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Simon Cowell

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Simon Philip Cowell
File:Simon cowell picture.jpg
Simon Cowell on The X Factor
BornOctober 7, 1959
Brighton, East Sussex, England
Occupation(s)A&R executive and TV producer
Notes
Cowell, S. (2003) I Don't Mean to Be Rude, But..., biography, Random House, ISBN 0-7679-1741-3

Simon Philip Cowell (born October 7, 1959) is an English artist and repertoire ("A&R") executive for BMG in the UK, but is best known as a judge on the television programmes Pop Idol, The X Factor, American Idol and Britain's Got Talent. He is notorious for his unsparingly blunt and often controversial criticism of the contestants. He is known for combining activities in the television and music industries, having produced singles and records for various television characters such as the Power Rangers.

Biography

Early life

Born in Brighton, Simon Cowell was brought up in Elstree, Hertfordshire.[2] His parents are Eric (real estate agent and music industry executive) and Julie Cowell (socialite, maiden name Dalgleish, from whom Simon's Scottish roots come). He has three half-brothers (John, Michael and Tony) and a half-sister (June), as well as sister Lindsay Elizabeth and younger brother Nicholas who is now a millionaire property magnate. He also has three nieces and two nephews from Lindsay named Tanyette, Melissa and Joshua and from Nicholas named Harrison and Georgia.

A troublesome boy, he was booted from school more than once, and dropped out at 16. Cowell took a few menial jobs, but did not get along well with co-workers and bosses, until his father -- who just happened to be a top-ranking executive at recording giant at EMI Music Publishing -- got him a job in the mail room. He worked his way up to record producer, but left during the early 1980s to form E&S Music, an independent music company. Cowell soon bolted from EMI to start his own label, which went bankrupt. He returned to EMI, then quit and started another independent label, which went bankrupt in 1989, leaving Cowell deep in debt and forcing him, at 30, to move back home with his parents. Along with fellow EMI clerk Iain Burton, Cowell again left EMI a short time later. They formed an independent record label called Fanfare Records.

Fanfare Records and Syco Records

In 1984, he met Pete Waterman, a former gay scene DJ-turned-producer and founder of the then-aspiring Stock Aitken Waterman trio, who helped him regain success during the second half of the 1980s, starting with his first act, notably with singer (and-then girlfriend) Sinitta Malone. Cowell would later describe in interviews (and in his autobiography I Don't Mean to be Rude, but...) that he learned more from Pete Waterman in a short time than an entire career with a major label.

In 1989, he became an A&R consultant for BMG at the age of 30.

Burton and Cowell set up Fanfare Records. From 1985 to 1989, Fanfare enjoyed success with its artist, Sinitta (born Sinitta Renet Malone).

Two notable failures of Cowell's are that he auditioned the Spice Girls but was not interested, and that he turned down Take That, deciding that songwriter and front man Gary Barlow was too fat to be a star.

Subsequently, Cowell signed a number of acts to S Records that made a mark in the pop music world, including Curiosity Killed the Cat, Sonia, 5ive, record-setting UK chart-toppers Westlife, and surprise actors-turned-singers Robson & Jerome. He also released several novelty recordings featuring the likes of wrestlers of the World Wrestling Federation, Zig and Zag and the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, that were huge successes.[2] Cowell set up another label, Syco Records, in 2002 which later became part of Columbia Records and Sony BMG Music Entertainment. Artists such as Il Divo and contestants from The X Factor and America's Got Talent are released on Syco.

Pop Idol and American Idol

File:RandyJackson2.jpg
Simon Cowell, along with American Idol co-judges Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson.

Cowell became a judge on the first season of Pop Idol in the year of 2001, and did the same for American Idol in 2002 and his acerbic style of judging was a major reason for these shows becoming popular. This was especially so for American Idol, where in its first season, talk about "that nasty guy Simon" gained the show media attention, more so than the hosts or contestants. Cowell's fame (or infamy) grew, fed by his deliberately insincere signature phrase, "I don't mean to be rude, but …", inevitably followed by an unsparing denigration of the contestant's talents, personality, or even physical appearance. One from 2005 was "You look like the Incredible Hulk's wife." Cowell also appeared on the one-off World Idol program in 2003, where it became clear that each country's version of the Idol had attempted to come up with its own "Simon Cowell", further proving his effectiveness as a villain. In 2003, Cowell placed #33 on Channel 4's list of the all-time 100 Worst Britons perhaps due to some people perceiving him as spiteful and arrogant.

Cowell's S Records signed the top two finishers of the first season of Pop Idol, Will Young and Gareth Gates, both of whom went on to have #1 UK hits. In June 2003, Cowell sold his half-share in S Records for $42 million to BMG, thus becoming a multi-millionaire.

I Don't Mean to be Rude, But…

In December 2003, Cowell published a book, I Don't Mean to Be Rude, But…. In it, he recounted his childhood, his years working in the music industry, his experiences on Pop Idol and American Idol, and finally, his tips for being successful as a pop star.

