: Ti lascio una canzone

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In 2008, at the age of 13, Faustini appeared on the Italian show Ti Lascio Una Canzone (Leaving You a Song).[2]

2012: First single

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On January that year, Andrea published "Per me e per te" written by Mariella Nava. Produced by Cantieri Sonori. The song and music videoclip are released in Italian.[3]

2014: The X Factor

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Faustini, who sang The Jackson 5's "Who's Lovin' You" for his first audition was well received by the four judges present that day. Simon Cowell even commented that Faustini "could be really special" in the competition, before receiving a "yes" from all of the judges. Faustini was part of the 114 other acts who successfully got through the Arena Auditions at the SSE Arena in London that year. Together with other male contestants up to the ages of 25, he was later placed into the "Boys" category, mentored by Mel B. Faustini got through the "six-chair challenge" during bootcamp, replacing Hayden Leeman, who had initially been given a seat for his rendition of Joan Jett's "I Love Rock 'n' Roll".[4] Faustini's performance of Whitney Houston's "I Didn't Know My Own Strength" during bootcamp moved judges Mel B and Cheryl Fernandez-Versini to tears[5] as well as earned him praises from Louis Walsh and Cowell. For judges' houses, Mel B brought the "Boys" category to Cancún[6] where Faustini performed Jennifer Hudson's "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" for her and fellow Spice Girls member Emma Bunton. Faustini was one of the four finalists selected to perform at the live shows which began on 11 October 2014.[7]

Faustini performed Michael Jackson's "Earth Song" for the first live show, and quickly became the bookies' favourite to win the show. He was in the bottom two in week 7 with Stevi Ritchie and was saved after Mel B, Fernandez-Versini and Walsh voted to send Faustini through to the quarter-final and Cowell voted to send Ritchie through to the quarter-final. However voting statistics revealed that Ritchie received more votes than Faustini meaning if Walsh sent the result to deadlock, Ritchie would've advanced to the quarter-final and Faustini would've been eliminated. Faustini was once again in the Final Showdown in the semi-final with Lauren Platt, but was saved again when Mel B, Walsh and Cowell voted to send Faustini through to the final with only Fernandez-Versini voting to send Platt through to the final. However, once again, voting statistics revealed that Faustini received the fewest public votes meaning if there was not a Final Showdown, or if Cowell had sent the result to deadlock, Platt would've advanced to the final and Faustini would've been eliminated. Faustini ended up being the last contestant eliminated, behind runner-up Fleur East and winner Ben Haenow.[8]

The X Factor performances and results (2014)
Stage Song Theme Result
Room audition "Who's Lovin' You" Free choice Through to arena
Arena audition "Try a Little Tenderness" Free choice Through to bootcamp
Six Chair Challenge (Bootcamp) "I Didn't Know My Own Strength" Free choice Through to Judges' houses
Judges' houses "And I Am Telling You" Free choice Through to Live Shows
Live week 1 "Earth Song" Number ones Safe (1st)
Live week 2 "One Moment in Time" 80's Night Safe (1st)
Live week 3 "Listen" Saturday Night at the Movies Safe (1st)
Live week 4 "Relight My Fire" Fright Night (Halloween) Safe (2nd)
Live week 5 "Somebody to Love" Michael Jackson vs. Queen Safe (2nd)
Live week 6 "Summertime" Big Band Safe (4th)
Live week 7 "I Have Nothing" Whitney Houston vs. Elton John Bottom two (6th)
"Stop!" Free choice Safe (3/4 majority vote)
Quarter-Final "Chandelier" Song chosen by Sam Smith Safe (2nd)
"Hero" Song chosen by the public
Semi-Final "O Holy Night" Christmas Songs Bottom two (4th)
"Wrecking Ball" Song to take you to the final
"Who You Are" Free choice Safe (3/4 majority vote)
Final "Feeling Good" Free choice Third Place (22.2%)
"Ghost" Celebrity Duet (with Ella Henderson)

2015: Kelly

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22 February 2015 it was announced that Faustini had signed a record deal with RCA Records and would be going to Los Angeles and Tamworth to record his debut album at Ventura Park Matatlan, due for release later in 2015[9] His debut album Kelly was released on 17 July 2015.[10]

Mister Felicitá

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Andrea takes part in the original soundtrack written by Umberto Gary Scipione (music and lyrics), singing the two original songs, "Our nights" and "Rhapsody",[11] for the Italian film "Mister Felicità".

Discography

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Albums

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Title Album details Peak chart positions
UK
[12]
SCO
[13]
IRE
[14]
Kelly 14 29 89

Singles

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Title Year Peak chart positions Album
IT UK SCO IRE
"Per Me e Per Te" 2012 Non-album single
"Give a Little Love" 2015 Kelly

Soundtracks

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  • "Our nights" for Mister Felicità (2017)
  • "Rhapsody" for the film Mister Felicità (2017)

Music videoclips

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  • Per me e per te
  • Give a little love

References

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  1. ^ "mirror". mirror.co.uk. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
  2. ^ "ANDREA FAUSTINI / Il cantante ospite a Ti Lascio una Canzone (Oggi, sabato 21 novembre 2015)".
  3. ^ "Andrea Faustini - Music before 2014". Archived from the original on 21 March 2017. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
  4. ^ "mirror". mirror.co.uk. 27 September 2014. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
  5. ^ "huffingtonpost.co.uk". huffingtonpost.co.uk. 28 September 2014. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
  6. ^ "metro.co.uk". metro.co.uk. 4 October 2014. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
  7. ^ "andrea-faustini.com". andrea-faustini.com. Archived from the original on 15 January 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
  8. ^ Kara O'Neill (13 December 2014). "X Factor final: Andrea Faustini is ELIMINATED and thanks Mel B for being 'an amazing friend'". mirror.
  9. ^ Ingham, James (22 February 2015). "X Factor finalist Andrea Faustini signs record deal in LA". Daily Star. Northern & Shell. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  10. ^ Lee, Ben (2 June 2015). "X Factor's Andrea Faustini announces debut album Kelly for July". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
  11. ^ [1][permanent dead link]
  12. ^ "Andrea Faustini> UK Charts". Official Charts Company.
  13. ^ "Chart Archive > 24 July 2015 – 30 July 2015". Official Charts Company.
  14. ^ "Chart Archive > 23 July 2015". Irish Recorded Music Association. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 7 September 2015.