If you were to ask most people who the driving force is behind the success of American Idols Live I’m sure more than fifty percent of the people you were to survey would most likely say Simon Cowell. When American Idols Live first aired back in 2002, it had the potential of being a Star Search type variety show with little or no differentiation to similar shows that have tried and failed before it. However, one defining characteristic of American Idols Live above all others was without doubt the brutal honesty of one, Simon Cowell. He became the basis of your typical water cooler talk almost instantly, as no one had really seen that type of stimulant arrogance as a primetime network judge before. American Idols Live still had a promising format, but without the attitude of Simon Cowell winched between Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson, I don’t think American Idols Live would have seen the success it has.
Before becoming an American Celebrity from his role on American Idols Live, Simon had already enjoyed fame in the UK as a judge on Pop Idol, which American Idols Live was based on. In his earlier years, he held a promising record producing position for Fanfare. In 1989 the parent-company, Public Company, got into difficulties, forcing Fanfare into the hands of BMG. Believe it or not, the muti millionaire judge of American Idols Live actually had to move back in with his parents in 1989 because he was largely in debt. Later that year, he became an A&R consultant for BMG, and went on to sign such acts as Curiosity Killed the Cat, Sonia Evans, Five, Westlife, Robson & Jerome, and Ultimate Kaos. He also released several novelty recordings featuring the likes of wrestlers of the World Wrestling Federation, Teletubbies, Zig and Zag and the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, that were huge successes. Cowell set up another label, Syco Records, in 2002 which later became part of Columbia Records and Sony BMG Music Entertainment. Artists such as Leona Lewis, Il Divo and contestants from The X Factor and America’s Got Talent are all released on Syco. Cowell enjoyed all of these successes before becoming the no nonsense judge of American Idols Live, and although he was almost bankrupt in 1989, less than twenty years later, he has an estimated net worth of about a quarter of a billion dollars. There were reports in 2007 that Paula Abdul was upset over his salary from American Idols Live. Apparently she was making about five to six million dollars a season to judge American Idols Live whereas Simon Cowell was making over thirty million dollars a season for the same position.
Besides American Idols Live, Simon Cowell also plays a prominent role in the production of other reality hits such as The X Factor, American Inventor, and America’s Got Talent, to name a few. One thing is for certain, whether Simon Cowell is in front of the camera or behind the scenes, he inevitably knows how to make a hit.
