Simon Cowell

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the music executive. For the author and television presenter, see Simon Cowell (presenter).

Page semi-protected

Simon Cowell

Simon Cowell in December 2011.jpg

Cowell arriving at The X Factor USA red carpet in December 2011.

Born Simon Phillip Cowell

7 October 1959 (age 54)

Lambeth, London, England

Residence London, England

Los Angeles, California

Education Dover College

Occupation Reality television judge, businessman, philanthropist, television and record producer

Years active 1979–present

Employer ITV plc

Home town Elstree, Hertfordshire, England

Television Judging

Pop Idol (2001–02)

American Idol (2002–10)

The X Factor UK (2004–10; 2014–)

Britain's Got Talent (2007–)

The X Factor USA (2011–13)

Producing

Idol franchise (2002–)

The X Factor franchise (2005–)

Got Talent franchise (2007–)

The You Generation (2013–)

Partner(s) Lauren Silverman

(2013–present)

Children 1

Relatives Nicholas Cowell (brother)

Tony Cowell (half-brother)

Simon Phillip Cowell (born 7 October 1959)[1] is an English reality television judge, A&R executive, entrepreneur, philanthropist, record and television producer . He is known in the United Kingdom and United States for his role as a talent judge on TV shows such as Pop Idol, The X Factor, Britain's Got Talent and American Idol. He is also the owner of the television production and music publishing house Syco.

As a judge, Cowell is known for his blunt and often controversial criticisms, insults and wisecracks about contestants and their abilities. He is also known for combining activities in both the television and music industries, having promoted singles and records for various artists, including television personalities. He was most recently featured on the seventh series of Britain's Got Talent and the third season of The X Factor USA.

In 2004 and 2010, American magazine Time named Cowell one of the 100 most influential people in the world.[2][3] In 2010, British magazine New Statesman listed Cowell at number 41 in a list of "The World's 50 Most Influential Figures 2010".[4] TV Guide named him #10 in their 2013 list of The 60 Nastiest Villains of All Time.[5]

Contents [hide]

1 Early life

2 Career

2.1 Idol franchise and Il Divo

2.2 The X Factor

2.3 Got Talent

2.4 Other shows

2.5 Other activities

3 Personal life

4 References

5 External links

Early life

[icon] This section requires expansion. (May 2013)

Cowell was born in Lambeth, London, England,[6] and brought up in Elstree, Hertfordshire.[7] His mother, Julie Brett (née Josie Dalglish), is a former ballet dancer and socialite, and his father, Eric Selig Phillip Cowell, Sr. (1918–1999),[6] was an estate agent developer and music industry executive.[8] Cowell's father was from a mostly Jewish family, though he did not discuss his background with his children (Cowell's paternal grandmother had immigrated from Poland).[9] Cowell's mother was from a Christian background, and is of English descent.[9][10] He has a younger brother, Nicholas Cowell, three half-brothers, John, Tony, and Michael Cowell, and a half-sister, June Cowell.

Cowell attended Radlett Preparatory School and the independent Dover College as did his brother, but left after taking GCE O levels. He passed in English Language and Literature and then attended Windsor Technical College where he gained another GCE in Sociology.[11] At the age of 17, he dated model Paula Hamilton. Cowell took a few menial jobs—including, according to Tony, working as a runner on Stanley Kubrick's The Shining[12]—but did not get along well with colleagues and bosses, until his father, who was an executive at the recording giant EMI Music Publishing, managed to get him a job in the mail room.

