The ninth season of the X Factor Romania talent show premiered September 11, 2020. Delia Matache and Ștefan Bănică Jr. kept their roles as judges while Loredana Groza and X Factor (Romanian season 3) winner, Florin Ristei, were the two new judges of the talent show. Răzvan Simion and Dani Oțil, the presenters of the morning show Neatza cu Răzvan și Dani returned as the show's hosts after an absence of one season. Crina Mardare was the only vocal coach of the season.
The aspiring artists were able to register online on the site of the show. From these, the producer selected the artists who are to enter the audition stage. This season had the motto #deneoprit () due to the fact that the whole show is filmed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Categories
Colour key: Winner Runner-up Eliminated in the Semifinal Eliminated in the Duels Eliminated in the Bootcamp Wildcard
Auditions
Auditions took place in Bucharest only, because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Filming started on July 7, 2020.
According to the X Factor Romania - the ninth season regulations, each judges was assigned a category to mentor.
Boys between the ages of 14 and 24 - Loredana Groza
Girls between the ages of 14 and 24 - Ștefan Bănică Jr. Artists over the age of 24 (mixed) - Delia Matache Groups - Florin Ristei
Each judge had the right to one vote for each contestant with: "YES" or "NO". Those who received 4 YES-es were advanced directly to the next stage. Those with 3 YES-es were put on the short list of the judge that mentored their category. The judge that mentored the groups category had the opportunity to form groups after the auditions; he could ask for each artist that received 3 YES-es. The judge that mentored the category of the respective artists decided if he will keep them in his category or if he will leave them for the group category.
Each judge completed his team with 10 artists/musical acts.
Episode 1 (September 11)
Episode 2 (September 18)
Episode 3 (September 25)
Episode 4 (October 2)
Episode 5 (October 9)
Episode 6 (October 16)
Episode 7 (October 23)
Episode 8 (October 30)
Episode 9 (November 6)
Episode 10 (November 12)
Episode 11 (November 13)
Episode 12 (November 19)
Episode 13 (November 20)
Systematized auditions summary
Boys
Advanced automatically with 4 YES-es
Theodor Andrei
Robert Botezan
Denis Costea
Arthur Horeanu
Eden Loren
Adrian Petrache
Iulian Selea
David Adrian Ștefan
Advanced through the short list with 3 YES-es
Kashy (Gabi Gruici) Liviu Panait
Girls
Advanced automatically with 4 YES-es
Ioana Ardelean
Andra Barangă
Melania Cuc
Andreea Dobre
Ana Paula Rada Pantea
Andrada Precup
Alexandra Sîrghi
Oana Velea
Marta Verrecchia
Advanced through the short list with 3 YES-es
Marina Vlad
Groups
Advanced automatically with 4 YES-es
Diana & Ioana Conta
Oana & George Indru
Super 4
Hello (Teodora & Marian) Trio Eva
Advanced through the short list with 3 YES-es
West Vlads (Vlad Erdei & Vlad Moigrădeanu)
Formed by Ristei consisting of 3 YES-es contestants rejected by the mentor of their original category 4SURE (Vasi Bistrae, Zoran Demian, Marian Vasilesc & Mistah White) It's US! (Chriss Casper & Daria Pintilie) RB Queens (Cristina Gheorghe, Anne Laura Noupadja, Cristina Vasiu) Tiny Tigers (Alexandra Căpitănescu, Bianca Ionescu, Carla Ioniță, Karina Ștefan)
Over 24s
Advanced automatically with 4 YES-es
Iulian Canaf
Alina Dincă
Mehmet Dural
Otilia Gogu
Naomi Hedman
Austin Hirth
Lakeetra Knowles
Sonia Mosca
Kalon Rae
Advanced through the short list with 3 YES-es
Mihai Meiroș
Bootcamp
Each judge completed its team with 10 artists. In case the judges did not have enough contestants in their teams who passed automatically with 4 YES-es, they had to choose from those with 3 YES-es from their short list.
In the bootcamp, each contestant performed a song and only 3 artists per category were advanced.
Episode 14 − Boys (November 26) Color key – Contestant was immediately eliminated after performance without switch – Contestant was switched out later in the competition and eventually eliminated – Contestant was not switched out and made the final three of their own category
Episode 15 − Girls (November 27)
Episode 16 − Groups (December 3)