The X Factor (UK series 4)
| Broadcast from | 18 August – 15 December 2007 |
|---|---|
| Judges |
Louis Walsh Sharon Osbourne Simon Cowell Dannii Minogue Brian Friedman (London auditions) |
| Presenter(s) | Dermot O'Leary (ITV1) |
| Co-presenter(s) | Fearne Cotton (ITV2) |
| Broadcaster |
ITV ITV2 (The Xtra Factor) |
| Leon Jackson | |
Jackson at the premiere of The Golden Compass
|
|
| Origin | Whitburn, West Lothian, Scotland |
| Song | "When You Believe" |
| Genre(s) | Adult contemporary, pop, jazz |
| Mentor | Dannii Minogue |
| Rhydian Roberts | |
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 for the first time, replacing Kate Thornton, who had been presenting the show since series 1 in 2004. Fearne Cotton replaced Ben Shephard as presenter on the spin-off show The Xtra Factor. The original judging panel consisted of Simon Cowell, Sharon Osbourne, Brian Friedman and Minogue. Friedman left the panel and was replaced by former judge Louis Walsh.
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.
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 on the UK Singles Chart.
On 8 March 2007, it was announced that judge Louis Walsh, who had appeared in all three previous series, had been sacked. This, along with the additional category, created vacancies for two new judges to join the original panel of Simon Cowell and Sharon Osbourne. On 4 June, it was announced that Brian Friedman and Dannii Minogue would replace Walsh.
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