The X Factor is an American television music competition to find new singing talent. The show was created by Simon Cowell and is produced by SYCOtv.[2] It premiered on September 21, 2011[3] on Fox.

As part of the British X Factor franchise, the program's format has numerous differences from its rivals, including American Idol, among others. The competition is open to both solo artists and groups and has no upper age limit. Each judge is assigned one of four categories—either girls between 12 and 30, boys between 12 and 30, individuals over 30, or groups (some of which may be formed from rejected soloists after the audition process).[4] Through the live shows, the judges act as mentors to their category, helping to decide song choices, styling and staging, while judging contestants from the other categories; they also compete to ensure that their act wins the competition, thus making them the winning judge. The winner stands to receive a $5 million recording contract[5] and will also star in their own Pepsi commercial, which will air at Super Bowl XLVI on NBC.