The X Factor (UK Series 4)

The X Factor (UK Series 4)

The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. The fourth series was broadcast on ITV from 18 August 2007 and was won by Leon Jackson on 15 December 2007, with Rhydian Roberts finishing as the runner-up and Dannii Minogue emerging as the winning mentor. Dermot O'Leary presented the main show on ITV, whilst Fearne Cotton presented spin-off show The Xtra Factor on ITV2. Simon Cowell and Sharon Osbourne returned as judges, whilst two new judges, Brian Friedman and Minogue joined the panel. Friedman replaced original judge Louis Walsh, but Walsh was later reinstated after the London auditions.

This series saw a number of changes to the format, most notably the lowering of the minimum age for participants from 16 to 14 and the increase in the number of categories from three to four, resulting from the division of the 16-24s category into separate male and female categories. The series hit the headlines even before recording began. Some of the controversy centred upon whether 14 and 15-year-olds should be eligible to enter, and also on the high-profile dismissals of judge Louis Walsh and presenter Kate Thornton, who were replaced by choreographer and Grease Is the Word judge Brian Friedman and Big Brother's Little Brother host Dermot O'Leary respectively. Before hiring Freidman and Minogue, Cowell had apparently approached colleague and fellow American Idol judge Randy Jackson, and close friend and The X Factor mentor Sinitta. Friedman, however, was only a judge for the London auditions and Walsh was quickly reinstated, with Friedman becoming the show's choreographer. Jackson's prize as winner was a £1 million recording contract. His first single release was "When You Believe", arranged for the finalists by composer Stephen Schwartz and released to download on 16 December 2007, with the physical format following on 19 December. The single became that year's Christmas Number one in the UK Singles Chart. The series was Osbourne's final series as a judge: she was replaced in the following series by Girls Aloud star Cheryl Cole.