Simon Cowell
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Simon Philip Cowell (born 7 October, 1959 in Brighton) is a British artist and repertoire ("A&R") executive for BMG, but is best known as a judge on the television programmes Pop Idol, American Idol, and The X Factor, where 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. Cowell would later find talented pop acts who had acted on television shows.
Biography
Simon Cowell was brought up in Elstree, Hertfordshire[link]. His parents are Eric (real estate agent & music industry executive) and Julie Cowell (socialite). He has three half-brothers (John, Michael and Tony) and a half-sister (June), as well as sister Lindsay Elizabeth and younger brother Nicholas. He also has two nieces and a nephew from Lindsay named Tanyette, Melissa and Joshua. Simon and Nicholas were raised by nannies throughout their early childhood before both were sent to boarding school. Simon had to transfer several times as a result of misbehaviour and bad conduct. He had been to a total of 16 schools before leaving at the age of 16.Cowell started out in the late 1970s as a mail room clerk for EMI Music Publishing, where his father was an executive. He eventually worked his way up to record producer, but left during the early 1980s to form E&S Music, an independent music company. Within a year, the company imploded and Cowell was forced to return to EMI. Along with fellow EMI clerk Iain Burton, Cowell again left EMI a short time later. They formed an independent record label called Fanfare Records.
An interview with Extra later revealed that Cowell owed a bank about USD$1 million. However, in 1984, he met Pete Waterman, a former 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 relatively young age of 29.
Burton and Cowell set up Fanfare Records. From 1985 to 1989, Fanfare enjoyed success with its artist, Sinitta (born Sinitta Renet Malone).
One notable failure of Cowell's was his inability to sign the Spice Girls.
Subsequently, Cowell signed a number of acts to BMG 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 a recording featuring the wrestlers of the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now World Wrestling Entertainment or WWE). It was a huge success. Cowell set up another label, S Records, in 2002. On October 30 of the same year he also married his friend and short-time girlfriend Jeanette. They filed for divorce on Valentine's Day, 2003.
Cowell became a judge on the first season of Pop Idol in 2001, and did the same for American Idol in 2002. 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 …". Cowell also appeared on the one-off World Idol programme in 2003, where it became clear that each country's version of the Idol franchise had attempted to come up with its own "Simon". Further proving his effectiveness as a villain. In 2003, Cowell placed #33 on Channel 4's list of the all-time 100 Worst Britons.
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.
Cowell has not always been successful in his business ventures, however. He produced the dating-based reality show Cupid in 2003 in the US, but it garnered negative reviews and failed to gain an audience.
In December 2003, Cowell published a book, I Don't Mean to Be Rude, But…. (ISBN 0767917413) 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.
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.
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 series in 2005.
However, 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 lawsuit threatened to block Cowell from appearing for the fifth season of American Idol, as Cowell's old contract had expired and he was negotiating a new contract at the time. Upon the settlement, Cowell signed a new five-season American Idol agreement with Fox.
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.
Besides judging unknowns, occasionally Cowell comments on already-established pop icons, for example, opinioning 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. [link]
After he was Punk'd by Ryan Seacrest and Randy Jackson on the season Five premiere, he became the seventh non-American/non-Canadian to get "Punk'd". He also appeared as a guest voice in an episode of The Simpsons ("Smart and Smarter"), in which he gets beaten up, 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 in Shrek 2 as a judge in Far, Far Away Idol.
Cowell maintains an apparently lavish lifestyle with several houses in San Francisco, California and one in London, England, a Ferrari, a Rolls Royce Phantom, and a relationship with television presenter Terri Seymour.
He also appeared on an episode of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? and Saturday Night Live in 2004.
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. He is now the fourth-fastest in the feature's rankings.
Cowell is also credited for producing the new NBC series America's Got Talent.
In 2006, Cowell, as well as American Idol, were satirised in the film American Dreamz in which Hugh Grant played an essentially useless host and obnoxious judge of an American Idol type show. In the same year, they were parodied in the Nickelodeon television episode "Fairy Idol" from The Fairly OddParents. The three judges were Blonda, Binky and Simon, allusions to Paula, Randy and Simon. Another Nickelodeon television show, All That, parodied him as Slime and Bowels.
Simon is a supporter of animal rights and PETA. He recently posed in a PETA ad for their Anti-Fur Campaign.[link]
References
External links
- [Simon's profile at itv.com]
- [Unreality TV - News and gossip on Simon Cowell on the X Factor]
- [Biography of Simon Cowell]
- [Simon Cowell for PETA]
| American Idol |
|---|
| Songs: List of songs performed on American Idol Special: An American Idol Christmas Movie: From Justin to Kelly |
| People |
| Ryan Seacrest | Randy Jackson | Paula Abdul | Simon Cowell | Brian Dunkleman |
| Seasons |
| Season 1 | Season 2 | Season 3 | Season 4 | Season 5 | Season 6 |
| Albums |
| American Idol Compilation Series | American Idol Finalists Album Sales |
| Other |
| Controversy | American Idol Extra | American Idol Magazine | American Idol Rewind | American Idol Underground | American Juniors | List of all contestants | List of spin-offs |
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