Over 20,000 people are expected to turn up at the West Stand of Old Trafford this Sunday 18th June, as the final auditions for X Factor 2006 are being held. This will be your last chance to apply and since last years winner - Shayne Ward - will be making a special appearance to perform some of his songs to the awaiting crowds, huge numbers are expected, so our only advice is to get there early.
Gates open at 9am, but some auditionees are already planning to camp out all night in a bid to make sure that they definitely get seen by the judges.
Hi,
I would LOVE to try my luck on sunday in Manchester, but I am not sure if I am aloud!!! I am NOT english, but DO live in the UK and am married to an english man. Don´t have a british passport though…..
Is that ok, since I DO LIVE here and have done for more than 2 years….
PLEASE answer QUICKLY!!!! I need to know!!!!!!!!!
Pennie
Comment by Miss Pennie — Wednesday, 14 June, 2006 @ 17:57
The only rules for applying that i can find are:
* Contestants must be 16 or over to enter.
* Contestants must be born on or before 1 April 1990.
* Contestants must get an ID sticker to do the audition.
Comment by Mike — Thursday, 15 June, 2006 @ 19:45
i think its really unfair that there are no open auditions in the south west. i work weekends as a singer and it is too far away. pls can u hold an open audition inthe south west as i didnt even know you were auditioning at all until people at my gigs mentioned it and said i should enter, by which time the closing date had already passed.
Comment by sarah woodger — Friday, 16 June, 2006 @ 13:27
like i stated the open audtions r bull, if appointed audtionees had audtions bk in may and have passed the 1st stage, but still have 2 stages to pass over a number of weeks (recalls) b4 actually seeing the judges, then tell me how will it work on the open audtions DAY, the open day is 4 publicity and yes the judges will more than likely b there but i doubt it is for audtioning
Comment by debbie — Friday, 16 June, 2006 @ 13:38
and the fact that shayne ward will be there is just the icing on the cake for the producers
Comment by debbie — Friday, 16 June, 2006 @ 13:39
Sooooo true!!! I just came home from a VERY long day. Were there (Manchester) since 5.30 in the morning, and to be honest, the whole thing just seemed to be for the Xfactor to actually have some good footage for the opening of the show in august.
They made us clap 1.000.000 times and the audience showed a VERY good spirit, but when it came down to what it was all about (auditions) they completely SLAUGHTERED most of us!!!!! There were soooo many good singers, but it seemed that the very few they let through were the young girls!! It makes you wonder….??
Nice show, nice to see the judges and Shane BUT a very LOOOONG day, and to sing infront of a judge on your row when there was ALL the noise from the stadium was VERY hard!!! Even Shane would have needed a microphone!!!!!!… and Will Young would probably not even have had a chance!!
Another experience….. I am not bitter, just feel like you say, it all seemed to be for the good of the tv-show….. they didn´t want more singers!!
I am still a BIG X-factor fan, but will have GREATER respect for all the people who actually go through the whole thing. It is NOT easy!!
Comment by Miss Pennie — Sunday, 18 June, 2006 @ 21:14
The whole day at Manchester was shambolic. I’m not sure if the Xfactor has ever held a completely open audition such as this before but they certainly made it appear to be their first attempt.
They couldn’t quite decided how to even go about getting a very disinterested “judge” (not sure how qualified most of them were to judge) to hear singers, firstly playing musical chairs and then insisting on the judge coming to the individuals, where there was so much noise -including other auditionees, that they were forced to lean in to listen in many cases.
I heard some really good vocalists get turned away and some really bad (sorry) ones getting through. The comedy value would seem to be all they were looking for.
The entire crowd was lured to the stadium in order to perform as extras in the first TV show in August. We had to perform “silent” crowd madness and were asked to pretend that Shane was there and pretend that the judges were there etc… in order that they could get lots of footage for the actual show. Extras are normally paid a fee for this sort of work but this crowd were under the illusion that one of them would walk away with a £1,000,000 record deal…. like that guy 2 years ago?!?! Steve?!? (is that his name - is he a millionaire - nah)
All in all 13 hours of waiting - being shepparded and made to look like fools in order to get good TV… Not a good way for any serious muso to start their career in anycase… A good experience of the British TV industry and not the music industry… Good viewing of the Sharon, Louie, Simon panto that strolled in… oh and SHANE MIMING!!! WHY???
Comment by Song Bird — Monday, 19 June, 2006 @ 12:26
Hi i missed Sundays audition as i got lost on the way to Manchester i was coming from Brighton!!!
Is there any chance i can still audition???
