The Uraps Factor (Series 1)

The Uraps Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. The first series began airing on ITV in January 2012. The show was first revealed on 11 December 2011, where it was announced there would be four judges for the show. The following day, Stacy Hart was announced as the first judge. Brett Clarkson was revealed as the second judge on 20 December. The next day, one of the most successful males in the industry, Paulo Araujo was announced as the third judge. On December 27 it was revealed that Candi was the fourth and final judge, and would serve as the series Head Judge. Paolo Rossi from boyband Dante and Sara Walters from girlband INTOXICATED were announced as the show's hosts on December 13. On December 31, it was revealed that Chase Elite and his girlfriend Crystal Barker would be presenting The Uraps Xtra Factor on ITV2. Due to other commitments not specified, Paulo Araujo was removed from the judging panel before the first episode aired, and was replaced by James Moss on January 7 2012.

Judges and presenters
On 11 December 2011, The Uraps Factor was first announced, and that throughout the week the judges and presenters would be revealed. The next day, on 12 December 2011, Stacy Hart was revealed to be the first judge, due to being a former URAPS Idol winner, and therefore should have a good understanding of what the contestants are going through. The second judge was revealed to be Brett Clarkson on 20 December, due to the success he has experienced and for the controversy producers knew he would bring to the show. Paulo Araujo was confirmed to be the third judge on 21 December, due to his iconic status. It was hinted that the final judge was Uraps's 'pop princess'. On 27 December Candi was revealed to be the final judge, and will act as the series head judge. She was chosen for her warm and caring personality, as well as for the reason she is the most successful newcomer of the year, and therefore knows what traits a newcomer needs to crack the market. On 13 December 2011, it was announced that Paolo would be a presenter, best known as one fifth of the biggest boyband of the moment Dante. He would co-host alongside Sara from girlband INTOXICATED, who were currently experiencing massively successful comeback. Finally on 31 December, celebrity couple Chase Elite and Crystal Barker were revealed to be the host's of the ITV2 spin-off show "The Uraps Xtra Factor". When the first episode of "The Uraps Factor" aired on 07 January 2012, it was revealed that James Moss had replaced Paulo Araujo as a judge.

Auditions
Auditions for The Uraps Factor took part in front of show producers and ITV executives, with none of the four judges present. The application and audition process was carried out before the show was officially announced, with auditions taking place in late October and early November. Auditions were held across the country, with major turnouts in large cities including London, Dublin and Manchester. It became the most auditioned for show in Europe of the past 3 years.

Bootcamp
The bootcamp round was not broadcast either, however the judges were present during this. This stage left only 24 contestants, split by six contestants in each of the four categories.

Judges' Houses
The judges discovered which category they were mentoring during the Judges' Houses round, where they had to eliminate three of their six acts. They were also joined by a guest judge to aid in making the decision of who to put through and who to send home. Stacy Hart mentored the Over 25's and was assisted by indie Sandi Cohen, from Ireland. Brett Clarkson mentored the boys and was assisted by fellow slutty singer Bella-May in Anus, Phillipines. Candi judged the girls with her chart-topping fiance from boyband Dante, Callum Andrews in her luxury holiday mansion in L.A. James Moss was with the last remaining category, the groups, in Texas, however due to being hired last minute to replace Paulo, he did not have a guest judge. The judges' houses stage was broadcast on 07 Janaury, 2012. The twelve acts eliminated were
 * Over 25s - Sitty Bang Bang, Curtis Klassen, Sheila Rose
 * Boys - Rod Cox, Noel West, Calvin Hawthorne
 * Girls - Dannii, Laurisa, Sasha Snow
 * Groups - Twinty, Dark Streets, Kimono.

However, out of the twelve eliminated acts, the public were given the chance to vote back their favourite, and the most popular act from each category would return. The act returning from each category (and the percentage of the vote they received) are listed below:
 * Over 25s - Sitty Bang Bang (50%)
 * Boys - Calvin Hawthorne (37.5%)
 * Groups - Kimono (80%)
 * Girls - Sasha Snow (75%)

Finalists
Main article: List of The Uraps Factor finalists (Series 1)

The final 16 finalists were confirmed as follows;

Live shows
The live shows began on 14 January. Each week, the contestants' performances took place on Saturday and the results were announced on Sunday. Each live show also had a different theme. The results show often featured a group performance by the remaining contestants and guest live performances.

