The X Factor Philippines is a Philippine music competition to find a new singing talent. The first season began on June 23, 2012.^[1] KC Concepcion is the host of the show,^[2][3] while the judging panel consist of Charice, Gary Valenciano, Pilita Corrales, and Martin Nievera.^[1]

The show is mainly based on the UK format. The competition consists of auditions, in front of the shows producers and then the judges with a live audience. It is then followed by the bootcamp, judges' home visit and then through the live finals, the winner of which receives a 4 million peso recording contract with Star Records.^[4]

The finals were held on October 7, 2012, and aired live from the PAGCOR Grand Theater in Parañaque, Metro Manila, with KZ Tandingan from Charice's category declared as the winner of the competition.^[5][6] On the other hand, Martin Nievera's Gabriel Maturan of his Boys category came in as runner-up, while Daddy's Home of Gary Valenciano's Group category came in third place.^[7]

The show ended on October 14, 2012, airing two special episodes after the finals.

Selection process

Auditions

Dagupan

Tanauan

Bacolod

Cebu City

Davao

Baguio

Cagayan de Oro

Naga

Iloilo City

Quezon City

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Cities where the major auditions were held.

Auditions started in October 2011. Initial auditions are held in cities, provinces and towns in the Philippines like Laoag, Vigan, La Union, Baguio, Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Tarlac, Zambales, Manila, Cavite, Occidental Mindoro, Palawan, Quezon, Albay, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Masbate, Sorsogon, Marinduque, Aklan, Capiz, Iloilo, Negros Oriental, Leyte, Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, Bukidnon, Misamis Occidental, General Santos, Koronadal, Lanao del Norte, Maguindanao, Agusan del Norte and Surigao del Norte.^[4][8]

Major auditions were held in key cities from different parts of the country such as Baguio, Dagupan, Batangas, Quezon City, Naga, Iloilo, Bacolod, Cebu, Cagayan de Oro and Davao. More than 20,000 people auditioned for the first season of The X Factor Philippines.^[9]

The auditions were aired from June 23, 2012 until July 15, 2012. Footage from the Visayas auditions were first aired during the first week, followed by the Luzon auditions, the NCR auditions, and lastly, the Mindanao auditions.

Bootcamp

The bootcamp stage was held at the PAGCOR Grand Theater in Parañaque, Metro Manila. The bootcamp stage was broadcast in two episodes on July 21 and 22. The first day of bootcamp saw the judges split the 172 hopeful acts into four groups, namely: the Boys (solo male acts from ages 16–25 yrs old), the Girls (solo female acts from ages 16–25 yrs old), the Over 25s (solo acts from ages 26 yrs old and above), and the Groups.^[10] All of the groups received vocal coaching from resident mentors, and each later performed one song. The Boys sang "Tuwing Umuulan at Kapiling Ka" by Basil Valdez; the Girls with "Without You" by David Guetta; the Over 25s with "It's My Life" by Bon Jovi; and the Groups with "Edge of Glory" by Lady Gaga. At the end of the day, the number of acts was cut to 68. On the second day, acts were given dance coaching by resident dance coach, Joane Laygo. At noon, for the dance challenge, the judges announced that no one will be eliminated. The acts were given the last challenge, of which they will sing a song they personally picked. At the end of the day, 20 acts made it to the next round, while one group was formed, Lucky Girls, made up of 6 solo female acts that didn't make it through namely: Alyssa Quijano, Auriette Divina, Monique Lualhati, Katrina Velarde, Jhelsea Flores and Ashley Campbell.^[11][12]

Judges' home visit

The judges' home visit was the last stage of the selection process. The episodes were aired on July 28 and 29. During this stage, it was revealed that Nievera would mentor the Boys, Charice would mentor the Girls, Corrales would mentor the Over 25s, and Valenciano would mentor the Groups. The final selection process was aided by a guest judge per category. Journey lead vocalist Arnel Pineda joined Nievera at Club Balai Isabel in Batangas, former semi-finalist Cheesa from the second season of the US version of The Voice joined Charice at The Bellevue Hotel in Alabang, Muntinlupa, Rico J. Puno joined Corrales in Manila, and Jed Madela joined Valenciano at Tagaytay Highlands in Tagaytay. At judges' houses each act performed a song they personally picked and performed it in front of their mentor and his/her guest judge.^[13]

