X Factor host Dermot O'Leary has said the new series of The X Factor, which begins on Saturday on ITV, has a "nostaligic feel" and is much "warmer" than in previous series. Traditional "intimate" closed auditions have been restored.
A contestant has already been picked as a favourite to win the 2013 series - even before the series starts.
Prison officer Sam Bailey's first audition captured the judges' attention.
Her rendition of "Who's Loving You" led Louis Walsh to draw a comparison to Susan Boyle and the infamously hard-to-please Gary Barlow told her he had "never seen an audition as good as that".
Her audition has already stirred up some rivalry on the judges' panel.
Sharon Osbourne told her: "I bag you first. You and me will go to the top together."
Watch Sam's progress when the series starts this Saturday at 8 pm on ITV.
X Factor judge Gary Barlow tells a contestant on tonight's show that she has "potential beyond belief" despite being lost for words.
X Factor marks the return of Sharon Osbourne to the judging panel five years after she quit amid rumours of tension with a fellow judge.