The first live results show included live performances from judge James Moss. Fellow judge Candi performed her single "Jigglypuff" on the second weeks live show. Vixen performed on Week 3 as did James Frost on Week 4. Nicholas X and Chase Elite performed their single "Euphoria {song)" on Week 5, and Syd Wolfe also performed. Week 6 saw Chase Elite return to the stage, along with Kleo and Candi, who all appeared on Brett Clarkson's medley of singles from his current era. Aurora Reed took to the stage in Week 7, performing "Healin' Heartbreak". Arianna DiCorso performed "I Bite" in Week 8. Week 9 saw the new girlgroup Bloom perform their debut single "Zip Your Shit", and judge James Moss return to the stage to perform his latest single "Kingdom Hearts". The semi-final in Week 10 featured performances from host Sara, performing "Should Have Known You Were Gay", Paulo Araujo performing his download only single "Heartbreak Hotel". Judge Candi will also once again perform live, with her new single "Sailors Vs Mermaids".

Week 1 (14/15 January)

 * Theme: Current URAPS / UK Top 40 Hits
 * Celebrity performers: James Moss ("Going Under")
 * Judges' votes to eliminate
 * Moss: Trixie – Believed Sasha made more effort by singing a different song
 * Hart: Sasha – Thought Sasha was nothing special, saved her own act
 * Elite: Trixie – Saved her own act
 * Clarkson: Sasha - Thought Trixie was hotter

Week 2 (21/22 January)

 * Theme: 80's Music
 * Celebrity performers: Candi ("Jigglypuff")
 * Judges' votes to eliminate
 * Hart: Johnpaul – Saved her own act
 * Elite: Johnpaul – Thought there was less demand for Johnpaul in the industry
 * Clarkson: Sitty – Saved his own act
 * Moss: Johnpaul - Dissapointed with Johnpaul's final showdown performance

Week 3 (28/29 January)

 * Theme: Rock Week
 * Celebrity performers: Vixen ("The Perfect Meledy")
 * Judges' votes to eliminate
 * Hart: Kimono – Saved her own act
 * Elite: Sebastian – Thought Kimono were fun and had a potential market
 * Moss: Kimono – Thought Kimono didn't suit the theme (voted out his own act)
 * Clarkson: Kimono - Preffered Sebastian's song choice

Week 4 (4/5 February)

 * Theme: Songs From Films Week
 * Celebrity performers: James Frost ("Move On")
 * Judges' votes to eliminate
 * Hart: Refused to vote – Both acts were here category, refused to choose
 * Clarkson: Sebastian – Voted with his penis
 * Moss: Sitty – Likes producers
 * Elite: Sebastian - Thought Sitty had more star quality

Week 5 (18/19 February)

 * Theme: Love Songs
 * Celebrity performers: Nicholas X & Chase Elite ("Euphoria (song)") ; Syd Wolfe ("Red Blooded Man")
 * Judges' votes to eliminate
 * Clarkson: Calvin - Gave no reason (both his acts)
 * Moss: Calvin - Thought he'd struggle to keep up after breaking his leg
 * Elite: Calvin - Thought Rhys had an off-day but was overall more talented than Calvin
 * Hart: Calvin - For his health

Week 6 (25/26 February)

 * Theme: Songs by your mentor
 * Celebrity performers: Brett Clarkson (starring Candi, Chase Elite & Kleo ("Filth Medley") ;
 * Judges' votes to eliminate
 * Hart: Justin - Saved her own act
 * Clarkson: Ashley - Saved his own act
 * Elite: Ashley - Believed she hadn't progressed as much as the other contestants
 * Moss: Justin - Due to personal dislike towards Brett Clarkson

Week 7 (03/04 March)

