The Uraps Factor

The Uraps Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. It began in January 2012 and is contested by aspiring singers drawn from public auditions. The one series of the show to date have been broadcast from January through to Summer. The The "Uraps Factor" of the title refers to the undefinable "something" that makes for star quality on URAPS. The show is broadcast on the ITV network in the United Kingdom and TV3 in Ireland. The Uraps Factor was devised to fill a gap in the market. It aimed to be a more 'young' counterpart to other popular talent shows such as URAPS Idol. It also allows bands to enter, the first time a show on URAPS has done so.

The original judging panel was Candi Elite, Brett Clarkson, Stacy Hart and James Moss. In the initial televised audition phase of the show, contestants sang in an audition room in front of just the judges. Auditionees sing infront of a panel not composed of the celebrity judges originally, however this is not televised. Successful auditionees go through to "bootcamp" (which is also not televised) and then to "judges' houses", where judges narrow down the acts in their category down to three or four acts to mentor for the live shows, where the public vote for their favourite acts following weekly live performances by the contestants.

There has been one winners to date: Pandora. The winner then releases a "winners single". As of January 2012, a total of 0 number-one singles have been released by artists who have appeared on the show. The all-new Uraps Factor champion receives a recording contract with a stated value of £1 million. This includes a cash payment to the winner, but the majority is allocated to marketing and recording costs.

The show is the biggest television talent competition in Europe and has proved hugely popular with the public. Series 1 attracted almost 200,000 auditionees and peaked at 17.7 million UK viewers, around 8 million votes were cast in the series 1 final as well. ITV have announced that the show has been signed on for at least three series, meaning it will air until at least 2014.

History
Although there were already popular television shows similar to that of The Uraps Factor, ITV felt there was a gap in the market for a new show, to air at the start of the year. It wanted felt Uraps Idol was sometimes very serious based, and felt a new show with judges popular with teens would appear more 'cool'. Thus hiring two of the most 'in-demand' singers at the time, Candi Elite and Brett Clarkson. Paulo Araujo was hired as the show's 'big name' and Stacy Hart was added to try and also bring in the older market.

Format
The show is primarily concerned with identifying a potential pop star, though singing talent, appearance, personality, stage presence and dance routines are also an important element of many performances. The show splits contestants into four categories in all: "Boys" (16–25 males), "Girls" (16–25 females), Over 25s and Groups.

There are five stages to the competition:


 * Stage 1: Producers' auditions (these auditions decide who will sing in front of the judges)
 * Stage 2: Judges' auditions
 * Stage 3: Bootcamp
 * Stage 4: Judges' houses
 * Stage 5: Live shows (finals)

Auditions
A round of first auditions is held in front of producers months before the show is aired, either by application and appointment, or at "open" auditions that anyone can attend. These auditions, held at various venues around the UK, attract very large crowds. The auditions themselves are not televised, but shots of crowds waving and "judges' cars" arriving are filmed and later spliced in with the televised auditions shot later in the year. The production team supply the crowds with "home-made" signs. After waiting at the venue for hours and filming more inserts of screaming and waving, candidates are given a brief audition by someone from the production team. Should they pass that audition (either for reasons of talent or for the potential of making entertaining television), they are given a "golden ticket" that allows them to sing to a more senior production member. Only candidates who successfully pass that second and third auditions are invited to perform to the judges. The televised version misrepresents the process by implying that the entire huge crowds all perform to the judges. Camera shots take up to 6 hours to record before the auditions are started, with the production team constantly misleading the auditionees.

A selection of the auditions in front of the judges – usually the best, the worst and the most bizarre – are broadcast over the first few weeks of the show. Each act enters the audition room and delivers a stand-up unaccompanied performance of their chosen song to the judges. If a majority of the judges (three out of the four) say "yes" then the act goes through to the next stage, otherwise they are sent home.

Bootcamp and judges' houses
The contestants selected at auditions are further refined through a series of performances at "bootcamp", and then at the "judges' houses", until a small number eventually progress to the live finals (sixteen in series 1). During these stages, the producers allocate each of the judges a category to mentor. They collectively choose 24 acts (six from each category) for the next round, and only then find out which category they will mentor. The judges then disband for the "judges' houses" round, where they reduce their six acts to three for the live shows, and out of the rejected three - the public are able to vote one back in, totaling four acts per category.

The Uraps Factor house
The selected finalists move into shared accommodation to take part in the show. The house accommodates both contestants and TV production staff and footage from the house is often used in spin-off show The Uraps Xtra Factor.

Live shows
The finals consist of a series of two live shows, the first featuring the contestants' performances and the second revealing the results of the public voting, culminating in one or more acts being eliminated. Celebrity guest performers also feature regularly. These live shows are filmed at The Fountain Studios in Wembley, London. The main show is shown on a Saturday night, with the results show and celebrity performances on a Sunday nights.

Performances
In the initial live shows, each act performs once in the first show in front of a studio audience and the judges, usually singing over a pre-recorded backing track. Dancers are also commonly featured. Acts occasionally accompany themselves on guitar or piano.

