Simon Cowell reflects on ‘X Factor,’ British shows: “It was the year my ego was put in check”

Simon Cowell (© Mario Anzuoni / Reuters - REUTERS) Singing show fatigue: Not exclusive to the United States? It appears to be hitting the U.K. too, though naturally, Simon Cowell is insisting it’s all about him.

In an interview with British paper The Sun, Cowell said, “I got a bit too cocky. We got a big wake-up call,” in regards to less- than-stellar ratings for his UK “The X Factor” and “Britian’s Got Talent.”

Cowell notes that his own arrogance played a part, from troubles with his U.K. shows to the U.S. “X Factor,” specifically by “making those massive predictions in America.”

(By “massive predictions,” Cowell means when he told trade publication Hollywood Reporter that anything less than 20 million viewers for “The X Factor” on Fox would be a failure. And, as it turned out, the show did not reach that mark.)

“I did get too arrogant, everyone does,” Cowell admitted. “When you have a very good year like I did in 2010 you get a bit cocky. You think you are great, then you get a bit of a smack.”

“It was the year my ego was put in check,” he added.

So, if it’s really all about Cowell’s arrogance, as he would suggest...does that mean if he’s less cocky next year, the viewers will come back?

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Steve Jones, Nicole Scherzinger exiting ‘X Factor’ [Updated]

Steve Jones (Nino Munoz - Fox)

“I wont be hosting next seasons X Factor which is a shame but I cant complain as Ive had a great time. Good luck to everyone on the show,” “X Factor” host Steve Jones tweeted Monday evening.

Fox later announced that both Jones and judge Nicole Scherzinger are gone from the show.

Tuesday morning, there were some rumblings that Paula Abdul might be out, too.

News of Jones’s booting came as a surprise to no one. Even before creator Simon Cowell put out word late last year that he was going to make “improvements” to the show for the next season, The Reporters Who Cover Television had been circling Jones and Scherzinger for months as though they were flotsam and jetsam of the so-called improving. Various tabloids reported ages ago that Jones’s contract would not be renewed.

Fox suits said in December that they would sit down in January and talk to a few focus groups, comb through the data, present their findings to the producers and then let Simon decide who would get it in the neck. Right around now!

In the final weeks of the season’s “X Factor,” Steve was noticeably lacking the carefully tended 26-hour facial growth that is the standard for American reality-show hosts — a clear sign the situation was dire. We all knew somebody was going to pay for the show’s disappointing ratings. Cowell had promised that the American version of his British hit would take down “American Idol” and attract at least 20?million viewers. Instead, “X Factor” didn’t even put up a good fight in its first season in the United States, even against “Idol’s” depleted audience levels.

And because we’ve watched lots of CBS’s “Undercover Boss,” we know that when the top guy (Simon) tries to figure out what’s gone wrong with his vision, some poor middle-level slob usually gets blamed. That meant you, Steve.

As chief timekeeper and rule enforcer, Jones should have studied up on “American Idol” host Ryan Seacrest, who manages to make the wrangling of over-egoed singing-competition judges look super-easy. But Jones, the Welsh model turned handsome TV-show host, managed to make it look grim, including one memorable moment in the show’s first season when he told “X”-testants to stop hugging because he had an interview to conduct with the booted singer.

On the other hand, Jones lent a desperately needed daffy artlessness to the show’s aura of self-importance. Like the time he summed up Lenny Kravitz’s results-night performance with, “Handsome man!”

Gosh, we’re going to miss Steve!

Scherzinger, on the other hand, we won’t miss at all.

Originally cast to co-host the show, the former Pussycat Doll became a last-minute replacement for one of the show’s four judge/mentors, Cheryl Cole. In that role, Scherzinger was a triumph of beauty over brains. Simon said it best when he announced, after Scherzinger took to the stage in one episode to sing her new tune, “Pretty,” that he would critique her performance Nicole-style:

“I believe in you. You believe in me. You transcend the universe. God is smiling on you. Life is a waterfall, and you are the ultimate rainbow.”

At a news conference Fox staged in Los Angeles to try to gin up a bigger audience for the season finale, Scherzinger declined to confirm she’d be back as a judge next season but did pave the way for a graceful exit, saying: “It has been very hard on me, the elimination process. It’s something I could never have been prepared for.”

