List of The X Factor finalists (British series 8)

The eighth UK series of The X Factor is currently being broadcast on ITV. The series started airing on 20 August 2011. The live shows started on 8 October 2011.

Boys

The "Boys" category is being mentored by Gary Barlow. Contestants in this category are males aged 16 to 24. The eight candidates were Frankie Cocozza, Marcus Collins, Craig Colton, Joe Cox, Luke Lucas, James Michael, Max Vickers and John Wilding. Barlow chose:

Frankie Cocozza

Frankie Robert Cocozza (Born 1993; aged 18) is from Brighton to an English mother and a father of Italian descent. During the first live show, he sang "The A Team" and was safe. The second week of live shows, he sang "The Scientist" and was in the bottom two and had to perform against Nu Vibe in the final showdown, when he sang "Red". Barlow, Rowland and Walsh all voted in his favour, saving him from elimination. In week 3, Cocozza sang "Rocks", and was not in the bottom two. Cocozza was at the centre of controversy on the results show in week 3 when, right after Dermot O'Leary announced that he was safe, he yelled "Yes! Fuckin have it!".

Marcus Collins

Marcus Scott Collins (born May 1988) is a 23 year old hairdresser from Liverpool. Collins was a member of Eton Road, who were contestants during series 3 of UK The X Factor. Following their exit from the show in November 2006 and the departure of lead singer Anthony Hannah, Collins joined Eton Road as a replacement in August 2007. He stayed with the band for about 10 months before leaving to pursue a solo career.

Craig Colton

Craig John Colton (born 7 October 1988) is a 23 years old from Kirkby and works in a biscuit factory in Liverpool and is currently a student. He is openly gay.

James Michael

James Michael (born 1991; aged 20, born James Michael Stillings in Knowsley, Merseyside) is from Widnes, Cheshire. The unemployed singer taught himself a few songs on guitar while job-hunting after finishing school at 16. He describes himself as "not academic" but realised he had a love for music and went to college to study music technology. He sang "Ticket to Ride" and was the first in the boys' category to be eliminated from the live shows on October 9 by decision of mentor Gary Barlow, as there was no public vote in the inaugural live show.

Girls

The "Girls" category is being mentored by Kelly Rowland. Contestants in this category are females aged 16 to 24. The eight candidates were Misha Bryan, Janet Devlin, Sophie Habibis, Amelia Lily, Melanie McCabe, Holly Repton, Jade Richards and Sarah Watson. Rowland chose:

Misha B

Misha Bryan (19) is from Manchester. Born to a single mother, she was raised from 3-months old on by her aunt, as her mother could not take care of her. To this day, she doesn't know who her father is. In week 4, Misha B was voted bottom 2 after she was blamed for bullying other contestants. After singing "Use Somebody" as he rsurvival song, she was saved by the judges 3-0 to the detriment of Sophie Habibis who was eliminated, with Garry Barlow also confirming he would have saved Misha B too.

Janet Devlin

Janet Devlin (age 16) is from Gortin, County Tyrone. Janet had very little singing experience before X Factor, only singing in school and local talent shows. Devlin previously uploaded singing videos to YouTube on a regular basis. Janet performed "Your Song" by Elton John during the audition stage of the competition.

Sophie Habibis

Sophie Maria Habibis (born 3 November 1991 in Westminster) is a 19 year old barmaid from London. She is the youngest of four children to a father of Greek descent. Sophie exited the competition on the 30th of October.

Amelia Lily

Amelia Lily Oliver (born 16 October 1994) is from Middlesbrough, where she attends dance school, also taking part in musical theatre. Her brother Lewis Bradley is a musical theatre actor. She performed "Billie Jean" and was the first of the girls' category to be eliminated from the live shows on October 9 by decision of mentor Kelly Rowland, as there was no public vote in the inaugural live show.

Over 25s

The "Over 25s" category is being mentored by Louis Walsh. Contestants in this category are of either sex, aged 25 or over. There is no upper age limit. The eight candidates were Samantha Brookes, Kitty Brucknell, Goldie Cheung, Joseph Gilligan, Jonjo Kerr, Carolynne Poole, Johnny Robinson and Terry Winstanley. Walsh chose:

Sami Brookes

Samantha "Sami" Brookes (31) is from Rhyl. She works in retail. She replaced contestant Goldie Cheung after Cheung left at the end of Judges Houses. She was placed in the bottom two in the third week, along with fellow over Kitty Brucknell. She performed "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" in the final showdown. All judges apart from Tulisa voted to eliminate her. She later left the show, finishing in eleventh place.

Kitty Brucknell

Kitty Brucknell (born 1984; aged 26, born Kimberley Dayle Edwards) is from Cheltenham. She used to be a Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and (more recently) Lady Gaga impersonator, and featured on BBC Radio 1 BBC Three and several American TV shows. In week three she was amongst the two lowest vote getters, along with Sami Brookes. She performed The Edge of Glory in the final showdown. Tulisa voted to eliminate her, but Gary, Kelly and Louis all saved her.

