X Factor is an Italian televisionmusic competition to find new singing talent; the winner receives a € 300,000 recording contract with Sony Music. Before the start of the auditions process it was announced that Elio, Morgan and Simona Ventura would be confirmed as judges and mentors, whilst Mika has been chosen for replacing Arisa in the role; also Alessandro Cattelan returned as host. The seventh season aired on Sky Uno starting from 26 September 2013 to 12 December 2013. Auditions for season 7 took place in Naples, Genoa and Milan on June 2013; bootcamp took place in Milan for two days, on 26 and 27 June. Unconfirmed rumors revealed that Elio will mentor the Over-25s, Morgan the boys, Mika the girls and Ventura the groups; they selected their final three acts during judges' houses. Michele Bravi, a member of the category Boys and mentored by Morgan, was announced the winner of the competition on 12 December 2013. His winner's single, "La vita e la felicità", released immediately after the end of the show, was co-written by Italian singer-songwriter Tiziano Ferro.
Judges, presenters and other personnel
During the sixth Live Show of the season, Arisa complained about voting mechanism, and tossed allegations against Simona Ventura, accusing her of being «phony» in judging her acts. On February 2013, Sky Movies and Entertainment vice-president Andrea Scrosati announced in an interview to Corriere della Sera that Arisa would not be confirmed as a mentor. At first, even Morgan and Elio seemed intended to leave the show; newspapers and websites cited Malika Ayane, Lorella Cuccarini and Gigi D'Alessio as possible replacements. On 23 April it was announced that Mika would be the first non-Italian mentor in the competition history; finally, on 12 and 19 May the presences of Morgan and Elio were confirmed. Alessandro Cattelan has been confirmed to present the main show on Sky Uno HD on February 2013. Also vocal coaches Alberto Tafuri, Paola Folli and Gaetano Cappa, music-director Lucio Fabbri and art-director and choreographer Luca Tomassini were confirmed, whilst Mika chose Rossana Casale as the fourth vocal coach.
Elio: FreeBoys – backed his own act, Fabio Santini.
Ventura: Fabio Santini – backed her own act, FreeBoys.
Mika: FreeBoys – wanted to give Santini another chance.
Morgan: Fabio Santini – could not decide so chose to take it to deadlock.
With both acts receiving two votes each, the result went to deadlock and a new public vote commenced for 200 seconds. FreeBoys were eliminated as the act with the fewest public votes.
Mika: Fabio Santini – backed his own act, Roberta Pompa.
Elio: Roberta Pompa – backed his own act, Fabio Santini.
Morgan: Roberta Pompa – thought that Santini could have more chances in the music business.
Ventura: Roberta Pompa – considered Santini particularly original.
;Judges' votes to eliminate
Mika: Street Clerks – backed his own act, Gaia Galizia.
Ventura: Gaia Galizia – backed her own act, Street Clerks.
Elio: Street Clerks – considered Galizia particularly interesting.
Morgan: Gaia Galizia – could not decide so chose to take it to deadlock.
With both acts receiving two votes each, the result went to deadlock and reverted to the earlier public vote. Street Clerks were eliminated as the act with the fewest public votes.
Mika: Ape Escape – backed his own act, Gaia Galizia.
Ventura: Gaia Galizia – backed his own act, Ape Escape.
Elio: Gaia Galizia – stated that he had preferred Ape Escape.
Morgan: Ape Escape – considered Galizia more interesting for the music business.
With both acts receiving two votes each, the result went to deadlock and reverted to the earlier public vote. Gaia Galizia was eliminated as the act with the fewest public votes.
Morgan: Aba – backed his own act, Andrea D'Alessio.
Elio: Andrea D'Alessio – backed his own act, Aba.
Ventura: Aba – considered D'Alessio more original.
Mika: Andrea D'Alessio – could not decide so chose to take it to deadlock.
With both acts receiving two votes each, the result went to deadlock and reverted to the earlier public vote. Andrea D'Alessio was eliminated as the act with the fewest public votes.
Week 8: Final (12 December 2013)
Theme: Celebrity duets ; Previously unreleased songs ; "My song"