Career

Idol franchise and Il Divo

Main article: Idol series

Cowell was given the role of judge on the first series of Pop Idol in the UK by then ITV Controller of Entertainment Claudia Rosencrantz[13] in 2001, he was then judge on the first season of American Idol in 2002. With his notoriously critical reputation, Cowell is likened to TV personalities such as Judith Sheindlin and Anne Robinson. Though comparable to Robinson, Cowell has expressed his dislike for her and has commented in an interview, "I hate her and I hate her show because it's just an act".[14] Cowell's prominence grew, fed by his signature phrase, "I don't mean to be rude, but ...", inevitably followed by an unsparingly blunt appraisal of the contestant's talents, personality, or even physical appearance. A lot of these one-liners were the product of coaching that Cowell received from noted publicist Max Clifford (who was sacked by Cowell after being convicted of sex offences as a result of Operation Yewtree, the investigation into Jimmy Savile, as of May 2014).[15] Cowell also appeared on the one-off World Idol programme in 2003, where it became clear that each country's version of the Idol had attempted to come up with its own "Simon Cowell" type personality. In 2003, Cowell placed No 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 No 1 UK hits. Efforts begun 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,[16][17] consisting of three opera singers and one pop singer of four different nationalities. Inspired by the success of Il Divo, Simon created a child version, Angelis, beating competition from similar groups emerging at Christmas 2006.

On 11 January 2010, Cowell's exit from American Idol was made official. The 2010 season was Cowell's last on the show. It was also announced that FOX had acquired the rights to The X Factor USA, an American version of Cowell's British show, The X Factor, which began in September 2011.[18][19]

The X Factor

See also: The X Factor

Cowell alongside Cheryl Cole as judges on The X Factor UK's seventh series on June 21, 2010

In 2004, with Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh, Cowell was a judge on the first series of the British television music competition The X Factor, which he created using his production company, Syco. The X Factor was an instant success with the viewers and enjoyed its tenth series in 2013.

One Direction signed to Cowell's record label after finishing third and being mentored by Cowell in 2010. The group are one of Cowell's international breakout acts.[20][21][22][23]

Leona Lewis, the winner of the third series of The X Factor, was signed to Cowell's label Syco and has had number one singles and album sales around the world.[24][25] Cowell returned for a fourth series on 18 August 2007 alongside Osbourne, Walsh and new judge, Dannii Minogue. Walsh had previously been sacked from the judging panel by Cowell for the fourth series, and was subsequently replaced by Brian Friedman, who was a judge on Grease Is the Word. Walsh was later brought back a week into the auditions by Cowell when he and Osbourne realised that they missed Walsh and that without him, there was no chemistry between the judges. Cowell returned for the fifth series in 2008, with Walsh, Minogue and new judge Cheryl Cole, as Osbourne decided to quit before the show began.[26][27] Cowell returned for series 6 and 7 as well, although series 7 was to be his last, as he left in 2011 in order to launch The X Factor in America. After placing third in the seventh series of The X Factor in the UK, boyband One Direction signed to Cowell's label in 2011, and the group have gone on to top singles and album charts worldwide.[28][29] He was replaced by Gary Barlow in series 8.

The X Factor Australia launched in 2005 and it featured Mark Holden, Kate Ceberano and John Reid, but was cancelled due to poor ratings. However, the show returned in 2010.

Cowell also launched The X Factor USA in September 2011 on American broadcaster Fox. It was originally announced that he would be a judge both on the UK and U.S. editions of the show, which air at similar times of the year,[30][31] but MTV officially reported on 17 April 2011 that this was not true; Cowell is no longer a judge in the UK version,[32] but instead will be an enormous presence backstage.[33] He was joined by Paula Abdul, L.A. Reid, Nicole Scherzinger and formerly Cheryl Cole. Cowell's act Melanie Amaro won the season, making Cowell the winning judge. Cowell and Reid returned for season 2, while Demi Lovato and Britney Spears joined the judging panel as replacements for Abdul and Scherzinger.

Cowell returned for a third season of The X Factor in September 2013 alongside Demi Lovato, while Britney Spears and L.A. Reid announced they would not be returning and were replaced by Kelly Rowland and Paulina Rubio. Cowell's last act Alex & Sierra won the season, marking Cowell's second season as the winning mentor after he won with Melanie Amaro in 2011.

In October 2013, it was reported that Cowell would maybe return to the UK version of The X Factor for series 11 as

...