List of The X Factor finalists (British series 9)

The ninth UK series of The X Factor began on ITV on 18 August 2012, with the live shows starting on 6 October 2012. The twelve finalists are James Arthur, Rylan Clark, Jahmene Douglas, Jade Ellis, Ella Henderson, Lucy Spraggan, Chris Maloney, Melanie Masson, Carolynne Poole, Kye Sones, GMD3, MK1 and Union J.

Boys

The "Boys" category is mentored by Nicole Scherzinger. Contestants in this category are males aged 16 to 27. The six candidates at judges houses were: James Arthur, Adam Burridge, Rylan Clark, Jahmene Douglas, Nathan Fagan-Gayle and Jake Quickenden. Scherzinger chose:

The boys are mentored by Nicole Scherzinger.

James Arthur

James Arthur is a twenty-four-year-old guitarist, singer and rapper from Saltburn, Teesside. He stunned judges at his audition with a heartfelt rendition of Tulisa'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 was taken to hospital after suffering from a panic attack backstage. He later returned for that week's results show.

Rylan Clark

Rylan Clark is a twenty-three-year old model from Corringham, Essex. As well as being a finalist on Katie Price's Signed by Katie, Clarke appeared as a performer in several Take That and Westlife tribute bands before his first audition. Clark caused controversy in the first week of the live shows after he was kept in at the loss of fellow contestant Carolynne Poole, much to the disgust of her mentor, Gary Barlow, who stormed off stage and later dubbed Clark as a "joke act" and "talentless". In week two, Clark persisted to wind Barlow up by first performing part of Barlow's "Back For Good", and then by claiming that he had booked Barlow a cab in advance incase he stormed off stage again. Despite the controversy, Clark was put through to week three on the public vote.

Jahmene Douglas

Jahmene Douglas is a twenty-one year old former ASDA employee from Swindon, Wiltshire. Although Douglas struggled with his confidence at the boot camp stage of the competition, he managed to advance to Judges Houses, where he impressed mentor Nicole Scherzinger with his rendition of David Guetta's "Titanium". Douglas admitted after the second live show ("Love and Heartbreak" week) that he struggled to connect with the song as he had never had a girlfriend, and also had never had a proper kiss.

Girls

The "Girls" category is mentored by Tulisa Contostavlos. Contestants in this category are females aged 16 to 27. The six candidates at judges houses were: Jade Collins, Jade Ellis, Ella Henderson, Amy Mottram, Leanne Robinson and Lucy Spraggan. Contostavlos chose:

The girls are mentored by Tulisa Contostavlos.

Jade Ellis

Jade Ellis is a twenty-five year old single mum and bike mechanic from Charlton, London. Ellis had no prior musicial experience before auditioning for the show, but she stunned the judges at her audition with a rendition of Maverick Sabre's "I Need You". Adopting a similar style to former contestant Rebecca Ferguson, Ellis has thus far proved popular with the audience after performing ballads in both week one and week two.

Ella Henderson

Ella Henderson is a sixteen-year old student from Grimsby, Lincolnshire. She had to miss her first audition due to the date of the audition clashing with one of her GCSE exams, and thus was invited back for a second audition at a later date. In her first audtion, she performed her own composition, about the death of her grandfather.

Lucy Spraggan

Main article: Lucy Spraggan

Lucy Spraggan is a twenty year old musician and songwriter from Buxton, Derbyshire. Prior to her audition, she released her own self-independent album, Top Room at the Zoo, and performed regularly at Live & Unsigned events. Dubbed as "Derbyshire's answer to Victoria Wood", Spraggan has performed three original songs on the show to date, one of which later went on to chart at #11 on the UK Singles Chart.

Over 28s

The "Over 28s" category is mentored by Gary Barlow. Contestants in this category are either gender aged 28 and over. The six candidates at judges houses were: Nicola Marie Bloor, Christopher Maloney, Melanie Masson, Carolynne Poole, Brad Shackleton and Kye Sones. Barlow chose:

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The over 28s are mentored by Gary Barlow.

