host. After season one, Jones followed Scherzinger and judge Paula Abdul out the door as they were all dismissed from their duties on the show. Reports on who was going to replace Jones as the host circulated for months. Reality star Khloé Kardashian and Extra host Mario Lopez were confirmed as the two hosts hired. The season two auditions, boot camp, and judges' houses phases of the show went on without hosts as they were not yet confirmed. On April 22, 2013, Fox announced that Lopez would return as sole host for season three after Kardashian was not asked back as co-host. Judges' categories and their contestants In each season, each judge is allocated a category to mentor and chooses a small number of acts (four or five, depending on the season) to progress to the live finals. This table shows, for each season, which category each judge was allocated and which acts he or she put through to the live finals. – Winning judge/category. Winners are in bold, eliminated contestants in small font. Pre-show The Pepsi Pre-show Live is a podcast, sponsored by Pepsi, that is broadcast through the X Factor website one hour before every episode in the live rounds of the show. This program features behind-the-scenes looks backstage, acoustic performances, and interviews with celebrities, judges, contestants, and X Factor alumni. This program is hosted by Jesse Giddings, Adrienne Bailon, and Jim Cantiello. Reception Television ratings Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of The X Factor on Fox. Each U.S. network television season starts in late September and ends in late May, which coincides with the completion of May sweeps. The show was also broadcast on ITV2 in the united Kingdom, season 1 proved popular launching just 1 day after the American launch date Awards and nominations At the 2012 Teen Choice Awards, The X Factor beat rival shows American Idol and The Voice to take the award for Reality Competition Show. The X Factor also won the award for Breakout Show, and Simon Cowell won the Male Personality award. Controversies In the quarter-final of season one, Scherzinger voted to eliminate contestant Rachel Crow from the show over Marcus Canty; this sent the result to deadlock. Following this, Crow was eliminated and Scherzinger was booed off the stage and her future on the show was put in jeopardy. She subsequently received death threats from some