judges commented on their performance. Once all the acts had performed, the phone lines opened and the viewing public voted on which act they wanted to keep in the competition. The results were announced during the live decider show the following day, in aid to give the Australian public time to vote. The two acts that received the lowest number of votes performed again in the "final showdown", and the judges voted on which of the two to send home. In the first season, there would never be an even number, therefore one act would always be eliminated by a majority. However, once a fourth judge was added to the panel, this was possible and "deadlock" was introduced in case of a tie vote. If the final showdown got to deadlock, the act with the lowest number of votes was eliminated from the competition. The actual number of votes cast for each act was not revealed, nor was the order. The results show also featured a number of celebrity guest performers promoting their singles or albums, usually their latest ones. The winner of The X Factor was awarded a $1000000 recording contract with Sony Music Australia. In season three, the winner was also awarded a management contract, and in season four, a Nissan Dualis car. Series overview Judges and hosts Judges The X Factor debuted in 2005 with Australian recording artist Kate Ceberano, record producer Mark Holden, and Scottish events manager John Reid as the judges. Ceberano's judging skills were compared to X Factor UK judge, Sharon Osbourne. When it was announced that The X Factor would return in 2010, British reality television star Peter Andre was linked to the role. However, he declined the offer as he did not want to be away from his children for so long. The judging line up was announced in May 2010 with Irish recording artist Ronan Keating, radio presenter Kyle Sandilands, and Australian recording artists Guy Sebastian and Natalie Imbruglia. On 16 March 2011, Sandilands announced that he would not be returning for season 3, stating that he left the show because "it's just too hectic, it's too much work". On 27 April 2011, the Seven Network confirmed that Mel B would be Sandilands' replacement, and Natalie Bassingthwaighte was confirmed as Imbruglia's replacement on 6 May 2011. Bassingthwaighte said she would focus on bringing an honest critique to the show and will