The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. The sixth series started on
ITV on 22 August 2009 and was won by
Joe McElderry on 13 December 2009.
Cheryl Cole emerged as the winning mentor for the second consecutive year, the first time in the show's history that a mentor has won back-to-back series. The show was presented by
Dermot O'Leary, with spin-off show
The Xtra Factor presented by
Holly Willoughby on ITV2. McElderry's winner's single was a
cover version of
Miley Cyrus's "
The Climb". Public auditions by aspiring singers began in June 2009 and were held in five cities across the UK.
Simon Cowell,
Louis Walsh,
Dannii Minogue and Cole returned as judges. For the first time, auditions were held in front of a live audience. Following initial auditions, the "bootcamp" stage took place in August 2009, where the number of contestants was narrowed down to 24. The 24 contestants were split into their categories, Boys, Girls, Over 25s and Groups, and given a judge to mentor them at the "judges' houses" stage and throughout the finals.