Thursday, October 22 marks the start of a new phase for Sassari’s Mad-Dog. After making it through Auditions, Bootcamp and Last Call, Renato Marchisio, Davide Dore, Jacopo Sale and Luca Pintus will make their debut on the X Factor 2026 Live Shows, broadcast from the Teatro Repower in Assago.
The band will be on Paola Iezzi’s team, alongside Manù and Camilla Guerini. Having secured their place in the live shows, their goal is to keep competing all the way to the December 3 final.
What awaits Mad-Dog at their first Live Show
Moving on to the Live Shows means working continuously with their judge and the program’s staff: song assignments, rehearsals and performance preparation will shape the contestants’ weeks.
For Mad-Dog, it will be an opportunity to develop the rock identity they showed in the selection rounds and work on the feedback they received. At Last Call, after their performance of “Somebody Told Me” by The Killers, Paola Iezzi noted that it was too fast, while still expressing her confidence in the group.
Qualifying for Paola’s team therefore opens up a different challenge for Mad-Dog: delivering consistently strong performances and building a connection with the audience.
How the competition changes: audience, televoting and eliminations
In the Live Shows, contestants face an elimination round on the way to the final. The audience joins the competition through televoting, becoming part of the decisions that shape the contest.
Under the program’s usual format, the contestants with the fewest votes may face a showdown, a challenge to stay in the competition in which the judges also have a say.
Anyone wanting to support Mad-Dog should therefore follow the instructions given during the live broadcast when voting opens.
The October 22 twist: one contestant could return
The first Live Show will already feature a special element: Giorgia’s Škoda X-Pass.
The host has selected two artists who were eliminated during the selection rounds to give them a second chance. Both will return to the stage on October 22, but only one can rejoin the official lineup: the audience will choose the winner by televote.
The twelve contestants selected by the judges will therefore also have to contend with this return.
From original songs to the final: the road to victory
The competition will continue over the following weeks. One of the announced milestones will be the presentation of original songs, with Warner Music Italy supporting the program throughout the release process.
For a band that already has an original repertoire, as covered in our feature on the story of Mad-Dog, this will be a particularly meaningful milestone if they make it that far.
The goal is Thursday, December 3, at the Unipol Forum in Assago, where the final will take place. First, though, comes their debut: October 22 at 9:15 p.m. on Sky Uno and streaming on NOW. Rehearsals and song assignments will also be covered on X Factor Daily, every day at 8:30 p.m..