After walking away from his musical dream following the breakup of his band Masonia in 2008, Altiyan was encouraged to try out for The X Factor by his father, only to forget the words to Kings of Leon's "Sex on Fire" at the Sydney auditions in what would become a running joke for much of the series. His mentor Ronan Keating raised eyebrows by granting Altiyan yet another chance when "the forgetful forklift driver" again struggled with lyrics during bootcamp, before eventually putting him through to the top three in the Over 25s category.
When Altiyan avoided the bottom two following his falsetto rendition of Prince's "Kiss" in the second week of the finals, he was booed by the studio audience. But from there, a series of increasingly strong performances saw the hype over Altiyan rise until he became the competition favourite. He was announced the winner of The X Factor after a drawn-out grand finale spanning four hours over two nights.
Top 12, Jamiroquai and James Blunt Perform
The first half of the grand final results show opened with red-clad dancers and an alien DJ dropping from the ceiling, before the doors opened to reveal the top 12 contestants who reunited for a group performance of Taio Cruz's "Dynamite".
Fresh from their duets with Sally Chatfield and Andrew Lawson respectively during the previous night's performance show, The X Factor again welcomed Jamiroquai and James Blunt to the stage. Jamiroquai performed their funky new song "White Knuckle Ride", the lead single from Rock Dust Light Star. Blunt followed with his hand-clapping surf pop single "Stay the Night" in promotion of his new album Some Kind of Trouble.
The final 12 returned to the stage to perform "With a Little Help From My Friends", before the first round of results were announced.
Three Becomes Two: Andrew Eliminated
Luke Jacobz revealed "in no particular order" which two contestants had received the most votes from the public: Sally Chatfield and Altiyan Childs. This eliminated teenage crooner Andrew Lawson and his mentor Kyle Sandilands from the competition.
Guy Sebastian, INXS and the Top 2 Perform
While all his groups had been eliminated before the grand final, Guy Sebastian still played his part in the big show, performing "Who's That Girl?" with American rapper Eve, a new song from Guy's greatest hits compilation Twenty Ten. Sally and Altiyan also took to the stage again for a duet of "Sweet Disposition" by The Temper Trap.
On the 13th anniversary of Michael Hutchence's death, INXS — with Baby Animals singer Suze DeMarchi as guest vocalist — performed "New Sensation" with a new country folk twist.
Sally and Altiyan each returned to perform their favourite songs from the finals series, with Sally selecting Paramore's "Decode" and Altiyan following with "Beautiful Day" by U2.
The Announcement: Altiyan Has the X Factor
"The winner of The X Factor for 2010 is... Altiyan Childs." Luke Jacobz's announcement prompted an outpouring of emotion from Altiyan and a very proud Ronan, who even lifted his prodige off the ground in his excitement. Altiyan then stepped into the crowd to perform what was now his debut solo single "Somewhere in the World".
"I just want to say: Australia, thanks for stealing my heart away," said Altiyan. "Ronan, thank you, brother, you know exactly what for. And I just want to say to my father — We did it!"
With that, the curtain closed on The X Factor in Australia, at least for 2010. Channel Seven has yet to confirm a second series; the decision may hinge partly on whether or not Altiyan finally finds commercial success in the music industry.
Lee-Ann Khoh - Lee-Ann Khoh has been writing since she could read and hold a pen, and exploring the World Wide Web for more than a decade. These two ...
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