Each live show has a different theme; with each contestant's song chosen according to the theme. After each act has performed, the judges comment on their performance. Heated disagreements, usually involving judges defending their contestants against criticism, are a regular feature of the show. Once all the acts have appeared, the phone lines open and the viewing public vote on which act they want to keep.

Once the number of contestants has been reduced to six (series 1), the format changes. Each act performs twice in the first show, with the public vote opening after the first performance. At this point, the judges the loose all power, and instead of them being able to vote out an one of the bottom 2/3 acts, it all becomes based on the public vote. This leads to the acts going on to appear in the grand final which decides the overall winner by public vote.

Results
Before the results are announced, there are live or pre-recorded performances from one or more invited celebrities, sometimes with performers connected to the week's theme. The two acts polling the fewest votes are revealed. Both these acts perform again in a "final showdown", and the judges vote on which of the two to send home. The contestants in the bottom are able to pick new songs. Occasionally, a bottom three is revealed instead of a bottom two, where the act in last place is instantly eliminated, and then the two remaining contestants face the public vote. In the event of a tie the result goes to deadlock, and the act who came last in the public vote is sent home. The actual number of votes cast for each act is not revealed, nor even the order; according to a spokesman, "We would never reveal the voting figures during the competition as it could give contestants an unfair advantage and spoil the competition for viewers".

Once the number of contestants has been reduced to six (series 1), the act which polled the fewest votes is automatically eliminated from the competition (the judges do not have a vote; their only role is to comment on the performances).

Post The X Factor
The winner of The Uraps Factor is awarded a £1 million recording contract. Other highly placed contestants may also be offered recording deals, but this is not guaranteed. Although the judges are not qualified to manage the act after they win the show, the judges do tend to offer their services in helping the contestants break into the industry, by modes such as writting them songs or recording a duet.

The Uraps Factor Live Tour is a live show that tours the UK and Ireland in the months following the conclusion of the series.

Series summary
To date, one series have been broadcast, as summarised below.

Judges
To date, there has only been one line up of judges, since there has only been one series.

Originally, in December 2011 the judging panel was Candi Elite, Brett Clarkson, Paulo Araujo and Stacy Hart. However in January it was revealed that Arajuo had been dropped from the panel, due to his work schedule clashing with his judging role. James Moss was revealed as the fourth judge days prior to the show airing, meaning the final line up was Elite, Clarkson, Hart and Moss.

Presenters and other personnel
To host the show, producers (at the time) had four solo singers as judges, and wanted someone representing a group to host the show, since groups were able to enter the contest. In the end they decided to choose one from the biggest boyband at the time, Dante. Producers revealed they chose Paolo out of the band as "it was between him, Jake and Callum. However with Callum being engaged to Candi it may be too personal, and Jake was too wild for the show. Paolo is just a barrel of laughs and perfect for the show." To represent girl groups, ditzy Sara Walters was chosen from INTOXICATED as producers felt she was the only member of the group who the audience could warm too.

Judges' categories and their finalists
In each series, each judge is allocated a category to mentor and chooses a small number of acts (three or four, depending on the series) to progress to the live finals. This table shows, for each series, which category each judge was allocated and which acts he or she put through to the live finals.

Key:


 * Winners are in bold, eliminated contestants in small font.

Ratings and awards
Viewing figures of around 14 million on average were claimed for the first series.

Series averages
The show's viewing figures have generally trended up each series. However, this was not the case for series 2 and 3, when the former attracted more viewers than the latter.

Controversy and Media Presence
The Uraps Factor has, from the outset, recieved an enormous amount of press and media attention, far more than has been seen for any show in the past. This has also led to some forms of critiscm. British tabloids constantly feature what dress Candi wears on the live show as a major news story, and often do "fashion battles" between her outfit and Stacys. Critics have declared it an outrage that "someone's dress is front page worthy on a newspaper". The relationship between judges Candi and Brett have also recieved an enormous amount of attention. Many sources stated the couple were engaging in a sexual relationship, however Candi officially released a statement calling it "outrageous". Even Candi's fiance Callum Andrews issued the stories as "rubbish" and stated the pair are just very close friends. After this, a couple of media outlets stated the same story, however involving Brett and Stacy.

Judge's antics are constantly in the papers, including Stacy's supposed backstage meltdowns, where she eats loads as she cries. The rivalry between James and Brett is also often mentioned, as prior to the show the pair hated one another, and often engage in heated arguements both on the camera, and backstage.

Several sources have also stated judge Brett was engaging in sexual activities with series 1 contestant Aimee Stevens, although this has never been confirmed nor denied.

Months after the show ended, it was alleged that former contestant Calvin Hawthorne, who came in tenth place on the show, never sang live and always used pre-recorded vocals which had to be allegedly edited by pitch correction software. Hawthorne was also accused of having no "vocal talents" whatsoever. Hawthorne, the show's producers, even some of the judges have denied this. It was also hinted that Hawthorne did not get along with his mentor, Brett Clarkson, either.

Music releases by The Uraps Factor contestants
To date, three singles and one album have been released by finalists from the show. These include top five entries from Jetfire and Pandora with their singles "Tears In Your Eyes" and "On A Mission". Jetfire's self titled debut album also charted in the top five.