What happened then, for those who've been living in a monastery, was American Idol, the dominant television hit of the past decade. What's happening now is The X Factor, Cowell's new singing competition, which opens a series of nationwide auditions at the Los Angeles Sports Arena on Sunday.
Of course, there is one big difference. In 2002, few Americans knew of Idol's predecessor, England's Pop Idol. Fewer knew its tart-tongued judge, English record executive Cowell. Expectations were low for the summer fill-in show.
That's hardly the case for X Factor, which is a huge hit in the United Kingdom, and Cowell, who is now a household name. People have been waiting more than a year for the arrival of the new singing competition, which premieres this fall on Idol's network, Fox.
Cowell acknowledges the high expectations with a frankness familiar to anyone who has seen him on Idol. "You're under constant pressure all the time. Anyone who says they're not is either a liar or an idiot."
As an interview is about to begin, Cowell jumps up from his chair and walks across the room to greet a reporter. He is gracious and friendly, not at all the harsh arbiter known to millions of TV viewers. After a year away from U.S. television, he has a vitality that many thought was missing during his last, much criticized season of Idol. That long gaze, which some attributed to boredom, has been replaced by a mischievous glint. "I've really enjoyed coming back. It's such a buzz," he says with a smile.
Cowell, 51, is here in early March preparing for the show, speaking to Fox affiliates, talking to potential judges and hosts, and doing interviews to promote Sunday's auditions, with the hope that a big crowd will help build early momentum.
Unlike on Idol, where Cowell was just a judge, albeit a highly paid one, he is the creator and an executive producer of X Factor as well as a judge. This is his baby.
That's one reason why Atlanta Journal-Constitution blogger Rodney Ho, one of those who sensed a loss of interest on Cowell's part last year on Idol, expects a more energized version in the fall. "I am certain Simon will put his heart and soul into X Factor."
Judges and mentors
Like Idol, X Factor is a singing competition, but Cowell and others say it is a different show that won't seem like a facsimile. There are structural differences: X Factor will have four judges, not three, and they will serve as mentors, shepherding performers through the contest and competing against other judges to see their singers win.
Fox has announced hit producer Antonio "L.A." Reid as one of the judges. Many other high-profile names have been rumored for those spots. Cowell will only say he has been talking to many people and won't confirm any names, although he's enjoying the speculation and accompanying publicity. For the host position, Cowell says he's leaning toward having two because of the job's demands.
After preliminary auditions such as Sunday's gathering, contestants' first appearance before the show's judges will take place in front of large audiences. In early seasons of X Factor in England, the judges conducted auditions alone with the singer. Cowell found that atmosphere sterile and decided to move the performances to an arena before thousands of onlookers.
"On that first day, there was a lot of pressure. Is this a mistake? Is it going to work?" he says. "This schoolteacher came out, a guy named Danyl Johnson, and sang a song, and that's when I saw the difference between the old way and the new way. This guy turned from singer to performer. Three thousand people were on their feet, he kicked into almost a second gear midway through the performance. It was like his first concert. It was not like anything I had experienced before. And watching as a viewer, you were seeing a completely different experience."
Age ranges are broader than Idol's 15-to-28 span. X Factor singers can be as young as 12, and there is no upper limit. (No age cap opened the door for Susan Boyle on another Cowell-produced show, Britain's Got Talent.) Groups are eligible, too. "There's a massive gap in the market now for a boy band, a girl band, a family group like the Jacksons. If you're not in a band, put a band together," Cowell says.
And, of course, there's the prize: a $5 million record deal.
The crazy factor
On a broader level, the performances will be more of a spectacle. X Factor and Idol "live in two separate worlds. (X Factor) plays like a big, huge variety show, almost like a Grammy performance. ... It's smoke and set pieces and dancers and costumes," Fox reality chief Mike Darnell says. "Because of that, even if they're not fantastic singers, because we have old and young and vocal groups, they can still be entertaining."
Cowell, noted for quickly dismissing bizarre performers on Idol, says X Factor will be open to anything, no matter how crazy. "I'll be lenient," he jokes. "Literally, the rules are off now. You can be as outrageous and as different as you want to be, and we'll encourage it."
A look at popular acts encourages a broader range of performers, he says. "Look around you as to who's successful at the moment. You look at Lady Gaga. Look at Willow Smith. Look at Justin Bieber. Look at Glee."