Does any one know if they will be holding any more open auditions??? x
Comment by kelly — Monday, 19 June, 2006 @ 13:46
God Manchester was awful!
Whata pathetically unorganised event!…. No real security measures or anything- our stand nearly turned into a riot at one point due to new auditionies coming into the stadium! If you ask me we should of all been seen by the numbver of which we were given- it was absolutely pathetic having to sing in front of everyone else there and to one inexperienced judge (ours just ooked as if he was some music school graduate filling in )- he put practically no one through so no one stood a cat in hells chance- i would definately never go again.. i wont watch the show in the same light either.. so many hundreds of fantastic people were told no and to go home… Id queed since 6am and got seen at 5 o clok- i know i sang well cause the crowd was clapping and they all booed extrememly loudly when the judge said no (once again)… was not disapointed as i can now see just how much of a farce the show really is… If anyone else went… Wasn’t it a looooong day for nothing???? lol
Gah…. xxxx
Comment by Biddy — Monday, 19 June, 2006 @ 15:35
i went to the open audition in manchester and it was a very long day.the judge i got wasn’t putting any one through, even though there was alot of very talented people.people were booing her for not putting the good ones through.an experience i enjoyed but i did think i wasted my time.
Comment by marie king — Monday, 19 June, 2006 @ 17:14
Yes I too was there Miss Pennie, it was a veeeeeeeerrrrrryyyyyy long day!! And yes it was mostly just for publicity, they were very tough and sooo many amazing singers were turned down. I got past the first round, eventually singing at 8pm (after being there for over 12hours!!), and then went through to a more quieter auditioning part. I sang infront of a judge who wasn’t really listening to me which kind of knocked my confidence as I’d been put through the first part of the auditions after singing only a few lines! Not many people got through the second part, and those who did had told me they’d also been to the pre-arranged auditions earlier in the week (coincidence??).
It was a great experience and did open my eyes to how staged some of it was(people interviewed by the cameras outside ALL got through!) but I did enjoy it, and will defineatley enter next year! I’m only 16!!
xxx
Comment by Heather — Monday, 19 June, 2006 @ 18:23
Yes it was a very long day, I feel so sorry for people who spent a lot of money getting there and were actually trained singers. It was purely to get footage for the show with getting everyone to clap and cheer with the cameras flying overhead, and as Simon Cowell said to get more groups (at the end of the celebrity X Factor).
They were mean’t to let us in (I was not auditioning)at 9am, but were held outside until 10.45, with promises of the judges, Shayne Ward etc, and the same once everyone got inside. It was a complete sham.
We never got to see Shayne Ward or the judges. I actually watched our judge say no to someone who was pitch perfect and had a fantastic voice. Such a shame.
I feel so sorry for all those good singers who were totally let down by the farce.
Comment by Helen — Tuesday, 20 June, 2006 @ 08:33
Very dissappointed in the open auditions. It was purely for publicity and camera shots for TV. Gates were supposed to open at 9 but they kept us out in the cold till after 10 trying to get the shots. We had been there over night and were all exhausted. When we were eventually taken in to the stadium it was very badly organised and it was so obvious that there was no intention of passing any more singers thru, just groups. Some excellent singers were passed over so a total lack of integrity by the show and I have to say the judges. If you just wanted tv shots, advertise it as such, you would still have had plenty of people coming to see Shane Ward and to be on TV. We were there early at the front and were told that Shane would be there before the auditons started. Of course he wasnt and we missed out. VERY dissapointed in the whole process.
Comment by Anniemac — Tuesday, 20 June, 2006 @ 08:43
I totally agree with all of the above about the open auditions…. IT WAS AN ABSOLUTE CONSPIRACY!!!
It was definitely a ploy to get a big crowd for the opening scenes of the show… which i think is disgusting considering that some people were so desperate for it that they camped out since the Friday!!! I simply could not believe that after waiting for almost ten hours and for the majority of that being told by the producers to shout and scream (erm, sorry, should we not have been trying to save our voices?!?!) that we then had to stand in front of god knows how many people and sing to some geezer who was clearly more interested in chewing his gum, having a can of coke and eating a double decker and who didnt even have the decency to ask your name!!!! It was utter humiliation!!!! I wouldnt have mind being humiliated by the REAL judges, but that was ridiculous!!!
I was a massive xfactor fan and now I dont think i can even watch it due to the way we were treated (it was actually like a cattle market!) and the utter insincerity of the crew, the producers and the so called ‘bigwigs’ they just care about making good TV that keeps the megabucks rolling in!!!! THATS SHOWBIZ FOLKS!!