Christopher Maloney

Christopher "Chris" Maloney is a thirty-six year old former call centre operative from Liverpool, Merseyside. Maloney advanced as this year's wild card winner, beating Times Red, Amy Mottram and Adam Burridge to win the final spot in the live shows. Despite being dubbed as "cabaret" and "cruise ship" by Louis Walsh, Maloney has advanced on the public vote twice. At his audition, Maloney struggled with his nerves, but managed to overcome them when he advanced into the live shows.

Melanie Masson

Melanie Masson is a fourty-four year old mother of two and children's entertainer from Cathcart, Glasgow. Known as Fairy Flutterby in her home town, Melanie had previously performed in many bands and had a small amount of experience in the music industry before auditioning for the show. Compared by many to Janice Joplin, Masson was eliminated in week two after the judges failed to decide between herself and District3, and the vote went to deadlock, and it was revealed that she received the least public votes.

Carolynne Poole

Main article: Carolynne Poole

Carolynne Poole is a thirty-two year old actress, singer, songwriter and television personality from Huddersfield, Leeds. She is perhaps best known for her appearance on the second series of Fame Academy, where she placed third, and for her role as Thalia, the girlfriend of recurring character Justin Gallagher in Emmerdale. She originally auditioned for the eighth series, but was eliminated at Louis' judges' houses. In the same year, her marriage broke up and three IVF attempts to have a baby failed. She was eliminated in week one, after being placed in the bottom two with Rylan Clark. The vote was sent to deadlock after Louis controversially changed his mind, and Carolynne was elimited after receiving the least amount of public votes.

Kye Sones

Kye Sones is a thirty-year old former chimney sweep and musician from Pinner, London. Prior to his audition, Sones previously fronted an electro-pop band, Diagram of the Heart, and was a member of short-lived boyband 365, who released only their debut single, "One Touch". Sones impressed the judges at his audition, but struggled at judges houses, and narrowly missed out on landing in the bottom two after a poor performance in week two.

Groups

The "Groups" category is mentored by Louis Walsh. Contestants in this category are duos or vocal groups, all members must be aged 16 or over. The seven candidates at judges houses were: District3 (formerly GMD3), Duke, Mitsotu, MK1, Poisonous Twin, Times Red and Union J. Walsh chose:

The groups are mentored by Louis Walsh.

District3

District3, formerly known as GMD3, are a three-piece harmony vocal group made up of Michael "Micky" Parsons, 18, from Cleethorpes, Gregory "Greg" West, 18, from Essex and Daniel "Dan" Ferrari-Lane, 19, from Porthcawl. They first met each other as schoolmates, and in 2007, decided to form the band. They began performing locally the following year. They cite American entertainer Chris Brown as one of their musical influences. At the judges' houses stage, guest mentor Sharon Osbourne commented that she disliked the name of the band as "it sounded like a virus - which does not say anything about them". On October 1, GMD3 announced that they would change the name of the band after receiving Osbourne's criticism, as well as an upcoming dispute with an American pipeline of the same name. Viewers of the show and supporters of the band were given an opportunity to suggest a new name for the band, and on October 5, the group announced that they would now be known as District3.

MK1

MK1 are a urban hip-hop duo consisting of Charlotte "Charlie" Rundle, 19, and Simeon "Sim" Dixon, 24, both from Hackney, London. They originally auditioned as a three piece band, but were told by judges Barlow and Contostavlos that if they wished to advance, they would need to boot the band's third member, William "Will" Baker, 27. Will decided to leave the group after being promised 33% of the band's profits from their future sales. The band then advanced as a duo, and have since gone on to be one of the first urban acts ever to reach the live shows of the programme.

Union J

Union J are a four-piece boy band, previously known as Triple J. The band auditioned as a trio, consiting of band members Josh Cuthbert, Jaymi Hensley and JJ Hamblett, hence the "J" at the end of their name. Initially, they did not make it through the bootcamp stage. However, after fellow contestants Rough Copy had to withdraw from the show, they were given a second chance, and advanced to Judges Houses, under the new alias Union J, with a new fourth member, George Shelley, 19, who originally applied as a solo artist, but also failed to make it past bootcamp. Their Judges Houses' performance of Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe" proved successful enough to send them through to the live shows. In the lead-up their first live performance, the band received the most social media chatter, netting over 120,000 unique Twitter mentions and over 30% of the total X Factor mentions across all social media platforms.