The X Factor is facing the biggest overhaul for the live shows in its 13-year history.

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The sing-off between the bottom two acts has been scrapped, meaning judges Simon Cowell, Louis Walsh, Nicole Scherzinger and Sharon Osbourne will no longer be the ones deciding who stays and who goes.

And yes, that does mean that Deadlock has been done away with, too. But that's not all...

Why is there no sing-off on The X Factor?

In previous series of the show, all the acts would sing on Saturday night and the two performers who received the lowest number of votes from the public would land in the bottom two.

They would then perform again on Sunday night's results show, and the judges would decide based on that song who should stay and who should leave. If they couldn't reach a majority vote (or one of them decided to abstain *cough* Cheryl *cough*) the decision would go to Deadlock, deferring back to the public vote.

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However this year, that has all been completely done away with. Instead, the act who receives the lowest vote from the public on Saturday will leave that night, and the act with the lowest vote on Sunday will also be sent packing.

So two acts will definitely be eliminated this weekend.

How are the Saturday and Sunday live shows going to work?

The traditional Sunday night results show has been completely scrapped this year in a dramatic shake-up of the format.

Instead, there are going to be two near-identical episodes of The X Factor on both Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday night will see both Nicole Scherzinger's Overs and Simon Cowell's Groups performing (this will include each judge's three finalists and one Wildcard). The act who receives the lowest number of votes will automatically leave the show.

On Sunday, Sharon Osbourne's Girls and Louis Walsh's Boys will go through the same process, with the least-voted for act from those eight performances also sent home.

But the format change doesn't end there.

What is The X Factor's new Sunday night sing-off?

Believe it or not, there is still a sing-off on The X Factor. But instead of being between the bottom two singers, it's now between the top two acts.

The act who gets the most votes on Saturday night (when the Groups and the Overs compete) will go up against the top performer from Sunday night (from the Girls and the Boys) in a sing-off. The act who is deemed the best of the two will then win a music-themed prize. Quite what this will be remains to be seen. Maybe it's a pile of signed Boyzone and Westlife albums that Louis has clogging up his garage? Who knows.

Who are the The X Factor 2017 finalists?

The 12 finalists for the live shows have been confirmed, but we are yet to find out the four wildcard acts that the public have been voting for.

For Simon Cowell's Groups, the three we definitely know are through are Rak-Su, Sean and Conor Price and The Cutkelvins, while in Sharon Osbourne's Girls the final trio are Grace Davies, Rai-Elle Williams and Holly Tandy.

Holly Tandy on The X Factor 2017

In Nicole Scherzinger's Overs category, the three singers she took through from Judges' Houses were Kevin Davy White, Matt Linnen and Tracyleanne Jefford.

And last but not least, Louis Walsh's Boys. The final three from his category are Lloyd Macey, Sam Black and Spencer Sutherland.

Are there still themed weeks on The X Factor?

Surprisingly, yes there are. Despite the fact that Halloween Week was scrapped, the shows are still going to have themes.

Week one has the rather woolly theme of 'express yourself', where each act "will perform a song that best represents who they are as an artist."

Which means that Lloyd Macey is performing City of Stars from La La Land and The Cutkelvins are singing Pink's What About Us. Which leads us onto...

Which songs are being performed?

The song list for week one has been released and will also see tunes from the likes of London Grammar, Rihanna and Jessie J being performed by the finalists.

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The X Factor airs Saturday October 28th at 8.20pm and and Sunday October 29th at 7pm on ITV.

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