Simon Cowell shoots from the hip with ‘Extra’ about filling voids at X Factor since the trinity shakeup leaving judges Paula Abdul and Nicole Scherzinger along with host Steve Jones without recurring contracts.
Rumors were quickly underway about who were next to grace the vacant judging seats on the singing-themed talent show. Beyonce Knowles was immediately thrown out in the atmosphere with a ridiculous supposed courting contract upwards of $500 million to accommodate her star power.
“I have no clue where that came from. I read that online that I offered her $100 million a year. The budget for the show is $100 million. That would never, ever happen. It’s absolute nonsense…Even if you had that kind of money. I wouldn’t spend $100 million on one person. I genuinely haven’t had a conversation with her about it. Not at all.”
Cowell didn’t clarify if he would have wanted Beyonce or not if the price was right, but the brazen producer was clear about who he would want.
“I would love her (Mariah Carey). But you can’t expect someone who just had two kids to make the kind of commitment you would need on this show,” Cowell said. “Madonna would be great, but expensive.”
Beyond wanting the megastars, he didn’t go into detail if the two women were in the process of being courted for the judging panel. But Simon added how he personally didn’t want to cut Paula from the show, but was left with little choice as a business decision.
“I would’ve liked to have kept her,” Cowell said. “She was very gracious and I said that to her. She understands it’s business; it’s never personal.”
So, how does the show go about fingering who would make for great judging contenders?
“…I would ask how many records have they made, how many artists have they discovered. That’s where we have to be different on the judging panel. It’s very important that you have people on the panel that have actually signed and made artists successful all over the world, not just have made hit records yourself. That’s why you have a judging panel.”
Maybe that explains LA Reid’s safe return. “There’s not a record executive out there who is as good as him for the job,” Cowell said of the Epic Records head.
Would Beyonce be a good addition to X Factor?
