Music like Sophie Habibis

The eighth UK series of The X Factor was broadcast on ITV from 20 August 2011, with the live shows starting on 8 October 2011. Girl group Little Mix were the winners, and the runner-up was Marcus Collins. After The X Factor, several of the contestants went on to release singles, including Little Mix, Collins, Amelia Lily, Misha B, Frankie Cocozza, The Risk and 2 Shoes. On 25 July 2013, three contestants from series 8 - Little Mix, Amelia Lily and Misha B - were included in the (three-minute 41-second) X Factor Ultimate Mash-Up, a video trailer for series 10, a selection of 13 tracks and artists chosen to represent a decade of 'The X Factor' artists impact on the UK national chart.

The "Boys" category was mentored by Gary Barlow. Contestants in this category are males aged 16 to 24. The eight candidates were Frankie Cocozza, Marcus Collins, Craig Colton, Joe Cox, Luke Lucas, James Michael, Max Vickers and John Wilding. Barlow chose: