Template:DFriendsSimon Phillip Cowell (born 7 October 1959) is an English A&R executive, television producer, entrepreneur, and television personality. He is known in the United Kingdom and United States for his role as a talent judge on TV shows such as Pop Idol,The X Factor, Britain's Got Talent and American Idol. He is also the owner of the television production and music publishing house Syco. As a judge, Cowell is known for his blunt and often controversial criticisms, insults and wisecracks about contestants and their abilities. He is also known for combining activities in both the television and music industries, having promoted singles and records for various artists, including television personalities. He was most recently featured on the sixth series of Britain's Got Talent and the second season of The X Factor USA. In 2004 and 2010, American magazine Time named Cowell one of the 100 most influential people in the world. In 2010, British magazine New Statesman listed Cowell at number 41 in a list of "The World's 50 Most Influential Figures 2010". TV Guide named him #10 in their 2013 list of The 60 Nastiest Villains of All Time.
The X Factor[]
In 2004, with Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh, Cowell was a judge on the first series of the British television music competition The X Factor, which he created using his production company, Syco. The X Factor was an instant success with the viewers and began its eighth series in 2011. Leona Lewis, the winner of the third series of The X Factor, was signed to Cowell's label Syco and has had number one singles and album sales around the world. Cowell returned for a fourth series on 18 August 2007 alongside Osbourne, Walsh and new judge, Dannii Minogue. Walsh had previously been sacked from the judging panel by Cowell for the fourth series, and was subsequently replaced by Brian Friedman, who was a judge on Grease Is the Word. Walsh was later brought back a week into the auditions by Cowell when he and Osbourne realised that they missed Walsh and that without him, there was no chemistry between the judges. Cowell returned for the fifth series in 2008, with Walsh, Minogue and new judge Cheryl Cole, as Osbourne decided to quit before the show began. Cowell returned for series 6 and 7 as well, although series 7 was to be his last, as he left in 2011 in order to launch The X Factor in America. After placing third in the seventh series of The X Factor in the UK, boyband One Direction signed to Cowell's label in 2011, and the group have gone on to top singles and album charts worldwide. The X Factor Australia launched in 2005, but was cancelled due to poor ratings. It returned to Australian television for its second season on 30 August 2010, with Kyle Sandilands, Ronan Keating, Guy Sebastian and Natalie Imbruglia as judges. Season 3 began on 29 August 2010 and ended on 22 November. It featured Ronan Keating, Mel B, Guy Sebastian and Natalie Bassingthwaighte as judges. Cowell also launched The X Factor USA in September 2011 on American broadcaster Fox. It was originally announced that he would be a judge both on the UK and U.S. editions of the show, which air at similar times of the year, but MTV officially reported on 17 April 2011 that this was not true; Cowell is no longer a judge in the UK version, but instead will be an enormous presence backstage. He currently is a judge on The X Factor USA . For season 1, he was joined by Paula Abdul, L.A. Reid, Nicole Scherzinger and formerly Cheryl Cole. After Abdul and Scherzinger left the show they were replaced by Demi Lovato and Britney Spears. In October 2010, Cowell signed new three-year deals with ITV for both Britain's Got Talent and The X Factor, renewing both shows until 2013.
Relationship with Demi[]
- Demi and Simon usually get along. However, Simon's arrogance tends to drive Demi mad sometimes. According to an interview she had on Fox 5, alongside co-host Kelly Rowland, she stated that Simon was only arrogant because he tries to be bad and act like he is hard to please, but turns out to have a soft spot when a contestant wows him. It's only because he wants the contestants to try harder.