Melanie Masson

The ninth UK series of The X Factor began on ITV on 18 August 2012 and ended on 9 December 2012. The live shows starting on 6 October 2012. The twelve chosen finalists were James Arthur, Rylan Clark, Jahméne Douglas, Jade Ellis, Ella Henderson, Lucy Spraggan, Melanie Masson, Carolynne Poole, Kye Sones, District3, MK1 and Union J. Before the start of the live shows, one previously eliminated act from each category was chosen as a wildcard, with Christopher Maloney, from the over 28s, being voted in by the public as the thirteenth finalist.

Nicole Scherzinger mentored the boys (Arthur, Clark and Douglas), Tulisa Contostavlos mentored the girls (Ellis, Henderson and Spraggan), Gary Barlow mentored the over 28s (Masson, Poole, Sones and Maloney) and Louis Walsh mentored the groups (District3, MK1 and Union J). Arthur won the show on 9 December, with Douglas as the runner-up and Maloney in third place.

Within four-and-a-half months of the final, Arthur, Douglas, Henderson, Maloney, Union J and Spraggan had all been signed to record labels.

The "Boys" category was mentored by Nicole Scherzinger. All three acts in the category made it to the final five, the first time this has happened in the history of The X Factor. Contestants in this category are males aged 16 to 27. The six candidates at judges' houses were: James Arthur, Adam Burridge, Rylan Clark, Jahméne Douglas, Nathan Fagan-Gayle and Jake Quickenden. Scherzinger chose:

James Andrew Arthur (born 2 March 1988) is a guitarist, singer and rapper from Saltburn, Teesside. He stunned judges at his audition with a heartfelt rendition of judge Tulisa Contostavlos's "Young", before explaining his traumatic past, including spells in care and time spent on the streets after break-ups within his family. After the second live show, Arthur suffered from an anxiety attack backstage. Whilst being treated at the studio, paramedics determined he did not need to go to hospital, and he was ordered back to his hotel to rest. He later returned for that week's results show. Arthur was in the bottom two in week 7, but was saved by the public vote. He then made it to the final and won on 9 December. His winner's single is a cover of Shontelle's "Impossible". On 11 January 2013, Arthur confirmed that he had signed a record deal with Simon Cowell's record label Syco Music.

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