Before a massive audience of Packers and Steelers fans, Fox unveiled an
epic ad for “The X Factor,” its best hope for the next blockbuster
singing competition, created by the former “American Idol” judge. The
spot showed bits and pieces of Cowell’s body coalescing into a whole.
As the not-too-subtle caption put it, “He’s back.”
On Monday morning, Fox announced that “X Factor,” scheduled to premiere this fall, will provide the winner with a
record deal with Syco, a joint venture between Sony Music and Cowell.
Later that day, Cowell was on the first of what will no doubt be many
conference calls with journalists across the country and beyond,
gushing about the “life-changing” prize, comparing the difference
between “American Idol” and “X Factor” to the difference between
“Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” and “Jersey Shore.”
As for the current, Cowell-free season of “Idol,” he
claimed, “I haven’t seen a full episode,” continuing, “I think we’re
going to do something different. I’m excited. The stakes are high.”
Indeed, there’s a lot of pressure on Cowell. Fox is
still recovering from a rough fall season, when it finished last among
the major networks in total viewers. “Idol” is still holding strong in
the ratings, but it’s showing its age, with its most recent season
premiere dipping 18 percent among the crucial 18-to-49 demographic.
Meanwhile, “Dancing With the Stars” and “America’s Got Talent” are
closing in on the same audience, complete with their own
insult-lobbing, foreign-accented judges — a role that Cowell once had
cornered.
Now it’s up to Cowell to revive the genre he helped
succeed. With “X Factor,” he’s offering the largest guaranteed prize in
television history. He’s challenging judges to be more competitive with
one another: Each will mentor his or her own “X Factor” hopefuls, and
fight for that person’s survival. And he’s expanding the age range for
contestants — 12 years old on the low end and no upper cap. “I think it
makes the competition more exciting that you’re going to find a 12-,
13-, 14-year-old genius performer who could be competing against a
45-year-old,” he said.
If those preteens aren’t brave enough to massacre
their elders, they probably won’t survive the auditions, which will be
held live before 4,000 or 5,000 people in an arena. “It was supposed to
be similar to them doing their first concert,” Cowell explained. “It
really helped show me who could handle the pressure.”
Cowell claims that allowing the crowd to react in
real time will help him avoid overlooking another big star. “There have
been many, many times on these shows where I’ve hated somebody and
practically had a mutiny going on behind me,” he said. “I don’t believe
Exactly which judges would be deliberating on the future
“I’m a massive fan of Paula,” he said. “We’ve been in regular contact.”
Cowell said he’d consider Brits and Americans alike,
as long as they could recognize star quality when they saw it. “Over
the years you’ve seen a different type of artist emerge,” he explained,
noting that a certain “je ne sais quoi” has become just as important as
chops. “A good example of that is Lady Gaga. God only knows what we
would have said to her if she’d walked into ‘Idol’ three years ago with
a lobster on her head. I don’t know. But she’s got it.”
Whether Cowell’s still got it is hard to say,
especially seven long months away from the premiere date. But at a time
when the music industry’s struggling, he’s going to have to work harder
to make another success like
the conference call, one reporter asked him directly: After 10 years of
“Idol,” are there any undiscovered stars left out there, waiting
patiently for reality TV to come find them?
“Well,” Cowell quipped, “You’ve only got to find one.”
———
(c) 2011, Los Angeles Times.
Visit the Los Angeles Times on the Internet at http://www.latimes.com/.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
