Nigel Lythgoe Disses Simon Cowell’s “Winner’s Singoff” Idea

I agree 100% with Nigel about Simon’s challenge.  Bad idea!   I think Simon is getting more desperate by the day.  It’s not like X-Factor has set the world on fire or anything.  It was sad seeing Schyler getting cut last nut but it was probably more painful for Colton than it was for her.

I say go for it.. then people outside the bubble could see just how childish these men are. 

Honestly, it is not a bad idea. It would be really entertaining. Yeah, of course idol has produced more successful singers, but that doesn’t mean that people form the voice and x factor are not supremely talented, and it is always fun to watch talented people square off.

BTW, here are the idol winners that I strongly believe Melanie Amaro can outsing (at least on a technical level): Ruben, Taylor, Jordin, Kris, Lee, and Scotty.

This reminded me to of what AI tried to do last year.  I’m glad that the all of the alums had the good sense to say no.  Simon and the other show runners need to understand that these people are trying to launch careers as professional singers, not professional reality show contestants.  They aren’t like other reality tv competition participants, their main goal is a record contract, not winning or just being on television.

I have a better idea.  Have the winners of the three shows join forces to raise money for a specific cause!  Maybe some kind of concert or TV event.

I like that idea Kariann. If they got together to raise money for charity, I would watch that.

I think it’s a horrible idea.  These people go through enough competition on their own shows and by the time they get off of them, they are hoping to start a career.  That’s the only reason they go on the show to begin with after all.  Another singing competition between the winners of the shows would turn it into more of a game show atmosphere and a joke than it already is.  I thought the goal here (at least it should be) was to be giving out record contracts to new, undiscovered talent, not a competition among the producers for the most ratings. It’s getting more ridiculous by the day.

I completely agree with this.  Once the winners leave the show, they’re trying to gain credibility in the industry. This would be a major step backward from that goal, in my opinion.   It’s hard enough for them out there, I can’t imagine anyone from Idol thinking this is a good idea.

It’s a bad idea. It’s basically World Idol. Kelly was forced by contract to do it. She stated it was a stupid idea because they were all winners at one point & then they have to subject themselves to go back & compete against all winners & now you can place dead last in another competition when some of them had hit singles/albums. It doesn’t help any of the contestants. It only helps the management & producers.

I don’t see any of the past Idol winners ever agreeing to this unless they were forced by contract. Even the winners who had bad sales, I think would have said no due to their integrity or they know it would not help their careers. The Voice contestants might agree because they need the exposure since their marketing post-show doesn’t seem to be good. XF contestants I’m sure will be forced by Simon because if his contestant wins he will definitely brag about it.

i’m not sure the winners would be willing to do this :)

Simon wouldn’t be able to line his pockets if people sang for charity.  

Stupid Simon, stupid idea…besides next season may be the last for everybody.  The market is just getting way too over-saturated and I blame that on Simon’s ego and NBC’s last ditch effort to be relevant.

How old are these men…Lythgoe and Cowell?  (Rhetorical question).   Between these two and Warwick…I feel like I’m listening to 12 year olds sometimes.   I don’t watch either show anymore and these guys are the main reason.

Outsing? Like hitting the right notes? Man, I could not disagree more. For me, it’s how a singer emotes lyrics and melody in a song. I find Melanie boring as mud.  

My favorite singer is Bob Dylan.  Most consider him not much of a technically good singer, but man, he moves me.  Legendary singers/songwriters do far more than hit the correct notes.

I’d like to see a sing-off competition among the judges.  Now that would be interesting.

“the bigger point is that once a contestant leaves Idol, it’s on to a career and no looking back.”

Exactly.  Why on earth would any of the Idol winners want to go backwards and compete again?  It’s totally ridiculous!

Wishful thinking here, but you know what I’d like to see?  An AI “Tenth Anniversary Reunion” show, featuring all ten season’s winners – possibly airing the week before S11′s finale.  Make it a three hour special, thus each winner gets to sing at least two
songs with some “where are they now” banter/filler in between.  Reverse countdown format: Scotty opening the show, Kelly closing.  Important that Kelly close, because if it wasn’t for her, Idol wouldn’t have survived 10+ seasons. 

One can dream. . .

Does Simon want the people to vote too? American Idol will always win in that case. Does he want note-for-note singing? Scotty will definitely lose. Melanie and Javier can sing circles around Scotty. Whatever case, Simon is being petty.

“I think Simon is getting more desperate by the day.”

This reeks of desperation and now that The Voice is moving/having a second season in the fall, I think that Simon really feels threatened.

I’d love to see a reunion show & not a competition show. It’ll filled with great performances & we can hope for some duets between the winners.

There’s so much more to being a great singer than just “hitting the notes”.

The problem is that these people have a hard enough time getting recognition as being artists, and not just television personalities.  It’s one of the reasons why they have an up hill battle getting airplay.  Appearing on another reality show is just going to make things harder for them.

Did some of you guys not read Simon’s tweet? He said,
“Maybe the winner of @TheXFactorUSA this yr. should compete with winner of The Voice & Idol in a super final.” Past winners weren’t mentioned.

I love this idea.  It should have happened last year, but I would air it in the summer, or sometime around Thanksgiving or Christmas.

I know he didn’t say anything about past winners. We are just stating it’s a bad idea in general & that most contestants would never agree to this unless they were forced to do it. It doesn’t really help any of them.

Remember when they made Kelly Clarkson participate in a show with all the other international Idol winners?