The eight acts failed to make the Top 12 and were eliminated:

• Boys: Anton Paolo Antenorcruz, Michael Pangilinan
• Girls: Abigail Mendoza, Angelica Prado
• Over 25s: Paulo Castro, Cristine Ledesma
• Groups: 5th Avids, Sweet Bliss

Contestants

The top 12 contestants were confirmed as follows;^[14]

Key:

  – Winner

  – Runner-up

  – Third place

  – Eliminated in the Live Shows

Live shows

The live shows began on August 4, 2012 in PAGCOR Grand Theater in Parañaque, Metro Manila. Each week, the top acts performances took place on Saturday nights, while the results are announced during Sunday nights. Each week has a different set of theme. Often during results nights, guests are invited live to perform; while the remaining acts during results nights also feature group performances.

Sam Milby performed during the first results night, with special numbers from Gary Valenciano's children Paolo and Kiana Valenciano, and former X Factor auditionees' West Track Boys and Rodrigo Lozon.^[15] During the end of the second performance night, it was announced that Xian Lim, Kean Cipriano, and Tutti Caringal would perform in the second results night. However, during the airing of the results night, the three did not appear for due to unknown reasons. Jovit Baldivino and Yeng Constantino performed during the third results night and gave a special birthday tribute to Pilita Corrales;^[16] while Star Power's grand champion, Angeline Quinto, performed on the fourth results night.^[17] Pepe Smith, the living legend of Pinoy rock, performed on the fifth results night.^[18] While Dingdong Avanzado, Gino Padilla, and Randy Santiago, three of the most famous OPM 80s icons, performed on the sixth results night. In the seventh performance night, L.A. Dancers, an American dance group, made a special dance number from the song of Rihanna's "Where Have You Been" during the start of the show. During the seventh results night, pinoy band vocalists' Kean Cipriano, Ney Dimaculangan, and Tutti Caringal joined the remaining 6 acts in a tribute production number to pinoy rock band icons, the Eraserheads and Rivermaya. Richard Poon, Duncan Ramos, and Aiza Seguerra performed an opening number during the eighth performance night; while Khalil Ramos and Daniel Padilla, two of the main casts of the Princess and I, serenade the audiences during the eighth results night. On the ninth performance night, Toni Gonzaga performed an opening number, and was followed by Pilipinas Got Talent's El Gamma Penumbra who performed a shadow theatrical routine midway during the show.^[19]

The Live finals were held on October 6 & 7, 2012, at the PAGCOR Grand Theater in Parañaque, Metro Manila.^[5] In the final performance night, Lani Misalucha graced and opened the show singing her own rendition of Dynamite, a song popularized by Taio Cruz. Vina Morales, winner of Ikon ASEAN 2007, performed a medley of songs of Jennifer Lopez midway during the show. While Nina, Rico J. Puno, and Bamboo Mañalac had a duet with Daddy's Home, KZ Tandingan, and Gabriel Maturan respectively.^[20]

In the final results night, KC Concepcion opened the show, singing Nicole Scherzinger's song called Wet. ASAP's Champions' Erik Santos, Jed Madela, Jovit Baldivino, and Angeline Quinto performed a special number with the Top 3 acts. Pooh, April Boy Regino, and K Brosas had a special song number with former acts, Kedebon Colim, and Modesto Taran, and former auditionee Osang respectively. Yeng Constantino performed a number with the Top 5 acts. Also, The X Factor Philippines Top 12 acts sang "Bro, Ikaw ang Star ng Pasko", the Christmas Station ID theme song of ABS-CBN in 2009 and part of the recently released The X Factor Philippines album in iTunes Philippines.^[21] Also, the mentor-judges' Charice, Gary Valenciano, Martin Nievera, and Pilita Corrales performed a special number singing one of their famous songs.^[6]

Results summary

Color key

Notes

Live show details

Week 1 (August 4 & 5)

• Theme: Songs from foreign and local movies^[14]
• Celebrity performer: Sam Milby
• Special guest performers: "Sana Maulit Muli" (performed by Paolo and Kiana Valenciano); "Hataw Na" and "Di Bale Nalang" (performed by West Track Boys & Rodrigo Lozon) - special tribute to Gary Valenciano
• Group performance: "Call Me Maybe" with Sam Milby

Lucky Girls' new name 'A.K.A. Jam' took effect from week 1.