According to reports there is a bit of a hoo haa going on across the Atlantic. Simon Cowell has reportedly described Cheryl Cole as “perfect” as a judge for the US X Factor, but TV Execs are less happy to have her as she is unknown to US audiences.
A source told the Daily Star “Simon is clashing heads with US producers, who don’t want Cheryl on board. Bosses are convinced the show needs big US stars to compete with the star-studded line-up ofAmerican Idol. The American public don’t know who Cheryl is and just ‘being a good friend of Simon’s from some unknown girlband’ isn’t cutting it.”
And they might well have a point. Cheryl Cole is the nation’s sweetheart here. Pretty much every Brit knows pretty much every detail of her personal life. She is interesting because she is the Cheryl Cole we know…but in herself she’s not really that interesting. If Cheryl goes over to the US, there is every chance that she will tank.
With American Idol racking up some big stars that audiences will be familiar with she might find it very hard to start again on such a big platform with a fresh set of people watching and with the pressure really on.
Michelle
January 4, 2011
I don’t know how much truth there is to this story, but if Simon is pushing that hard for Cheryl to be on the panel of US X Factor, he needs to get a clue. She is so wrong for the US, and she has absolutely nothing special to bring to the table. Her accent is extremely hard to understand, and she’s little more than an attractive seat filler. And Simon is way wrong – Paula was off the radar for years when she became a judge on Idol, but everyone in this country was still very familiar with her. America is not going to go gaga for a British popstar who is unknown on this side of the pond. Our version needs to be as American as possible, save for Simon, so he needs to tap our talent pool, and find judges who are a happy medium between foreign unknowns and stunt casters who have more name value than expertise. He should enlist one US recording artist, and the others should be experts from other sectors of the music industry. The Idol panel was perfectly balanced this way before Paula and Simon left and the producers desperately turned to big name entertainers in a lame attempt to pull ratings with one or both of its real stars missing. Simon needs to get that balance back and show that his judging panel does not need to be a Who’s Who. The recording artist that he should select should be none other than Paula. The chemistry between those two was one of the things that made Idol a phenomenon. America wants it back, and if Simon is smart, he will leave Cheryl on the other side of the Atlantic and reunite with the Number One yin to his yang.
Cliff Roach
January 4, 2011
I am a 62 year old retired senior manager from Canada and view US TV shows such as Americal Idol, Dancing with the Stars etc. Like many north america fans of the arts, music and dance especially it is my informed opinion that the US fans will fall in love with Cheryl Cole as soon as they hear her speak, watch her eyes and body language as she does indeed recognize talent and understands and sees the big picture.
I find it passing strange that FOX TV executives,if its true, think they know better than Simon the creator of these shows and master of reality tv is being second guessed on the success formula. Big US names never guarentee a winner check the record FOX, please before we are all back on the internet watching X Factor from Britain listen to him!
Check the hits on the internet looking for Cheryl and Derek Hough news if you want to know if the North America knows who she is…….
Jamie
January 4, 2011
I don’t think Cheryl Cole is the right person to be a Judge in UK or USA. She appears unstable too most of the time. Therapy might be the answer. And why is Simon pushing so hard? He makes himself look like a fool the way he is unable to make business decisions rather than decisions of the heart. They flirted their way through X Factor (yuk!)Totally unprofessional.
Simon will probably dump his fiancee soon and make a move on Cheryl. It appears nobody stands a chance if they say anything negative about Cheryl Cole. Now Simon says he is willing to pull out of X Factor USA over Cheryl Cole. I feel quite sad for Simon Cowell, what has happened to the real Simon Cowell? pathetic.