Hello everyone! Today we will talk about such an outstanding person as Simon Cowell.
Not is an English television personality, entrepreneur, and record executive.
He has judged on the British television talent competition series Pop Idol,
The X Factor UK, Britain's Got Talent and America's Got Talent. Simon is the principal,
founder and chief executive of the British entertainment company Syco.
Simon Phillip Cowell was born on 7 October 1959 in Lambeth, London,
and raised in Elstree, Hertfordshire. His mother, Julie Brett (née Josie Dalglish),
was a ballet dancer and socialite, and his father, Eric Selig Phillip Cowell, was an estate agent,
property developer, and music industry executive. Cowell's father was from a mostly Jewish family
(his own mother was born in Poland), though he did not discuss his ancestry with his children.
Cowell's mother was from a Christian background. He has a younger brother, Nicholas Cowell;
three half brothers, John, Tony, and Michael Cowell; and a half sister, June Cowell.
Simon attended Radlett Preparatory School and the independent Dover College, as did his brother,
but left after taking GCE O levels. He passed English Language and Literature and then attended
Windsor Technical College, where he gained another GCE in Sociology. His father, who was
an executive at EMI Music Publishing, managed to get him a job in the mail room. However,
after failing to get a promotion, he left to try out other jobs before returning to EMI.
In the early 1980s, Cowell left EMI to form E&S Music with his former boss at EMI but
quit in 1983. He then formed Fanfare Records with Iain Burton, initially selling exercise videos,
and music from acts such as the Italian orchestra Rondò Veneziano.
He had his first hit song in 1986 with "So Macho" by Sinitta. Some of Cowell's early
success came through Stock Aitken Waterman, who produced a number of hits in the 1980s.
However, in 1989 the company went under and he nearly became bankrupt.
He then found a job with BMG as an A&R consultant and set up S
Records under BMG. Simon restarted his career in the music business by creating novelty records
with acts such as the puppets Zig and Zag, Power Rangers and World Wrestling Federation. In 1995,
through his persistence, he persuaded two actors, Robson Green and Jerome Flynn from the UK
television drama series Soldier Soldier, to sign with him and record the song "Unchained Melody",
which they had performed on the show. The recording by the duo, now named Robson & Jerome,
quickly reached number 1 in the UK, staying at the top of the chart for seven weeks.
It became the best-selling single of 1995, and their self-titled album released later in the
year also became the best-selling album of 1995. They released another album and two more singles
before disbanding, and sold 7 million albums and 5 million singles in total. According to Cowell,
they made him his first million. Later acts he signed included Five, Westlife and Teletubbies.
In 2001, Cowell was given the role of judge on the first series of Pop Idol, a show that
he and the show creator Simon Fuller successfully pitched to ITV Controller of Entertainment Claudia
Rosencrantz. Cowell's S Records signed the top two finishers of the first season of Pop Idol,
Will Young and Gareth Gates, both of whom went on to have No 1 UK hits, and they were the top
2 best-selling singles of 2002 and the decade of 2000s. He also became a judge on the first season
of American Idol in 2002. With his notoriously critical reputation, Cowell has been likened to TV
personalities such as Judge Judy and The Weakest Link host Anne Robinson. Cowell's prominence grew,
fed by his signature phrase, "I don't mean to be rude, but ...", inevitably followed by an
unsparingly blunt appraisal of the contestant's talents, personality, or even physical appearance.
Cowell formed a new company, Syco, in 2005. The company is divided into three units: Syco Music,
Syco TV and Syco Film. Cowell returned to music with his latest brainchild signed to Syco,
the internationally successful operatic pop group Il Divo, consisting of three opera singers and
one pop singer of four different nationalities. Inspired by the success of Il Divo, Simon created
a child version, Angelis, beating competition from similar groups emerging at Christmas 2006.
On 11 January 2010, Cowell's exit from American Idol was made official. By the time Cowell left
American Idol, the show was on its seventh consecutive season in its leadership among
all primetime programmes in the United States, even lasting up to 2011 in the longest winning
streak in the US overall viewership and demographics in the Nielsen ratings.
The 2010 season was Cowell's last on the show, and he was replaced by Steven Tyler.
It was also announced that FOX had acquired the rights to The X Factor USA,
an American version of British show The X Factor that launched in 2011.
In 2004, with Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh, Cowell was a judge on the first series of the
British television music competition The X Factor, which he created using his production company,
Syco TV. The X Factor was an instant success with the viewers and enjoyed its tenth series in 2013.
Leona Lewis, the winner of the third series of The X Factor, was signed to Cowell's label Syco
and has had number one singles and album sales around the world. Cowell returned for a fourth
series on 18 August 2007 alongside Osbourne, Walsh and new judge, Dannii Minogue. Walsh had
previously been sacked from the judging panel by Cowell for the fourth series,
and he was subsequently replaced by Brian Friedman, who was a judge on Grease Is the Word.
Simon Cowell also launched American The X Factor in September 2011 on American broadcaster Fox.