Comment by jojo — Tuesday, 20 June, 2006 @ 12:09
oh yes well sunday was just a crazy day i live in bromley but was at my dads in luton on sat went bed at 10.00 on sat got up at 1.00 sun morn got coach at 2.00
got to manchester got there about 6.00 got to old trafford at 6.30- 6.45
ITS SO TRUE what miss penny said about us being there for the benefit of filming the crowd, i felt like a performing monkey.
And the worst thing was that when u got in the stadium you couldnt move or someone would steal your seat at one point we was told we couldnt move not even to go to the toilet.
I think i got into the stadium at 11.30 it was rubbish that the auditions started at 9.00 they must of started at 12.00-1.00.
And when they were filming the auditions stopped and the judges dissapeared for ages.
so we could do our mexican wave oh and our silent cheering a hundred times.
Mean while no auditions actually going on the only bonus was i got a great view of simon in the V.I.P box
i think hes lovely .
Anyway i think the whole event was really terribly un organised half the judges didnt seem to know what they were doing.
I felt so sorry for this girl i was chatting to she said that they were stuck outside as there wasnt enough room in the stadium for the rest of the thousands meanwhile pouring with rain Ben Shepard was out the front doing some crowd footage but he ordered the crwd to put away there umbrellas so they could film and it wasnt just one take.
The usher we had was moving the crowd down row by row the peps at the front would get seen first so as you come you would just filter in behind row by row in order you came in. well it wasnt true she moved the fist 4 rows then left a big gap then the rest of the crowd who had just come in from outside would sit in that space there was arguments all over the place some peps had been cuewing over night it was v frustrating.
There were so many great singers that were not picked it was shocking.
I never even thought we wouldnt audition for the real judges.
I eventually got auditioned at 6pm in the stadium in front of thousands by that time i was cold, tired and slightly peed off with lack of crowd control.
so unfortunatley dint sing my best im so dissapointed and only wish i could have a chance to try one last time but i beleieve thats it now.
and i so would go through it all again.
its crazy how addictive the whole x factor experience is, i think ineed to try and have a x factor time out.
Comment by natalie — Tuesday, 20 June, 2006 @ 21:11
HI ALL. I WENT TO THE OPEN AUDITIONS, WHAT A LOAD OF CRAP! THE WHOLE EVENT WAS A HUGE ATTEMPT TO MAKE THE SHOW LOOK GREAT ON TV. EVERYONE HAD TO SING 2 A PRODUCER OUTDOORS, WITH A LOT OF NOISE AROUND U. I DIDNT GET A SECOND AUDITION. IT WAS SO BAD THE WAY THEY DID IT. SO MANY GREAT SINGERS DIDNT GET A LOOK IN. THEY HAD EVERY ONE LIKE PUPETS, GOING CRAZY 4 THE CAMERAS. HOPE THEY GOT ALL THE FOOTAGE THEY WANTED, BECAUSE THEY DEFFO DIDNT GET ALL THE TALENT.
Comment by Phil — Wednesday, 21 June, 2006 @ 19:08
The auditions are a complete exploitation of both talented and untalented. The untalented got through in order to be ridiculed and for ‘entertainment’. Everyone who has been used in this way should not watch the programme. I won’t!
Comment by jill — Saturday, 19 August, 2006 @ 10:54
hey there
my sister went to the auditions in dublin , she has one thousands in prize money from singing competitions, shes 18
suffice to say she didnt get through, a few things were apparent to her on the day, the judge that she sang for who was not sharon , simon or louis obviously, you have at least 2 audtions infront of producers before you meet the tv judges, the lady who she auditioned for let through 1 out of 50 and she was a woman over 50 who looked like a man
thier was an irish girl band who are known to the public from an irish tv talent show who got through
i belive thier are 2 reasons for that, 1 , they were really short groups from the auditions, simon stated this , also as i mentioned this band were known to irish audiences, i have heard it said that all the contestants who eventually make it through and who are not simply there for comedy value{ a certain amount of freaks get through aswell which makes you wonder why simon always seems so amazed when the cat stranglers appear in front of him } all those who make it through have some kind of profile in entertaining , they are known to someone in the entertainment industry
i have read before on various blogs that at the end of the day , the x factor is ultimatly a tv show and the producers will not take a chance on complete unknowns
i for for one have no doubt that this is the case
Comment by paul smith — Sunday, 27 August, 2006 @ 13:15
From all the comments I have heard about the Manchester auditions, I am so glad I didnt attend. They wrote to me with the date for the Birmingham audition. I rang to say I would be on holiday, but the guy said they are only holding one audition. I said OK, I am going on holiday. I must admit, the comments dont surprise me in some ways. I worked out that for Simon & Co to see all 100,000 auditionees, at 3 mins per audition, it would take 21 months working 8 hours a day with no breaks, 7 days a week. I have auditioned for S.I.T.E. and it was very weel done, with specific timed appointments and a very respectful panel of judges. Simon and Co are very disrispectful to people who are just trying to do their best. Quite frankly, they should be ashamed of themselves.
