Complete Coverage: 2011 TCA Summer Press Tour
During Fox's TCA press tour session
Friday morning, the network announced a few key dates for X Factor to
go along with the already-announced two-night premiere on Sept. 21-22.
Contestants who
make it past the opening auditions will move on to the "Boot Camp" round,
beginning Oct. 5, that will see each perform in front of a live audience as
well as the judges. The next round, which will place the contestants into four
groups (young guys, young girls, older singers and groups), begins on Oct. 12.
Each judge will be giving one of the groups to mentor, and will select the
finalists on a special Tuesday edition on Oct. 25.
The first live show will be Wednesday Nov. 2, and the two-night season finale
will be Dec. 21-22. Along with the $5 million recording contract with Sony
Music/Syco, the winner will be featured in a Pepsi ad during Super Bowl XLVI in
February 2012.
"Pepsi has a long history of being the curator, creator and catalyst of
exciting, new music; and The X Factor partnership is a great way for us
to continue to bring fresh musical talent to new generations," said Frank
Cooper, chief consumer engagement officer, PepsiCo Americas Beverages.
Fox also announced Friday morning that it is bringing back Carl Sagan's
space-exploration series Cosmos. Set to debut in 2013, the new version,
named Cosmos: A Space-Time Odyssey, will be executive produced by Family
Guy creator Seth MacFarlane, and Sagan's original collaborators Ann Druyan
and Steven Soter. Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse will host.