Jonjo Kerr

Jon Joseph "Jonjo" Kerr (born 1983 in Camden, London; aged 27) is an infantry soldier (in the Yorkshire Regiment) from Warminster, Wiltshire (originally from Chorley, Lancashire). He was deployed to Afghanistan as part of his duties. He sang "You Really Got Me" and was the first of the overs category to be eliminated from the live shows on October 9 by decision of mentor Louis Walsh, as there was no public vote in the inaugural live show.

Johnny Robinson

John Anthony "Johnny" Robinson (born 1966 in Henley, Oxfordshire; aged 45) is from Harrow. Born to an Irish mother and an English father, Robinson has one older brother and an older sister. He took part in Stars in Their Eyes when he was 24, as Boy George, and got through to the grand final. The Daily Mirror also revealed that he performs as a female impersonator in transvestite clubs around London under the name Sarah Lee. The Mirror also put a video of one of his performances in the clubs as a drag queen.

Groups

The Groups category is being mentored by Tulisa Contostavlos. Acts in this category are duos or vocal groups. All members must be aged 16 or over. The eight candidates were 2 Shoes, Estrella, Girl v Boy, The Keys, The Lovettes, Nu Vibe, Rhythmix and The Risk. Contostavlos chose:

2 Shoes

2 Shoes are a duo from Brentwood, Essex, made up of Charley Bird (23), a telesales worker, and Lucy Texeira (21), a retail assistant. Bird is currently expecting her first child. They sang "Something Kinda Ooooh" and were the first of the groups to be elimated from the live shows on October 9 by decision of mentor Tulisa Contostavlos, as there was no public vote in the inaugural live show. They were the last original group on the show.

Little Mix

Little Mix (previously Rhythmix) are a four-piece girlband made up of London barmaid Jesy Nelson (20), High Wycombe waitress Leigh-Anne Pinnock (19), and Newcastle upon Tyne students Perrie Edwards and Jade Thirlwall (both 18).. Originally known as Rhythmix, the band was formed at bootcamp from singers who auditioned as soloists. On 26 October 2011, Rhythmix announced that they would change their name due to pressure from a children's music charity of the same name, after the programme tried to trademark "Rhythmix" in Europe. A spokesperson for The X Factor said, "At the request of the charity Rhythmix, the members of the girl group Rhythmix have decided to change their name, a decision which has the support of Syco and TalkbackTHAMES. The group's new name will be announced in due course". It was reported that the group decided to make the change, despite no legal reason to do so, to avoid any difficulties for the charity.. They announced that they would now be known as Little Mix on 28 October 2011 following on from this, the band said: "We all agreed on it, including Tulisa, because it just felt right".

Nu Vibe

Nu Vibe are a five-piece boyband made up of Jordan Higo (16, from Huddersfield), Stefan Romer (19, from Hampshire), Bradley Johnson (16, from Rainford), Richard Milford (16, from Birmingham) and Ashford Campbell (19, from Huddersfield). The band's members successfully auditioned as soloists, but at bootcamp they were knocked out of the competition. The judges then called them back and put them together as a group. They were put through to the live shows by their mentor Tulisa. For the first live show they sang Chris Brown's "Beautiful People". Tulisa then sent them through to the first public vote after the first live show. For the second live show Nu Vibe sung U2's "With or Without You". After the first public vote, Nu Vibe were in the bottom two and had to perform in the final showdown against Frankie Cocozza. Nu Vibe performed "Promise This" by Cheryl Cole and were then eliminated from the competition with only their mentor, Tulisa voting in their favour. On 28th October, it was announced that fellow group, The Risk, member Ashley Baptiste had left The Risk and was replaced by Ashford Campbell.

The Risk

The Risk are a four-piece boyband composed of Ashford Campbell (19, from Huddersfield), car salesman Andy Merry (20, from Ayr), Burger King worker Derry Mensah (21, from London), and Charlie Healy (25, from Coventry). Charlie Healy originally auditioned in another group, The Keys, while the other three auditioned as soloists. Andy previously auditioned for The X Factor in 2008, and came second in the United Kingdom selection for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in 2004.

On 28th October 2011, just prior to week 4 live show, it was announced that Ashley Baptiste had decided to leave the band after stating that his heart did not lie within a boy band anymore. He was replaced with Ashford Campbell, as a fourth member. Campbell had been previously a member of Nu Vibe, but his original band had been eliminated on October 16, in week 2 of the competition.

The band came under criticism from a Scottish band (from Prestwick, South Ayrshire) who have been performing together for several years as The Risk. They have asked The X Factor management to change the name of its contestants to avoid confusion.