Cowell says he doesn't court controversy with the show, a frequent topic in England's tabloids, but acknowledges that "it sort of follows us — or follows me."
That reflects his philosophy: Don't be boring.
"It's warts and all. Never censor it. Allow the audience to see what you've seen. Some of it's quite painful, controversial, but I've never had a problem with that," he says. "The only thing I ever worried about is that everybody shows up, they're well-behaved and quite good — and you have no show. Life isn't boring, and people aren't boring."
He wants to make that message clear to auditioners. "It's a $5 million audition. Do something we haven't seen before. Don't do a Lionel Richie song or a Stevie Wonder song like them. Do something that's going to make you stand out."
Darnell expects X Factor to perform well, although he won't make predictions, especially about whether it could equal or surpass its huge U.K. audience share or Idol's big ratings.
Among advertisers, X Factor has the most buzz of any potential fall show, a combination of Cowell's involvement and the long, anticipatory buildup since the show was announced in January 2010, says Jason Maltby of media services agency Mindshare. He says it can be a success without drawing Idol numbers (24.7 million viewers average).
"I think it would be dangerous to expect it to do as well as AmericanIdol does. American Idol is by far the No. 1 show on broadcast television," he says. "Idol was born 10 years ago when it was easier in a fragmented world to build a mass audience."
That Idol's ratings haven't fallen precipitously after what many consider a disappointing Season 9 bodes well for X Factor, Maltby says. "That signals there's still an appetite with the American viewing audience for these competition-style programs."
People will tune in to X Factor because they want to know what Cowell has been up to, says MJ Santilli, who writes about Idol and X Factor at MJ's Big Blog (mjsbigblog.com). She describes X Factor as "a lot bigger and a lot glossier but also a lot cheesier" and wonders whether Idol has tried to pre-empt it by involving top record producers with the singers and showing off more highly produced numbers.
"I've never thought of Simon as an artistic person, but he definitely knows how to give people what they want. He's got the pulse of the masses," she says.
Divided audience?
However, some wonder whether having two such shows in the same TV season will dampen interest. One reason Idol runs just once a year has been to avoid overexposure.
"You have to wonder if Simon is secretly rooting for Idol to collapse this spring, so that it would in some ways help X Factor. The fact that the show seems to be working right now reasonably well makes you think that that cannot possibly help him," Ho says. "There's always the calculation, when you're watching TV, are you going to commit the time and energy for another TV show? If you're already committed to American Idol or Dancing With the Stars, it's hard to break another reality show into that mix."
Cowell says he doesn't see Idol as competition because the shows don't run at the same time of year. He has seen only a bit of the show this year and doesn't see that much difference, other than "probably a bit more crying."
"I think they've done a good job on (Idol) this year. They've all worked harder. It's a good format," he says.
Idol executive producer Nigel Lythgoe likes the lack of an age cap on X Factor and wishes the show well. He thinks interest can be maintained in the two shows over the course of the year. "It's a very similar format to Idol, and Idol is hugely successful this year. I see no reason why that wouldn't carry on into the autumn season of X Factor."
If Factor and Idol in the same TV year is not enough, add a slew of new music-oriented contests, including NBC's The Voice (April 26, 9 ET/PT), CMT's Next Superstar (April 8, 9 ET/PT; executive produced by Lythgoe), Bravo's Platinum Hit (summer; with ex-Idol judge Kara DioGuardi) and an ABC summer series that follows the Karaoke World Championships USA. That doesn't count existing shows, such as NBC's popular America's Got Talent, another Cowell production.
Darnell says he's not worried because X Factor has something the other new shows don't: Cowell. "He's the biggest star in the genre. I know there's other singing shows coming, but I personally would never ever go into one of these shows unless I had Simon," he says. "Ultimately, X Factor is a great format, but he's the star."
Cowell's ready for the ride. "I've suddenly become excited again. It's like going on a roller coaster. You're kind of scared, but you think you're going to have a good time, as well."
'X Factor' auditions
Tryouts for Fox's X Factor start Sunday at the Los Angeles Sports Arena. Other dates and venues:
April 7:
April 14:
April 20:
April 27:
May 26:
At each location, registration will begin the day before the audition. More info on auditions and eligibility at www.fox.com/theXfactor.
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