Comment by Tony O Dee — Sunday, 27 August, 2006 @ 20:15
Hi,
my names leah, i live in wrexham..
i love to sing and at the minute i have entered 2 competitions and am just waiting for the dates to be sent to me, i have a very good voice, but there is 1 problem, im only 14, i want to know wether the x factor will be running still in 2008, as i want to show thw world what u have been waiting for, as for now ill just wait, as my birthday is nexy month in december, is it still going to be on in 2008….please!….x Leona 2 win, u rule girl!….x
Comment by Leah — Wednesday, 22 November, 2006 @ 14:39
I am from south east england near brighton and i was wondering when the xfactor auditions were going to be held in brighton. i am sixteen years old and now that i am finally old enough to go on the show i want to do it because it is my dream.
Comment by catherine lyne — Monday, 8 January, 2007 @ 21:41
heyaaa.x. errr xfactor gunna be mint dis year ope ma application form gets der in time hehe cnt waite lol .x.x.x.
Comment by .x.sophie.x. — Monday, 19 March, 2007 @ 09:36
hiya wondering when the next x factor is on realy want to enter and my twin please let us all know on the website please we are up for this challenge it means so uch please
Comment by stephanie — Monday, 19 March, 2007 @ 20:23
i think that the x factor should start from 14 years old it will children around england to have an experience of a life time
tom
wigan
Comment by Thomas — Tuesday, 20 March, 2007 @ 20:50
hi
Is it true that 14 year olds are alound on the x factor its my dream and i hope its true
kayley
wigan
Comment by Kayley palmer — Tuesday, 20 March, 2007 @ 20:53
pls tell me wn da london auditions are takin place!1!!1 pls pls pls pls GOD BLESS U
Comment by DAMMI — Sunday, 1 April, 2007 @ 17:42
hey can you please give me any insight into any open auditions in manchester.beacuse ive been to the london one and want a chance to go to any other open audtions please please help thankyou x x x x
Comment by beth — Saturday, 21 April, 2007 @ 15:50
hiya can someone tell me when the open auditions are in london please? xxx
Comment by nicole — Sunday, 22 April, 2007 @ 13:15
hello i have not applied for x factor but would i still be able to go to the open audition?
Comment by daniel shepherd — Tuesday, 15 May, 2007 @ 08:51
X FACTOR IS A SCAM
I attended the open auditions in london today. We left the house at 3:30 am, and arrived there at 7:30, to get an early start at queing as the auditions were due to start at 8:00am. There were still a couple thousand in front of us though. It was raining, but they asked us to put down our umbrellas for filming.
Well we waited untill 3 o’clock before we saw the judges. Even then they were still asking us to do shots for them. It was a boiling hot day, and we’d been standing there for hours. The crowd started booing the commentators when they’d ask us to cheer, that’s how bad it was. They even got Fern Cotton to beg us to cheer and we still wouldn’t do it.
EVENTUALLY they lead us inside the stadium, where we were forced to film yet some more clips for them, with the presenters continuously screwing up. The only reason we did it was because they promised us we’d all get to see the judges. But we didn’t, we were judged by random people along our rows. I was shocked. They sent home so many great singers, as I wasn’t auditioning I can give a fair comment. When they were asked why, we were told that they weren’t allowed to give any feedback, which was just a ridiculous excuse to hide their ignorance. The auditions were an excuse for them to film us for free. people had come from as far as Glasgow, just to be sent home by a random so called ‘executive’, who had no clue about music. It was just a scam.
Comment by Melanie — Saturday, 9 June, 2007 @ 23:23
Open auditions, big scam, wasted my day
Comment by Stuart — Saturday, 9 June, 2007 @ 23:25
totally p***d off about saturday
waited 13 hours just to not get even looked AT when i was singing no acknowledgement at all i got cheered and clapped when i finished and she just littrally dived on me with a pen to cross me out and just said no not today
complete b*llocks as there was loads of good quailty singers who just got turned away
Comment by karl — Tuesday, 12 June, 2007 @ 16:05
We too went along to Old Trafford yesterday. Up at 5am, arrived at 7.15am and what should have been a fantastic experience regardless of being selected, was one of the worst days of my life, NEVER EVER to be repeated.
