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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
thetalent 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.
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