The X Factor (Australian season 5)
City Dates Venue
Launceston 1 December 2012 Hotel Grand Chancellor
Hobart 2 December 2012 Hotel Grand Chancellor
Albury 5 December 2012 Albury Entertainment Centre
Dubbo 7 December 2012 Western Plains Cultural Centre
Darwin 10 December 2012 Crowne Plaza Hotel
Alice Springs 11 December 2012 Alice Springs Convention Centre
Townsville 13 December 2012 Reid Park Precinct
Brisbane 15-16 December 2012 Sofitel Brisbane
Melbourne 12-14 January 2013 Caulfield Racecourse
Adelaide 17 January 2013 Adelaide Convention Centre
Perth 19-20 January 2013 Parmelia Hilton
Kalgoorlie 22 January 2013 Goldfields Arts Centre
Sydney 25-27 January 2013 Sydney Cricket Ground
Newcastle 30 January 2013 Hunter Stadium
The X Factor was an Australian television reality music competition, based on the original UK series, to find new singing talent; the winner of which received a Sony Music Australia recording contract and a management deal. The fifth season premiered on the Seven Network on 29 July 2013 and ended on 28 October 2013. The winner was Dami Im and her winner's single Alive was released after the final. Im was mentored throughout by Dannii Minogue, who won as mentor for the first time on the Australian series, and third overall. The show was presented by Luke Jacobz, and Ronan Keating and Natalie Bassingthwaighte returned as judges. Minogue and Redfoo joined the judging panel as replacements for former judges, Mel B and Guy Sebastian. Open auditions in front of the show's producers took place in 14 cities throughout December 2012 and January 2013. The last set of auditions, in front of the judges and a live studio audience, were filmed in April. Following auditions was super bootcamp, where Keating, Minogue and Redfoo worked together and collectively chose 24 acts (six from each category). Bassingthwaighte did not attend the Sydney auditions and bootcamp because she was pregnant at the time and was advised not to fly from her home in Melbourne. During bootcamp, the Over 25s category was changed to Over 24s (soloists aged 24 and over), the Boys age and the Girls aged were changed from 14 to 24 to 14 to 23. Bassingthwaighte returned for the home visits stage, and each judge reduced their six acts to three.