Parking facilities around the stadium were not accessible or open which resulted in total mayhem. However, not to be deterred at this early stage we kept a positive attitude that things would get better. WRONG!
We eventually found the disabled parking, only to be charged £10 for the priviledge. The charge couldn’t be wavered as it’s on private land (Like Old Trafford FC need more revenue!).
Having been in the car for hours at this point we all needed the toilet. No accessible disabled toilets to hand and we were forced to walk virtually all the way to the other end of the stadium to find no more than 20 porta-loos. They were absolutely disgustingly filthy. Now bearing in mind that it wasn’t even 8am by this point I shudder to imagine what state they would have ended up in by the time thousands of people had used them! These were the only toilets available to the thousands of auditionees and their families/friends outside of the actual stadium.
We were instructed to be there before 8am and on our arrival joined thousands of would be X Factor contestants.
A bitterly cold day, left standing in the queueing system for over 6 hours to be treated like puppets. Carrots fed to the ‘donkeys’ - ‘We will be going into the stadium soon. We need to do some filming for the tv show, each and every one of you will be on it as we have a wide angled lens’. Hours of silent cheering, waving, making X factor symbolic gestures and shouting and so more time passed.
Another carrot - send a text message on your mobile and it will be displayed on the large screen at the front of the queue. Keep the donkeys motivated!
Eventually the stadium doors were opened, cameras rolling, the first of the contestants complete with camp beds, duvets & pillows were allowed in but only after they had been forced to cheer and wave at the cameras.
Auditionee stickers were issued in number order as the queue progressed through the doors. There was no system or order and was a complete farce!
Moral was flagging in the crowd & the repetition of pop songs & X Factor signature tune was wearing very thin with all.
A further 2 hours later we got into stadium, no sign of any lifts and were ushered along with the crowds to take a seat. Fine if one is able bodied and can climb steps but I am no David Hempleman-Adams and I found the attitude of the stewards sneering and derisory. When I explained that I was disabled the response was ‘Yeah, You and 900 others’.
I attempted to climb the steps but it then became evident that indeed I couldn’t manage them and was ushered to a seat asap as I was causing a backlog!
The wind howled round the stadium and we waited and we waited. People still piled in and then a word of encouragement - ‘We’ll be starting the auditions soon’.
Enter Dermot O’Leary, more silent cheering, muppetry and crowd cajoling for the cameras.
It was then announced that the judges booths would be erected shortly and the auditions would begin.
How many years has X Factor been running? One would think that these booths would have already been in place BEFORE the throngs appeared.
Another hour passes, the wind is howling across the stand and with no imminent start visible, the donkeys need feeding and watering. Would be X Factors are still piling in and we now have severe congestion as the entrance and exit routes are not seperate. Suddenly, without any announcement, we then realised that the audition process was underway.
A complete and utter shambles, no system in place. Certainly no first come first come basis, more like a free for all. Contestants were queue jumping and it was a good while before stewards took control of the situation.
I would like to ask at this point, what criteria is needed to be a judge? From my seating position I was able to observe 3 of the judges. (I had forgotten to mention that an official steward from MUFC had moved us to some seats further down the stand where there were no steps).Their body language said it all - at times disinterested, distracted and cold like us too, but hey we’d been in these conditions for well over 8 hours, not just 30 minutes and we weren’t served latte coffees ad lib!
While we were waiting people around us were practicing, attempting to warm up their vocal chords. There were some excellent voices but hey guess what? Not one of them got through. Yet the numpty walking round with the saucepan on his head seemed to capture their full attention!
Maybe next years auditions should be named ‘Entertainment Factor’ as these judges were certainly NOT looking for decent vocalists or people with REAL talent. Having spoken to numerous people throughout the day the consensus seems to be that this is an orchestrated production to fit a prime time tv slot. No matter how talented, outstanding and melodious your audition may be there is only a very very slim chance you will get through. They are equally looking for as many dire performances to boost the tv viewings for the comedy factor.
I cannot Xtol the virtues of the X Factor auditioning process. Certainly NOT feeling X-uberant, more X-asperated.
By my experience of yesterday the whole audition process was a complete & utter shambles. No respect or regard for the contestants and their families. It was like a cattle market, herded from one place to another and long periods of time when we didn’t know what was going on, just fed incentives.
Someone should take down their own video camera and record the reality of the X Factor auditioning process. I’m sure there would be a slot on prime time tv for the X-tortionate Factor!
Comment by Jack Warringer — Sunday, 20 April, 2008 @ 12:20