X Factor (Romanian season 3)


is a Romanian television music competition that aims to find a new music talent to become a star. The third season began airing on 23 September 2013 on Antena 1. The winner will receive a prize of €120,000.
This season has the slogan "Muzică și suflet".
The hosts are the same as in the first and second season: Răzvan Simion and Dani Oțil, who are also known for hosting a well-known morning show on Antena 1. Dan Bittman, Delia Matache and Cheloo have returned as judges for the third season.
The registration started for the third season in June 2013. Antena 1 made changes on the list for the audition cities: Craiova was dropped, Arad and Bucharest were added.
On December 22, 2013, the season was won by Florin Ristei, mentored by Matache. Alex Mațaev, mentored also by Matache finished in second place.

Judges

Auditions

Audition process was based on the British and American version. First up were "The Producer's Audition", where the producers chose singers to proceed to the second phase which was "The Audition before the Judging panel". The first auditions took place at Craiova, on 2 June. They then took place in Arad, on June 5 in Cluj Napoca on June 8, 2013, on June 11 in Iași, on June 14 in Constanța and concluded on June 17, 2013 in Bucharest.
CityAuditions dateVenue
CraiovaJune 2, 2013Craiova University
AradJune 5, 2013Hotel Parc
Cluj NapocaJune 8, 2013Iulius Mall
IașiJune 11, 2013Palas Mall
ConstanțaJune 14, 2013Bavaria Blu - Mamaia
BucharestJune 17, 2013Children's Palace

Bootcamp

In a change to the usual format, the judges were allocated their categories before bootcamp. Cheloo will mentor the Groups, Matache took the Over 20s and Bittman had the Under 20s. The group Bruiaj was formed in bootcamp. After the bootcamp period, there were 32 acts left.
The 32 acts who reached the Judges' Houses:
The judges' home visit was the last stage of the selection process. The episode were aired on 17 November 2013. Each judge took the remaining members of their category to an overseas location, and had guests to assist them in their decisions. Cheloo was assisted by Mihaela Rădulescu, Delia was advised by Mihai Bendeac and Bittman was by Simona Gherghe. In this stage Bella from November was eliminated by her mentor and the group November remained with only two members.
The seventeen eliminated acts were:
The 15 finalists were confirmed as follows:
Key:

Results summary

;Color key

Live Shows

The live shows underwent a change in this season. In the first three live shows, each category will have its own final showdown, the result of which is decided solely by its mentor. The outcome of the fourth show will only rely on the public vote and will have two eliminations. Thus, the final will have four contestants. Two of the finalists will be eliminated halfway through the final show, when the voting will have been frozen. The winner is still determined by the public vote.

Week 1 (24 November)

;Judges' votes to eliminate
;Judges' votes to eliminate
;Judges' votes to eliminate
;Round 1
ActOrderFirst song OrderSecond songResult
Bogdan Bratiș1":ro:Holograf |Vreau o minune" 5":ro:Florin Chilian#Discografie|Zece"Eliminated
Mădălina Lefter6":ro:Holograf |Ochii tăi" 2"De-ar fi să vii"Eliminated
Florin Ristei3"Stay" 7":ro:Proconsul |Cerul"Safe
Alex Mațaev8"Read All About It" 4":ro:Smiley#Discuri single|Acasă"Safe

;Round 2
ActOrderSongResult
Alex Mațaev1"I Don't Want to Miss a Thing"Runner-up
Florin Ristei2"Bed of Roses"Winner

Artists' appearances on earlier talent shows

Controversy

One of the contestants, Paolo Laganá, made known his homosexuality on his entrance forms, which eventually drew ire and epithets from judge Cheloo. The offending remarks were edited from the broadcast, but may have affected the outcome of the contest in which Laganá was eliminated early. The event drew outcries from the Italian LGBT community, with calls for action from the Italian Ministry of the Exterior.
After the show, Laganá left Romania and moved to Berlin, where he changed his name into FDAEJI.

Ratings