Il Divo

Efforts began in 2001 materialised in 2004, when Cowell returned to his group manufacturing roots with his latest brainchild, the internationally successful operatic pop group Il Divo, consisting of four young opera singers of four different nationalities. Inspired by the success of Il Divo, Simon created a child version, Angelis who entered the charts at number 2, beating competition from many similar groups emerging at christmas 2006.

The X Factor

In 2004, Cowell created (under his production company Syco), and was a judge on the then new British TV talent show The X Factor, with Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh. The X Factor was a success with viewers and returned for a second and third series in 2005 and 2006.

Cowell was sued by Pop Idol creator Simon Fuller in 2005 over The X Factor, saying it was too much a copy of Pop Idol, but after a while, they settled out of court. The case was adjourned on the first day, and settled with Cowell's Idol salary increased to $36 million a year from $8 million before while Simon Fuller would gain a minority stake in X Factor. Upon the settlement, Cowell signed a new five-season American Idol agreement with Fox.

American Inventor

On March 16, 2006, Simon Cowell's next competition show, American Inventor, debuted on ABC. Fledgling entrepreneurs from across America will compete to see who can come up with the best new product concept. The winner, Janusz Liberkowski, received USD$1 million and the opportunity to develop his idea into a business. The show returns again in 2007.

America's Got Talent

Cowell is the executive producer of America's Got Talent, along with Fremantle producers of the Idol series. However, Cowell is not a producer of any of the Idol series, only a judge. The show was a huge success for NBC, drawing around 12 million viewers a week, and beating So You Think You Can Dance on FOX (produced by rival and Idol creator Simon Fuller). The show heads to Britain and Australia in 2007.

Celebrity Duets

Cowell also executive-produces Celebrity Duets, which can be described as "an Idol show for Hollywood superstars." The show is hosted by Wayne Brady, and its judges are Marie Osmond, Little Richard and David Foster.

Guest appearances

Cowell appeared as a guest voice in an episode of The Simpsons ("Smart and Smarter"), in which he gets beaten up by Homer (while criticizing Homer's punches), and made a cameo appearance as himself in Scary Movie 3, where he sits in judgment during a battle rap (and subsequently gets killed by gunfire for criticizing the rappers). He also appears as a character in Shrek 2 as a judge in Far, Far Away Idol, but does not provide the voice.

Cowell introduced entertainer Dick Clark at the 2006 Primetime Emmy Awards.

Grease

Simon Cowell also has a new show, which will be broadcast on Britain's ITV television station. The new show is a talent show, however is quite different to Cowells other show, X Factor. This show is not just limited to singing but is for talent in general. The aim of the show is to find the new 'Danny and Sandy' for a new musical version of Grease.

Trivia

  • Besides judging unknowns, occasionally Cowell comments on already-established pop icons, for example, opining in Esquire magazine that Beyoncé Knowles was overrated, or on the more positive side, saying that Christina Aguilera's "Beautiful" was one of the best pop records ever made. [3]
  • Simon was killed by Ryan Seacrest on Celebrity Deathmatch via stool-leg through the temple. Before this, it was a one sided fight with Simon winning.
  • When he was Punk'd by Ryan Seacrest and Randy Jackson on the season Five premiere, he became the seventh resident of a country outside of North America to get "Punk'd".
  • Simon and american Idol were also parodied in Shrek 2's Far Far away Idol.
  • Cowell was once the fastest "Star in a Reasonably Priced Car" on BBC's motoring show Top Gear, driving a Suzuki Liana around the show's test track in a time of 1:47.1. When Top Gear retired the Liana along with the Liana's driver rankings after the eighth series, Cowell was the eighth fastest overall and the third fastest non-professional driver.
  • Also on Top Gear it was revealed that Cowell pays more than £21.7m per year in income tax, suggesting that his taxable income is over £54.25m per year with income tax at the time approx 40%. [4] [5] (NB: UK Income Tax 40% for earnings over £33,300)
  • In Tony Hawks' book One Hit Wonderland, Cowell says that he does occasionally make mistakes- "The first time I saw Gary Barlow in Take That, I said to the producer: 'Ditch the fat one.'"
  • In his 2003 book I Don't Mean to Be Rude, But...: Backstage Gossip from American Idol & the Secrets that Can Make You a Star, Cowell cites Kylie Minogue's "Can't Get You out of My Head" as one of the five all-time greatest pop records.
  • During the audition process for the fifth season of American Idol, Cowell passed over the season's top two most successful contestants: Chris Daughtry and eventual winner Taylor Hicks. By contrast, only a few weeks into the top 12, Cowell announced on Larry King Live that he thought the winner would either be Kellie Pickler, Daughtry, or Hicks.
  • Live on The X Factor on 18 November 2006, Simon stated that he was 50% Scottish as he was being targeted by fellow judges as anti-Scottish. The week before he said he was 25% Scottish.
  • The Dragon Ball Z character, Zarbon, has a voice similar to Simon's.


References

  1. ^ Times Online
  2. ^ a b Cowell, S. (2003) "I Don't Mean to Be Rude, But...", Broadway Books, ISBN 0-7679-1741-3
  3. ^ USA Weekend - "Simon sez (... everything, with brutal honesty)"
  4. ^ Times Online
  5. ^ UK Income Tax Rates
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