Season 2

Season 2 of The X-Factor premiered on September 12, 2012 to December 20, 2012 on FOX. Steve Jones was let go after season 1. Reality TV star Khloe Kardashian Odom and actor/television host Mario Lopez were named the hosts in October 2012 after months of rumors. Simon Cowell, LA Reid, Britney Spears and Demi Lovato will be on the judging panel.

This season is also the last for judge LA Reid, who announced on December 13, 2012 that he will not be returning to the show. On January 10, 2013, Britney Spears was confirmed to also not be returning.

This season was won by 37-year-old country singer Tate Stevens.

Changes
Besides Spears and Lovato joining the judging panel and Odom and Lopez as the hosts, there are other changes as well. During the audition process, the show was presented in a documentary-style, which some critics like Lydnsey Parker and Matt Wittfield of Yahoo! Music both say they liked.

Also the catagories have changed. While the Groups catagory remains the same, the other three are different. Instead of seperating by age or gender, the three new catagories are the Teens(age 13-17), the Young Adults(age 18-24) and the over 25s.



Criticial reception
Reaction to both Lovato and Spears has mostly been positive. Some fans and critics even claimed to be surprised by how well both women were as judges despite Lovato getting criticized by some for her fashion choices. Some fans even found the documentry-style feel of the show to be a good change of pace from how the show had been presented before.

On October 22, 2012, FOX announced that the show has been renewed for a third season.

Concerns over Britney Spears
The first bit of controversy that has occurred has been multiple reports of new judge Britney Spears supposedly walking out during the auditions, which has led critics to call her unprofessional and some to express worry over her state of mind. The show and its producers, however, have stood by Spears, saying that they are happy that she is a part of the show and that they don't regret hiring her to be a judge. However, some critics have said that they find Spears to be useless during the live shows, mostly pointing out that most of her critiques contain the word "amazing" in it.

LA Reid's bad reaction to his catagory
Another bit of outrage was over judge LA Reid's reaction to him getting the over 25s catagory, which consisted of him slamming his phone down and walking out of his office. He also expressed his displeasure over him getting this catagory to the very people he was mentoring which included the eventual winner Tate Stevens. Some critics have slammed Reid for his behavior.

Reaction to the hosts
While reaction to Mario Lopez becoming a host on the show was mostly well-received, reaction to Khloe Kardashian Odom being a part of the show has mostly been very negative due to her lack of experience and the fame she achieved, along with her family, on reality television. Critics questioned her qualifications while people went on various blogs and blasted her for having no talent. Many have even accused Khloe's mother, Kris Jenner, who is also her manager, of "pimping" her out despite Simon Cowell saying in interviews that he wanted Khloe on the show. Despite the negative reaction from the public when the news first came out, she has managed to impress despite one minor wardrobe malfunction during the first week of live shows.

Top 16 reveal mess-up
During the October 17, 2012 episode in which the judges would reveal who they were taking to the live shows, the episode got cut off in the middle of judge Demi Lovato revealing the contestants she was taking to the live shows by Game 3 of the 2012 National League Championship Series between the San Francisco Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals, which had been delayed by rain for almost 3 and a half hours. Instead of allowing the episode to continue, FOX opted to air the game instead of finishing up the episode, which caused people to take to the internet to air their frustrations, and some even called FOX to complain. Simon Cowell even took to his Twitter and posted this: "It's what's known as a total f up."

The network reaired the episode in its entirity the following week.