Wow! It’s ACTUALLY happening!
And personally, we couldn’t be more PSYCHED! It’s like the best of both worlds combining for the PERFECT reality show!
There has been a massive amount of speculation regarding who will fill the remaining two spots left on the judges panel of the American reboot of Simon Cowell‘s smash UK series, The X Factor, and although the deals are STILL not finalized, the producer has finally revealed that he’s settled on the already-announced Antonio “L.A.” Reid, as well as (wait for it)…Cheryl Cole AND Paula Abdul!
That’s right! PAULA EFFING ABDUL! We’re freaking out!
SHE’S BACK!
According to Cowell, although the long-awaited announcement was a showcase of “complete and utter indecisiveness,” he claims that Reid “was my No. 1 choice to sit alongside me on the show,” and continues:
“First of all, it’s like casting a dinner party. You├óΓé¼Γäóve got to have people on the panel you get on well with. I never think about it as an American or British audience. I genuinely don├óΓé¼Γäót. I think that├óΓé¼Γäós what’s happened on a lot of these shows now is it’s almost like you├óΓé¼Γäóve got to hire well known celebrities to be a judge. And with Cheryl, when I hired her initially, I’d only met her literally once when I offered her the job on [British] X Factor. I thought she was bright, cute, knew what she was talking about, ambitious. And you meet someone special a few times in your life.. And this girl is special. She’s just got a great ability to communicate. Shes a great judge. She’s smart. It’s just a hunch. If people take to her like the British public did, I think she’s going to do really well in America. And Fox was desperate to hire her. Mike Darnell and Peter Rice will tell you they wanted her all the time, I showed a tape to Mike Darnell two years ago of a clip I’d shot in England of Cheryl and he said there and then, ‘I’d hire her now for Idol.’ They absolutely fell in love with her. In a way, the deal, it was almost conditional on Cheryl having the gig. They were desperate for her. I’ve always wanted Paula. Always been very vocal about that. I missed her the second she left the show. Always loved working with her even though she can be a pain. And I’ve been consistent about this. I don├óΓé¼Γäót know what it is about her, but I’ve always clicked with her. You just have to get that chemistry, and she’s right. I’ve never found anyone better than her. I think there’s a good chance it will be her. We’ve agreed that we would meet as many people as possible, and now we’re reaching the deadline we’ve got to make the decision soon. But I think she’s got a really good shot.”
Granted, Abdul’s deal has even started yet and Chezza’s STILL isn’t quite done, but we’ve heard it from his mouth, so we’re going with it…and frankly, think that he might be on to something!
British audiences took very kindly to Cheryl when she joined X Factor in its fifth season, and we all know that a lot of American Idol‘s initial success came from Paula’s shenanigans, so to combine the two along with Reid is a pretty smart move!
We just hope that this is the end of all the speculation! We’re tired of having to guess who’s going to take the spots!
Well done, Simon!
And if you’re interested, check out which rumored artists Cowell actually considered for Paula and Cheryl’s spots…AFTER THE JUMP!
What do U think?? Are U excited for The X Factor‘s judging panel?
[Images via WENN.]
– Diddy was only interested if he owned part of The X Factor, so he was NOT approached. Cowell claims, “I’ve read an interview where he said if he was approached for X Factor, that├óΓé¼Γäós what he’d want. But there was no way that would ever happen. We don├óΓé¼Γäót have that kind of budget to pay these kind of salaries. So we didn├óΓé¼Γäót even approach him.”
– Snoop was NOT approached. Cowell: “I’ve read that he’s turned us down. Honest to God, I’ve met him before, but I’ve never once spoken to him about the doing the show.”
– Cee Lo WAS briefly considered: “I met him and his manager for 30 minutes. He told me he was doing The Voice. I said maybe we should set up a meeting with your producers. And then I started thinking about that afterwards and decided it’s sort of pointless doing that since he’s going to be committed to that show. And I already knew at that point that L.A. Reid was pretty much a done deal. So I just didn├óΓé¼Γäót follow it up. But, again, we never offered him the show, and he didn├óΓé¼Γäót meet our producers, and he certainly didn├óΓé¼Γäót call me to say he turned us down.”
– Same case with Jennifer Lopez.
– Gloria Estefan showed up at Miami auditions unexpectedly, but they never discussed a full-time position.
– Mariah Carey was a hot choice for a position, but she turned them down due to her pregnancy.