The X Factor (Season 3) (Courtesy Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

The X Factor is an American television music competition to find new singing talent; the winner of which receives a $5 million recording contract. The third season will begin airing on Fox in September 2013.

Based on the UK format, the competition consists of auditions, in front of producers and then the judges with a live audience; bootcamp; judges' houses and then the live finals. Auditions for the show begin in mid-2013. The judging panel will consist of Simon Cowell, with the other judges yet to be confirmed. L.A. Reid, who was on the show for the first two seasons as a judge, and Britney Spears, who was a judge for the second season, will leave the show before the third season.

Judges and hosts

After shedding its host, and two of the four judges from the first season of the show, Steve Jones, and Paula Abdul and Nicole Scherzinger respectively, the show sought to undergo some major changes in its second season, hiring Britney Spears and Demi Lovato as new judges on the show, and Mario Lopez and Khloé Kardashian as hosts. It was announced on October 22, 2012, that The X Factor would be returning for a third season on Fox, with Simon Cowell confirmed to be returning for his third season on the show. Deciding to refocus his work on his record company, Epic Records, it was announced on December 14, 2012 that L.A. Reid would be leaving the show after serving as a judge on the show for its first two seasons. Aside from Reid, both Britney Spears and Khloé Kardashian had stated their intentions to return to the show for its third season as a judge and host respectively, with co-host Mario Lopez yet to publicly state whether he would consider returning to the show. Following the conclusion of the second season, Demi Lovato questioned whether she would return to the show for its third season, or instead decide to focus on her own career as a performer, stating, "I have no idea what's gonna happen next season, and I don't think anybody does." On January 11, 2013, it was officially announced that Britney Spears would be leaving the show.

Following Reid and Spears's departure, speculation began on who would replace them on the panel of judges for the show, with Reid suggesting Rihanna or Jon Bon Jovi as his choices for possible replacements.

Selection process

Auditions

}} In addition to having online auditions, it was announced at the conclusion of the second season that auditions for the third season of the show would be held throughout the country in Charleston, South Carolina, Denver, Colorado, Long Island, New York, Los Angeles, California and New Orleans, Louisiana.

Summary of auditions

Audition city	Producers' auditions	Audition venue	Judges' auditions
Charleston, South Carolina	March 19, 2013	TBA	TBA
Denver, Colorado	May 14, 2013	TBA	TBA
Long Island, New York	April 25, 2013	TBA	TBA
Los Angeles, California	March 6, 2013	TBA	TBA
New Orleans, Louisiana	April 14, 2013	TBA	TBA

Bootcamp and judges' houses

The contestants selected at auditions are further refined through a series of performances at "bootcamp", and then at the "judges' houses", until a small number eventually progress to the live finals (seventeen in season 1, and sixteen from season 2). The houses the contestants visit may not actually belong to the judges, but are sometimes rented for the purpose. During these stages, the producers allocate each of the judges a category to mentor. At bootcamp the judges collaboratively choose either 32 acts (season 1; eight from each category) or 24 acts (season 2; six from each category) for the next round, and only then are told by the show's producers which category they are to mentor. The contestants did not know who their mentor was until they revealed themselves at the house. The judges then disband for the "judges' houses" round, where they further reduce their acts on location at a residence (often collectively spanning the globe) with the help of a celebrity guest.

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