List of The X Factor finalists (U.S. season 1)

The first season of The X Factor was being broadcast on Fox. The series started airing on September 21, 2011, with the live shows starting on October 25, 2011 and ended on December 22, 2011, with Melanie Amaro winning.

The "Boys" category was mentored by L.A. Reid. Contestants in this category were males aged 12 to 29. The eight candidates were Skyelor Anderson, Brian Bradley, Marcus Canty, Tim Cifers, Brennin Hunt, Phillip Lomax, Chris Rene and Nick Voss. Reid chose the following:

Christopher "Chris" Rene (born December 25, 1982) is an American singer-songwriter, musician and producer from Santa Cruz, California. He had been in a band called Diversion and also had a solo career, including the album Soul'd Out. He finished third overall in the competition, behind winner Melanie Amaro and runner-up Josh Krajcik. He is most popular in New Zealand, with his single "Young Homie" reaching number one in the New Zealand charts.

Marcus Canty (born January 22, 1991) is from Bowie, Maryland, where he currently lives. During his audition, he sang "I Wish" by Stevie Wonder. His musical influences include Marvin Gaye, Luther Vandross, Stevie Wonder, Donny Hathaway, Boyz II Men, Mary J. Blige, Monica, Bobby Brown, and Whitney Houston. At judges' houses, he performed "All My Life" by K-Ci & JoJo. On the November 23 results show, he landed in the bottom 3 with Lakoda Rayne and LeRoy Bell, and had to sing off against Bell. He was saved by having more votes than Bell due to the judges being deadlocked. The following week, on December 1, he landed in the bottom 3 again along with Drew and Astro, and had to sing off against Drew. Simon Cowell voted to eliminate him, but Nicole Scherzinger, Paula Abdul and his mentor L.A. Reid voted to save him. Then, on December 8, he landed in the bottom 2 yet again, along with Rachel Crow. The judges went into deadlock for a second time, and he was saved by having more votes than Crow. After landing in the bottom two for 3 times in a row, he received, along with Nicole Scherzinger and L.A Reid, many death threats, with viewers accusing the show of being fixed to keep Canty in the competion. in the semi-final, Canty was eliminated by receiving the least number of votes, taking fourth place overall.

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