Simon Cowell

Love him or loathe him, there is one thing for sure. Simon Cowell brings an element of excitement to reality talent contests American Idol and The X Factor.

There is no grey area in his judgment of contestants, every comment is either black or white. He doesn't take any prisoners when criticizing a contestant which he thinks is not up to the task, but goes straight for the jugular.

Many would say that his cutting remarks are unnecessary while others would agree that he says what most of the viewers are thinking anyway. When he gives compliments to a contestant they can be sure that they have done a great job as compliments are few. He can tell within one line of lyrics if the person has bothered to learn to sing or even taken any singing tips in order to find out how to sing properly.

What's his pedigree?

Many of the rejected, disgruntled contestants accuse Simon of not knowing what he's talking about because he's not a singer, so how did he become famous for judging singers.

His career in the music industry started back in 1979, when he joined EMI Music Publishing. Having learned what it took to make a hit record, he then opened up his own label, Fanfare.

Proving that he had a knack for recognizing a hit, In 1989 he became A&R consultant for record company BMG. While working at BMG he pioneered some of the biggest selling songs in the record industry, including bands 'westlife' and 'Five'.
He is also responsible for TV hit 'The Teletubbies'.

As well as making records, he is also known for breaking them. During a ten year period, with his company ‘S Records’, he has seen sales of over 25 million albums, 80 top 30 hit records, and 18 Number 1 singles. His band 'Westlife' has alone achieved 11 Number 1 hits alone.

Following the successful 'Popstars' TV series, Simon joined up with Simon Fuller and produced the‘talent’ show 'Pop Idol' where the public decided by phoning in who would win. This show bought in 11 million viewers.
Next came ITV's The X Factor and American Idol in the U.S.A making Simon a household name on both sides of the atlantic.

I would call pop idol winner and friend Michelle McManus on a weekly basis while she was in the final stages of pop idol, to give her encouragement as I was sure she would win. I asked her what Simon was like off camera. She told me that he is one of the nicest people you could ever meet, he speaks his mind and people respect him for his honesty and advice.
Michelle confirmed Simon's frustration at having to endure thousands of Pop Idol hopefuls who come to auditions totaly unprepared ie: not learning lyrics, not looking at their image and most of all not having had any vocal training and basically just don't know how to sing.

I have no doubt that the TV companies rub their hands with delight at the soaring ratings attributed to Simon's controversial input to the shows. One thing is for sure. Simon Cowell knows what he's talking about and love him or loathe him, his feelings for contestants performances are no doubt mutual.

You can get more information on singing in The Singing Tutor ebook.