The X Factor (British TV series) series 5
A number of well-established music acts from around the world, such as Beyoncé, Mariah Carey, Britney Spears, Girls Aloud, Take That, Il Divo, and series 3 winner Leona Lewis, performed during the live stages of the show.Burke's prize, as winner, was a £1 million recording contract with Syco Music (a subsidiary of Sony BMG).[2] On 6 June, six days before filming was due to begin at the London auditions, ITV announced Osbourne's departure from the show.[3][4] Media speculation over the reasons for Osbourne's departure alluded to rising tensions between her and fellow judge Dannii Minogue, as well as disputes over pay.[4] When interviewed by Chris Moyles on BBC Radio 1, Osbourne said that it was "the best four years of [her] life" but felt that it was "time to move on.[citation needed] A reported "record-breaking" 182,000 applied for series 5,[1][9] with filming for auditions in front of judges taking place in June/July 2008.Boys: Over 25s: Groups: Girls: Key: The live shows began on 11 October 2008 and continued through to the finale on 13 December 2008.Boyzone, Westlife, and Beyoncé were guests on the final show where they duetted with the finalists, with Knowles performing "Listen" with Alexandra Burke.Contrary to this, Minogue, who had higher priority in the judges' song-selection rota, selected the song for her artist Hylton to sing.[17] The quarter-final did not feature a final showdown and instead the act with the fewest public votes, Ruth Lorenzo, was automatically eliminated.The semi-final did not feature a final showdown and instead the act with the fewest public votes, Diana Vickers, was automatically eliminated.[19] In the first week of its release it went straight to number 1 and sold 313,244 copies, more than the rest of the top ten combined.