“I’m very sad” were the first words out of Simon Cowell’s mouth when he called in to Ryan Seacrest’s radio show the day after announcing that the 2010 season of American Idol would be his last. But let’s face it, he’s probably not: The British judge is ditching Fox’s wildly popular singing competition after nine seasons to focus on bringing his own wildly popular U.K. singing competition, The X Factor, to America. “I’ve always wanted to bring this other show over here,” Cowell, 50, told Seacrest. “At one point I was going to do both. But you know about overexposure, Ryan. You can’t be on TV too much … I genuinely thought people would be sick and tired of me.”
Not sick of Cowell: executives at Fox, who have scheduled the American version of X Factor for a 2011 debut and can barely contain their glee (pun intended) about the prospect of a schedule stocked with Idol in the winter, So You Think You Can Dance in the summer, and X Factor in the fall. “We now have the opportunity to become the most dominant force in a long time on network television,” says Fox’s head of reality programming, Mike Darnell. “It’s pretty thrilling.”
Anyone surprised by Cowell’s decision to walk away at the end of his current contract hasn’t been paying very close attention. Although he makes an insane amount of money for Idol (estimated at $45 million per season), Cowell has been musing about leaving since his initial contract renegotiation in 2005. “We always had an on/off contract so I would never be tied to it,” Cowell told EW in December. “It’s really a question of how much you can do properly, and run all parts of your business successfully.” He’ll be around this season, of course, helping smooth the judging transition from Paula Abdul to Ellen DeGeneres — whose hiring Fox swears had nothing to do with the imminent flight of Cowell. (Responding to Ellen’s “If Simon goes, I go” comment to EW last week, Darnell laughs nervously and says, “We took that as a joke.”) Execs are also dismissing all discussion of future judging shake-ups on Idol as hypothetical, saying only that Cowell’s departure will lead to an “evolution.”
If you ask Idol alums, though, it may be more like a “gutting.” “How do you replace his wit?” wonders Melinda Doolittle (season 6). “You see so many shows try to copy the format, but still can’t get a Simon.” Brooke White (season 7) agrees: “Simon is a judge, but he’s also a star,” she says. “And as cheeseball as it sounds, he does have that X factor.” (Read more reactions to the news of Cowell’s departure from former Idol contestants.)
Fox says it’s leaving the door open for a Cowell return to Idol, but the bigger priority has to be finding a way for Idol and XF to work in tandem rather than sap each other’s strength. Plans for total domination aside, the slide in Idol‘s ratings — down 18 percent from 2006 — means somebody’s gotta do a little patching of the flagship before trying to launch new platoons. And even if X Factor manages to reunite Cowell and Abdul behind a judging table (rumors that have yet to be denied by the parties involved), there’s no reason to expect it will be an instant hit with fans who have already rejected Idol spin-offs like American Juniors.
Do we really want to watch more wannabes trying to warble their way to fame and fortune? Fox Entertainment president Kevin Reilly says yes. “The bottom line is this: The discovery of stars and people going from obscurity to stardom is an intoxicating thing,” he asserts. But even Reilly can’t avoid another inevitability, made all the more apparent by this week’s media frenzy: “I don’t think The X Factor is going to be just a singing competition. I think it’s going to be Simon Cowell’s show.”
Additional reporting by Dave Karger, Michael Slezak, and Dan Snierson
Image credit: Michael Becker/FOX
More American Idol coverage:
American Idol Central on EW.com
American Idol season 9 premiere recap: Bean there, done that
Simon Cowell leaving Idol: Former contestants react
American Idol: Simon Cowell’s meanest critiques
I haven’t seen or heard much about x-factor–would someone explain what the major differences are between x-factor and idol?
Contestants are in groups (groups, over 25, girls under 25, boys under 25) and each judge mentors a group.
Thanks to all who answered!
Idol is only for singers, and there is an age limit. X Factor, is like America’s got talent, no age limit and you can have a varity of talents.
No, it’s just singing your thinging of britains got talent. They do the auditions in front of a audience. then they go to bootcamp where they narrow it down to the final 24 – 6 groups, 6 boys, 6 girls and 6 over 25′s. Then they go to judges homes and then the final 12 do the live shows.
On X-Factor the age restrictions aren’t as tight, the contestants are mentored by the judges and are responsible for the well being of their acts, they want their own acts to win. The X Factor is a lot more aware of its kitsch and, to me, more enjoyable.
There isn’t a difference LOL! The X-Factor in the UK is famous for making a star out of Leona Lewis – It’s basically the same show from what I have seen.
OHHHHHH that’s right – they do mentor them – sorry i forgot about that. Thanks for the reminder Chichi!
I wonder if David Foster would be interested in replacing Cowell? He’s very abrasive but also charismatic just like Cowell and he would be capable of being brutally honest. Obviously he knows more about music and hit records than anybody else currently on the panel so it automatically gives him leadership cred.
Simon is a narcistic, rude and often mean person– all will be better without him!- I don’t watch BECAUSE of him!
this is my last year watching idol… i mean with no paula or simon it won’t be the same!
I’ll be watching the x factor. I like the original 3 (Simon, Paula and Randy). The singing isn’t the same plus 2 of the 3 judges are gone…what’s the point. Plus..not a Kara fan and I like Ellen on her talk show.
i think russell crowe could replace simon——–if he wanted to do it.
Only one person should be on the short list to replace Cowell: Ben Folds. He’s smart, funny, knows the biz, and anyone who’s heard “Song for the Dumped” knows he can be b*tchy!
This will be my last year watching American Idol. With out Simon Cowell the show will not be interesting at all.
Piers from America’s Got Talent might be a good replacement.
Simon always said he created the X-Factor because he didn’t have enough creative control over Pop Idol. There must have been some major damage between him and other producers in American Idol to start X factor in the US.
ellen for paula whats wrong with this picture?
I vote for Jonny Depp. That mother F**er can be anything.
If that’s where Simon and Paula are going, then that’s where I’m going as well next year. American Idol without Paula sucks already, I can’t stand that little twit Kara already and the season just started. But with Simon gone, forget it. The show will be unwatchable. He’s the real reason I watch.
XFactor can count me in as a viewer when it starts.