View the original article here

‘X Factor’ winner Melanie Amaro’s Super Bowl ad prize has a twist

Melanie Amaro p (Dan Steinberg - AP) Remember how the “X Factor” winner was going to get his or her very own Super Bowl Pepsi Commercial, which, Simon Cowell kept assuring us, was like hitting the mother lode — which his sidekick Paula Abdul seconded, explaining that it is the dream of every artist is to have a Super Bowl ad?

Well, turns out that “X Factor” winner Melanie Amaro will not technically get her very own Super Bowl ad.

She’s sharing it with Elton John. He will play a king in a rock-fantasy version of medieval times and, if the video tease is any indication, Amaro will play some kind of buxom lass who gets to sing Aretha Franklin’s “Respect” in front of the Royal Court of Rock.

View the original article here

TV Column: Steve Jones and Nicole Scherzinger exiting ‘X Factor’

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Lisa de MoraesThe TV ColumnTV Column: Steve Jones and Nicole Scherzinger exiting ‘X Factor’Text SizePrintE-mailReprints By Lisa De Moraes,

“I wont be hosting next seasons X Factor which is a shame but I cant complain as Ive had a great time. Good luck to everyone on the show,” “X Factor” host Steve Jones tweeted Monday evening.

Fox later announced that both Jones and judge Nicole Scherzinger are gone from the show.

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(FRED PROUSER/ REUTERS ) - Steve Jones won’t be returning as host of “X Factor” next season. His departure makes two for the Fox talent show, as the network confirmed judge Nicole Scherzinger will also be leaving.

News of Jones’s booting came as a surprise to no one. Even before creator Simon Cowell put out word late last year that he was going to make “improvements” to the show for the next season, The Reporters Who Cover Television had been circling Jones and Scherzinger for months as though they were flotsam and jetsam of the so-called improving. Various tabloids reported ages ago that Jones’s contract would not be renewed.

Fox suits said in December that they would sit down in January and talk to a few focus groups, comb through the data, present their findings to the producers and then let Simon decide who would get it in the neck. Right around now!

In the final weeks of the season’s “X Factor,” Steve was noticeably lacking the carefully tended 26-hour facial growth that is the standard for American reality-show hosts — a clear sign the situation was dire. We all knew somebody was going to pay for the show’s disappointing ratings. Cowell had promised that the American version of his British hit would take down “American Idol” and attract at least 20?million viewers. Instead, “X Factor” didn’t even put up a good fight in its first season in the United States, even against “Idol’s” depleted audience levels.

And because we’ve watched lots of CBS’s “Undercover Boss,” we know that when the top guy (Simon) tries to figure out what’s gone wrong with his vision, some poor middle-level slob usually gets blamed. That meant you, Steve.

As chief timekeeper and rule enforcer, Jones should have studied up on “American Idol” host Ryan Seacrest, who manages to make the wrangling of over-egoed singing-competition judges look super-easy. But Jones, the Welsh model turned handsome TV-show host, managed to make it look grim, including one memorable moment in the show’s first season when he told “X”-testants to stop hugging because he had an interview to conduct with the booted singer.

On the other hand, Jones lent a desperately needed daffy artlessness to the show’s aura of self-importance. Like the time he summed up Lenny Kravitz’s results-night performance with, “Handsome man!”

Gosh, we’re going to miss Steve!

Scherzinger, on the other hand, we won’t miss at all.

Originally cast to co-host the show, the former Pussycat Doll became a last-minute replacement for one of the show’s four judge/mentors, Cheryl Cole. In that role, Scherzinger was a triumph of beauty over brains. Simon said it best when he announced, after Scherzinger took to the stage in one episode to sing her new tune, “Pretty,” that he would critique her performance Nicole-style:

“I believe in you. You believe in me. You transcend the universe. God is smiling on you. Life is a waterfall, and you are the ultimate rainbow.”

At a news conference Fox staged in Los Angeles to try to gin up a bigger audience for the season finale, Scherzinger declined to confirm she’d be back as a judge next season but did pave the way for a graceful exit, saying: “It has been very hard on me, the elimination process. It’s something I could never have been prepared for.”

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