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Simon Cowell to exit American Idol

It's official. Simon Cowell has confirmed he will leave American Idol in order to bring The X Factor to the US.

It’s official. Simon Cowell has confirmed he will leave American Idol at the end of this season.

The announcement follows speculation he would not re-sign a new Idol contract.

In departing the show, he also confirms expectations that he would bring The X Factor to FOX. As Creator of the show, he will make a lot more money than sticking with Idol.

Cowell said that even though he was offered a pile of money to stay, he wanted a “new challenge”.

Idol‘s ninth season begins tomorrow, with Ellen DeGeneres set to replace Paula Abdul in coming weeks. Last season the show also introduced Kara DioGuardi.

Cowell has always been adamant the show is big enough to survive his exit.

The new season returns to FOX8 at 7:30pm tomorrow night.

Source: BBC

18 Responses

  1. I sincerely hope that the X Factor bombs worse in the States than it did here! If this is the beginning of the end for these wretched talent shows then this can only be a good thing for American TV (and TV everywhere!)

  2. I don’t think FOX is doomed. I can only see there being one season with both shows – two at the most.

    Either The X Factor will flop (which is popular as it’s struggled in territories where Idol also runs, especially on the same channel), so come the 2012/13 season Cowell could make a comeback to Idol.

    Or Idol flops without Cowell next year, which could be why The X Factor is holding off until Fall 2011, just to see if the Idol slot is available in 2012. And if it does survive 2011, it could still flop in 2012 following The X Factor if audiences really take to the format.

    It’s a no-lose situation for Cowell really – by 2013 it’s likely only one of the formats will be running, and Cowell will if he wants it have a role with either of them.

  3. I think Richard W makes a very interesting point. During the Northern Hemisphere winter, the proportion of the population watching television in the evenings is much greater than that during Australian winters. Obviously conditions may be colder but also the winter days are much shorter. If it is dark before 4:00pm there is obviously the incentive to stay indoors.

  4. American Idol is finished. But the shi**iest thing is it was rating so well….like at least with Australian Idol and Aus X Factor and UK Idol, the cancellations were warranted because the ratings were bad. But this is the highest rated show in America. With all the the changes that’s gonna occur…American Idol is over. It’s happened with the OC when Marissa left and it will happen to this. FOX should’ve offered him 10 billion dollars to stay because without American Idol, FOX is doomed. Totally doomed.

  5. The thing is, in the UK and US, they have loyal audiences plus the fact that the winter time over there is so cold that everyone stays indoors and watches TV no matter what is on.

    Over in Australia we seem have short attention spans (and the networks too for that matter) and we end up watching a show for 1 or 2 seasons then get sick of it or go off and have a nice evening dinner in a restaurant or play footy outside.

    I dont undertsand the X-Factor and Talent craze as its generally weeker and not as well put together as Idol. But maybe I should spend a cold dark winter in the north of England before I can judge.

  6. FOX should do what the UK did and replace Idol with X-Factor, the two shows are way to similar and wont be able to co-exist, much less on the same network. It didnt work here in 05 and it wont work in the US. In the UK, Pop Idol finished in Dec 03 and X Factor started in Sep 04, there was no overlap and its worked spectacularly over there. X Factor is bigger there than idol ever was.

  7. I think Simon will through all the stops at The X Factor to make it such a success over in the US.

    He has said in the past that he would end up working with Paula again, so it wouldn’t surprise me if he brings her on as a judge. She would be better at The X Factor than Idol as she has dance experience that she would be able to bring to her acts, she also seems quite dedicated and close to the contestants, even if sometimes it seems a little too close.

    I hope we get The X Factor US over here. This could even be the push that ten need to give The X Factor another chance here in Oz.

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