The X Factor (British series 2)

Colour key

  Act in team Simon Cowell

  Act in team Sharon Osbourne

  Act in team Louis Walsh

^1 For the only time in The X Factor history, a judge made an unforced decision to eliminate one of their own acts over another judge's act.
^2 Walsh was not required to vote as there was a majority.
^3 In Lawson's 2008 autobiography, Life Starts Now, she revealed she had topped the vote the week before her elimination.
^4 According to voting figures published in the Sunday Mirror, Lawson turned out to have received twice as many public votes as the Conway Sisters. ^5 Some of the voting results were also published in the same edition of the Sunday Mirror, the full voting results of the sixth week, Dorsett turned out to have topped the fifth week, Abraham the first, third and sixth weeks and Ward topped the second week.

• Best bits song: "That's What Friends Are For"

Call Out order

Philip, Andy, Brenda, Journey South, Maria, 4Tune, Shayne, Nicholas, Chenai & The Conway Sisters

Judges' votes to eliminate

• Cowell: Chico Slimani – said that the judges had to pick the real talent over a "joke act", effectively backing his own act, Addictiv Ladies.
• Osbourne: Addictiv Ladies – backed her own act, Chico Slimani, whose performance she said was more exciting.
• Walsh: Addictiv Ladies – said that Slimani had the all-round entertainment package.

• Best bits song: "You Are Not Alone"

Call Out Order

Chico, Shayne, Maria, Journey South, Brenda, Nicholas, The Conway Sisters, Andy & Phillip

Judges' votes to eliminate

• Cowell: Chenai Zinyuku – gave no reason, though effectively backed his own act, 4Tune.
• Walsh: 4Tune – gave no reason, though effectively backed his own act, Chenai Zinyuku.
• Osbourne: 4Tune – said that Zinyuku had a better chance of selling records.

• Best bits song: "Amazed"

Call Out Order

Chenai, Maria, Nicholas, Andy, Shayne, Journey South, Brenda & The Conway Sisters

Judges' votes to eliminate

• Osbourne: Phillip Magee – gave no reason, though effectively backed her own act, Chico Slimani.
• Walsh: Chico Slimani – gave no reason, though effectively backed his own act, Phillip Magee.
• Cowell: Phillip Magee – said that he was gradually getting used to Slimani's "entertainment factor".

• Best bits song: "Wishing on a Star"

Call Out Order

The Conway Sisters, Brenda, Journey South, Maria, Andy, Shayne and Chico

Judges' votes to eliminate

• Osbourne: Nicholas Dorsett – said that Zinyku deserved her place in the competition more.
• Cowell: Chenai Zinyuku – said that Dorsett had not been in the bottom two previously and deserved a second chance.
• Walsh: Chenai Zinyuku – said that it was a tough decision to choose between his own acts.

• Best bits song: "Didn't We Almost Have It All"

Call Out Order

Nicholas, Brenda, Andy, Shayne, Chico & Journey South

Judges' votes to eliminate

• Osbourne: The Conway Sisters – gave no reason, though effectively backed her own act, Maria Lawson.
• Cowell: Maria Lawson – gave no reason, though effectively backed his own act, The Conway Sisters.
• Walsh: Maria Lawson – went with his heart.

Walsh's decision to eliminate Lawson caused controversy when Osbourne accused Walsh of being part of the "Irish Mafia", since both he and The Conway Sisters are Irish. Cowell, though backed his own act to eliminate Lawson, said that if he had to go with his heart, he would have sent his own act home. He felt they would not have a chance to win, and that Lawson had more talent and her elimination would be the first one that the public would disagree with.

• Best bits song: "End of the Road"

Call Out Order

Brenda, Andy, Chico, Journey South & Shayne

Judges' votes to eliminate

• Walsh: The Conway Sisters – gave no reason, though effectively backed his own act, Nicholas Dorsett.
• Cowell: Nicholas Dorsett – backed his own act, The Conway Sisters.
• Osbourne: Nicholas Dorsett – gave no reason.

• Best bits song: "You Raise Me Up"

Call Out Order

Journey South, Shayne, Brenda & Andy

Judges' votes to eliminate

• Osbourne: The Conway Sisters – gave no reason, though effectively backed her own act, Chico Slimani.
• Cowell: The Conway Sisters – said that both acts deserved to be in the bottom two, but felt Slimani had an entertainment value and voted to eliminate The Conway Sisters despite them being his own act. This became the first time ever in the history of the show that a mentor decided to eliminate his own act over the act from another category.
• Walsh was not required to vote as there was already a majority.

• Best bits song: "Hero"

Call Out Order

Shayne, Brenda, Journey South & Andy Lowest Votes: Chico

The quarter-final did not feature a final showdown and instead the act with the fewest public votes, Chico Slimani, was automatically eliminated. After his elimination, Slimani reprised his performance of "Time Warp" as his exit song.

• Best bits song: "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me"

Call Out Order

Shayne, Andy & Journey South Lowest Votes: Brenda

The semi-final did not feature a final showdown and instead the act with the fewest public votes, Brenda Edwards, was automatically eliminated. After her elimination, Edwards reprised her performance of "Without You" as her exit song.

• Themes: No theme; Christmas songs; song of the series; winner's single
• Musical guest: The X Factor rejex ("My Way")

• Finalists Best bits songs: "One", "Greatest Love of All" & "Your Song"

After the final showdown in week 5, controversy was created around the judges' voting process when Walsh cast the deciding vote to keep The Conway Sisters, who are Irish, in the show at the expense of Maria Lawson. Osbourne later claimed that Lawson was the victim of the "Irish Mafia" after Walsh chose to keep The Conway Sisters in. When the voting statistics were revealed at the end of the series, Lawson was revealed to have received twice as many public votes as The Conway Sisters.[3] Osbourne's "Irish Mafia" remark resulted in an investigation by media regulator Ofcom over Osbourne's "Irish Mafia" remark, however on 9 January 2006, Ofcom cleared Osbourne of any wrongdoing.[4]

Rumours later circulated that Walsh had quit the show after being humiliated and "bullied" by Osbourne and Cowell. In addition to the media outrage at his choice to eliminate Lawson, there were verbal assaults. Furthermore, on 19 November, during the sixth live show of the series, Osbourne threw water over Walsh live on air after he asked her, "Are you on drugs? Are you taking Ozzy's drugs?" at the start of her (positive) critique of Journey South's performance of Robbie Williams' 1997 hit single "Angels".[5] Cowell apparently "begged" Walsh to come back and, in the event, Walsh did turn up for the next show; it was stated that he had indeed quit midweek but had been persuaded to return. He explained how he had felt he could not take the pressure any more, and denied that the episode was a publicity stunt.[6]