 * Theme: Duets
 * Celebrity performers: Aurora Reed ("Healin Heartbreak")
 * Judges' votes to eliminate
 * Hart: Kicks - Believed Rhys had more potential
 * Moss: Rhys - Saved his own act
 * Clarkson: Kicks - Saved his own act
 * Elite: Rhys - Believed Rhys' performances were the weakest

Week 8 (10/11 March)

 * Theme: Seven Deadly Sins
 * Celebrity performers: *Celebrity performers: Arianna DiCorso ("I Bite")
 * Judges' votes to eliminate
 * Elite: Kicks - Saved her own act
 * Moss: Sasha - Saved his own act
 * Hart: Kicks - Believed Sasha could go further in competition
 * Clarkson: Sasha - So Candi wouldn't still have all 4 acts left

Week 9 (24/25 March)
The quarter-final did not feature a final showdown and instead the act with the two acts with the fewest public votes, Justin Thorne and Jetfire, were automatically eliminated.
 * Theme: Songs personal to you
 * Celebrity performers: *Celebrity performers: Bloom ("Zip Your Sh*t"), James Moss ("Kingdom Hearts")

Week 10 (7/8 April)

 * Theme: Song picked by judge (Candi) & own choice
 * Celebrity performers: *Celebrity performers: Sara ("Should Have Know U Were Gay"), Paulo Araujo ("Heartbreak Hotel"), Candi ("Sailors Vs Mermaids")

Saturday Final

 * Theme: Live Final (Saturday Night). First song: Best performance of series, second performance: Celebrity duet
 * Celebrity performers: Candi & Crystal Barker - Summer Nights

Sunday Final

 * Theme: Winner's Single

Controversy
The show has been a massive feature in the British media, often covering the front pages of newspapers in the UK. Backstage fights between Brett Clarkson and James Moss are often discussed, and usually are evident when the pair clash on the live shows. Stacy Hart is also often rumoured to having an eating issue, where she sits backstage and cries all day while eating cakes. A large amount of criticsm was placed on the show on 29 January 2012, after James Moss voted out one of his own acts (Kimono), over an act from another category, who ironically was eliminated the following week. Many tabloids questioned his loyalties towards his acts. The next week, Stacy Hart refused to choose between her two acts that were in the bottom two, causing "The Sun" to criticse the show further.

In early February, a vast amount of media outlets stated that judges Candi (who is engaged to Callum Andrews) and Brett Clarkson were in engaging in an affair, taking place backstage - however these rumours were officially found to be false. Rumours then followed that backstage antics had actually been between Brett and other female judge, Stacy Hart. Also, due to technical issues, Week 5 was delayed one week. Rumours also circulated that 10th place contestant Calvin Hawthorne was miming during certain performances. On the week of his elimination, Hawthorne fell off the stage during his performance and broke his leg.

There was also a lot of controversy surrounding runner-up Aimee Stevens. Many of Stevens' performances were extremelly over-sexual. Her relationship with judge Clarkson was also often discussed both on stage and back stage. She was infamous for often griding against Clarkson during performances, and even put her hands down his pants on certain occasions. During one performance of "Don't Cha", Stevens held up a picture of Clarkson's partner Charlee Brookes when she sang "Don't cha wish your girlfriend was hot like me". In January 2013, the series winner Pandora revealed their had been constant backstage fights between herself and Stevens, however they had put their differences aside since the show ended.

Success after the show

 * 1st place Pandora released her winner's single "On A Mission" on July 30, 2012. It charted at #4. Her second single "Anonymous" hit #1.
 * 2nd place Aimee Stevens has released five top ten singles and one studio album.
 * 3rd place Sasha Snow confirmed she is working on material, however nothing materialised.
 * 5th place group Jetfire have released five singles and two albums, including three number one singles and a number one album.
 * 7th place group Kicks signed with Next Generation Records however disbanded in 2013.
 * 10th place Calvin Hawthorne has released seven singles and two albums including a #1 debut album, "Kelvin". However, he died in 2014.
 * 12th place Sebastian LeBlanc appeared on a track on Audiodrama's album (I think).
 * 13th place group Kimono appeared on a track on 8-BIT's #1 album "Character Select".
 * 16th place group Audiodrama have released several singles and albums to great success.