It was originally announced that he would be a judge both on the UK and US editions of the show,
which aired at similar times of the year, but MTV officially reported on 17 April 2011 that
this was not true. Cowell was no longer to be a judge on the UK version, but he would remain
a major presence backstage. He was joined by Paula Abdul, L.A. Reid, Nicole Scherzinger and
formerly Cheryl Cole. Cowell's act Melanie Amaro won the season, making Cowell the winning judge.
Cowell and Reid returned for season 2, while Demi Lovato
and Britney Spears joined the judging panel as replacements for Abdul and Scherzinger.
This season launched another of Cowell's acts into worldwide fame, the group Fifth Harmony.
Cowell returned for a third season of The X Factor in September 2013 alongside Demi Lovato,
while Britney Spears and L.A. Reid announced they would not
be returning and were replaced by Paulina Rubio and Kelly Rowland.
In October 2010, Cowell signed new three-year deals with ITV for both Britain's Got Talent
and The X Factor, retaining them until 2013. On 15 November 2013,
the three-year deal was extended by another three years, keeping it on air until 2016.
In December 2020 it was announced that Cowell will be a judge on The X Factor Israel in 2021.
In late May 2021, Cowell announced he will be cancelling his appearance on the show
in context of the Israeli aggression against Gaza.
Following the success of the Idol and X Factor franchises, Simon Cowell, his company Syco,
and its business partners developed a talent show format open to performers of any kind, not only
singers, but also dancers, instrumentalists, magicians, comedians, novelty acts, and so on.
The origins of the Got Talent format can be traced to the British show Opportunity Knocks.
Simon Cowell is the executive producer of America's Got Talent, which debuted in June 2006,
along with Fremantle producers of the Idol series. The show was a huge success for NBC,
drawing around 12 million viewers a week and beating So You Think You Can Dance on Fox.
Britain's Got Talent debuted on ITV in June 2007.
Cowell appeared as a judge alongside Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan. The show was a ratings success,
and second and third seasons followed in 2008 and 2009. The third series featured a publicity coup
when Susan Boyle made a global media impact comparable to that of any previous talent
show series winner with her regional audition performance. In December 2019, Simon signed a
five-year deal with ITV ensuring Britain's Got Talent will stay on the channel until 2024.
In 2014, Got Talent was named the world's most successful reality
TV format by Guinness World Records, with spin-offs in over 68 countries.
In 2015, Cowell launched La Banda, his first US show since his stint with American The X Factor.
The show, designed to find male singers to form the "ultimate Latino Boy Band,"
launched on Univision in the US on 13 September 2015.
The winner of the show, boy band CNCO, signed to Cowell's record label Syco Music.
Cowell was announced as the replacement for Howard Stern on America's Got Talent on 22 October 2015.
On 15 July 2020, it was announced that Simon Cowell had bought out
Sony Music from their joint venture, Syco Entertainment.
Simon Cowell has been involved in charity work for many years.
He is a patron of Together for Short Lives, the leading UK charity for all children
with life-threatening and life-limiting conditions. He was patron of Children's
Hospices UK between 2009 and 2011 before it merged to become Together for Short Lives.
Simon donated money to Manchester Dogs' Home in England after it was hit by a large fire.
In view of his charitable works, particularly the production of the charity single "Everybody Hurts"
in aid of victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, as well as his services to the music industry, there
was considerable media speculation as to whether Cowell would receive a knighthood in the Queen's
2010 Birthday Honours, a proposal allegedly put forward by then Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
To raise money for the families of the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire in London
in June 2017 and for The London Community Foundation,
Cowell arranged the recording and release of a charity single "Bridge over Troubled Water".
Simon collaborated with a number of vocalists for the single, including Robbie Williams,
Dua Lipa, Roger Daltrey and Rita Ora, and the song reached number one in the UK Singles Chart.
Simon Cowell dated English presenter Terri Seymour from 2002 to 2008.
Then, was engaged to make-up artist Mezhgan Hussainy from 2010 to 2011.
In 2013, Cowell allegedly began dating an American woman named Lauren Silverman.
In July 2013, Silverman's husband and Cowell's friend, Andrew Silverman,
filed for an at-fault divorce, citing adultery by his wife and naming Cowell as a co-respondent.
News of the divorce filing became public two weeks later, when it was widely reported that Silverman
and Cowell were expecting a baby together. The Silvermans released separate statements
expressing concern for the well-being of their son during the divorce process. In August 2013,
the Silvermans settled their divorce out of court, enabling Simon to avoid being called
as a witness in the divorce proceedings. He subsequently confirmed that Silverman was
pregnant with his child, and she gave birth to their son, Eric, on 14 February 2014.
According to the Sunday Times Rich List of the wealthiest people in the UK,
Cowell was worth £385 million in 2019.
In 2019, Cowell became a vegan after doctors advised him to change his diet for health reasons.
After his 2020 motorcycle accident,
he began eating animal-based food again in order to "rebuild his strength".
In 2020, Simon Cowell announced he would
be writing a seven-book series titled Wishfits with his son.
The first three volumes are to be released in 2021, with the remaining four the next year.
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