Simon Cowell Out at IDOL; In at THE X FACTOR
January 11, 2010 by Kath Skerry
The rumors that have been swirling for quite some time now were confirmed by Fox earlier today. This season of American Idol, premiering tomorrow night, will indeed be Simon Cowell’s last. But if you’re a fan of Cowell, don’t fret. The surly judge will be back on Fox in the Fall of 2011 as judge an Executive Producer of The X Factor, a British talent show which Cowell created and launched in the U.K. back in 2004. The X Factor is best known in the U.S. for launching the career of pop star, Leona Lewis.
“I’m thrilled that we have put a date on the launch of the U.S. version of THE X FACTOR, and delighted to be continuing to work with FOX,” said Cowell. “We have a fantastic relationship, a great team and are all very excited about this.”
As for the future of American Idol, I wouldn’t worry about that show going away anytime soon. Even without Cowell it will still be a hit. Perhaps not as massive as it is now, as the show has seen a decline in ratings, but it’s not picking at the bottom of the barrel and won’t be for quite some time. Fox Entertainment President, Kevin Reilly, confirmed today that new Idol host Ellen DeGeneres was only kidding when she commented in last week’s Entertainment Weekly that she would leave the show if Simon left. DeGeneres has signed on to be an Idol judge for the next five seasons.
Will you still watch American Idol after Simon leaves? Will his appearance make you more likely to watch The X Factor? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.
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X-Factor is better than American Idol…they should pick one or the other. X-Factor gives the opportunity to older singers as well as groups. Idol contestants are between 18-29 I think. More variety and better talent with X-Factor. Idol has really had some rough years since season 5. I think its run its course. The last legitimate winner we had was Carrie Underwood and that was in 2005. Time for Idol to be done.
I don’t know. The public can turn away from a show pretty quickly if given reason to. And Simon leaving may very well be that reason to stop watching AI, especially if The X Factor is a huge hit. It’s very possible the public will follow Simon and just shift their viewing to The X Factor instead. Who knows?
The first season of American Idol was great!!