The rumors are true: Simon Cowell is leaving American Idol after the coming season.
He’ll become “both an executive producer and a judge on The X Factor, which will have its premiere in the fall of 2011.”
The X Factor will be an American version of the British hit, which Cowell created and owns, and which is now in its sixth year. It’s an Idol-like show, with a few twists:
Each contestant needs three yeses to pass their audition; not two yeses and “I think you’d be good in a boyband” from Louis — it’s three yeses every time.
Those who survive the audition phase then graduate to bootcamp, where they are put through their paces and mercilessly whittled down, until 24 acts remain. Each judge is then assigned a category to mentor and it’s off to the judges’ houses. Six acts go to each house, but only three will return.
The live show stage of the competition begins… as each week we lose the act with the fewest public votes.
Cowell keeps up quite an amazing pace, playing his role of snarky judge on American Idol, The X Factor, and Britain’s Got Talent. How cranky can one man be?
Still, he’s walking away from a reported $36 million salary on American Idol. He must think an American X Factor has a good shot.
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(Photo supplied by WENN.)