BTW, why isn’t Simon including the winner of The Sing-Off in his sing-off challenge?

Every time Simon says something, I wonder who peed in his sandbox.

Simon, this is just the worst thing you’ve ever said.
You know XFactor is going to lose badly.
I know u’re talking bout this year’s winner, but sorry, your show doesn’t show quality enough.

Dear Simon:
You did something similar with World Idol 10 years ago and YOU said it was POINTLESS!!!
so…forget you…
(Kelly endedupin 8th or 7th place with Will Young in 4th…so…)

Sorry, ptewwong, I guess your comment was a little confusing, because you say you can’t see past winners agreeing to this – but maybe you meant: agreeing to it, had it happened back in their winning year? Probably that’s how you meant that. (I was also responding to Lovesyesha’s comment.)
Anyhow – I think it’s a stupid idea however you slice it. After you win something like this, you’ve won. The whole idea is to give you a boost into a career of your own in the music business. Your life shouldn’t become an endless series of reality show competitions.

Really this is just another attempt by Simon to get folks talking about the X Factor and making it seem that the 3 shows are on the same level of quality and competition .  In reality we know they are not.  While the X factor and the Voice are nice shows with some flash and gimmicks, to me there is no comparison to  American Idol. 

After Kelly won in S1, she was forced to do World Idol. She competed against S1 winners in about 10 different countries including UK, South Africa, Germany, etc. She didn’t win & placed 2nd. A guy from Norway won with a U2 song. 

Kelly later said it was a stupid concept because everyone was a winner & now you basically take away all you’ve accomplished & compete again. The show aired on Christmas 2003. By then, Kelly already had 3 hits (A Moment Like This, Miss Independent, Low). Her album sales was already great. So she had no reason to do this except that she said it was in her contract to do it like she had to do From Justin To Kelly.

“BTW, here are the idol winners that I strongly believe Melanie Amaro
can outsing (at least on a technical level): Ruben, Taylor, Jordin,
Kris, Lee, and Scotty.”

No way in heck could Melanie outsing Ruben technically.

Now, she might make a great big hyperventilating show of out-divaing Ruben, while he would sing subtly and with technical excellence and quiet, deep musicality, the way he always does. So she might out*shine* him to the untutored eye … But beat Ruben Studdard in a technical singing contest? No way!  

The others? Yeah, possibly.

Trying to ride on other people’s coattails much, Simon? heh

Idol graduates (and X Factor, Voice, too) are already competing with objective measurements like album sales, Grammy nominations, radio play, tour attendance.  Why do they need another place to compete and judged? 

They needed to be on the show to get noticed. They don’t need the shows anymore. Only those who are struggling will be back to get more exposure, but if it didn’t work first time, it works for the second time is slim.  Nigel is right.Simon needs a longer vacation to clear his head and come back with a better idea. Idol was brilliant. I am sure he can do it again, but not by trying to salvage X-Factor like this. 

Well, Nigel laid the gauntlet down on the other shows with the
“Superstars” promo this week.  I guess this was the only
response Simon C. could come up with.

Suffice it to say, I loved Nigel’s little smack-down of Simon’s incredibly stupid idea.  It also made me pause and think about poor Kelly being forced to compete in the ridiculous World Idol and film that heinous movie.  Man, the fact that she rose above those lame road-blocks and built the career that she did, is even more amazing to me now.

And anyway, wouldn’t Melanie have an unfair advantage if they were to do this now?  After all, didn’t she tell us that the late, great Whitney Houston was living in her voice?  I mean, that would certainly give her a leg up on the competition :). 

I hope a Lee Dewyze wins again this year just to see Nigel swallow his words.

Dear Simon:
You did something similar with World Idol 10 years ago and YOU said it was POINTLESS!!!
so…forget you…

Exactly. Simon was scathing in his criticism of World Idol. Of course, he didn’t use to like children competing in these shows either.

It’s a terrible idea because they’ve already won. Why set themselves up to lose ? Especially when there will be show fans voting for their own agendas.

Plus, Nigel has a point. The Idol winner will be busy having some sort of musical career.

Meanwhile, Simon is giving his winner a cover of “RESPECT” when there is already a cover of “RESPECT” blowing up in the clubs. Like there is room for two versions at the same time. Way to do your homework.

I do kind of like the idea of doing a 10th anniversary special of Idol. That would be fun.

Brian Mansfield weighs in;   

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/idolchatter/index#.Tz6Xg4fSZmg 

“Possibly because Cowell realizes his show is getting his head handed to it by the others, and he hopes to get The X Factor some attention by riding the coattails of the more successful shows. Of course, if you’re the producers (or winners) of American Idol or The Voice, you know you’ve got absolutely nothing to gain by even acknowledging Simon’s comments, much less taking them seriously. Sounds like Cowell’s got bigger problems than just finding another female judge.”

Actually, I think Idol contestants will always have the advantage if viewers get to vote. On Idol, you get to know the contestants more which some viewers care about. Also, by the time XF’s winner is announced the Idol winner has a single & album out.

If you decide to do a competition with the 3 past winners, I think Scotty will win. He has had more exposure, a platinum album, 2 gold singles, etc. Melanie has only released a commercial & a cover song she sang on it. The problem is if you wait for the XF winner to be announced in December so that winner can compete with the other 2 shows, the Idol & The Voice winner has already released something. The Voice hasn’t done well in marketing their contestants. But the Idol winner with the popularity of the show, great marketing, & singles/albums already released has more exposure than an XF contestant that just won.

LOL – love Nigel’s response. The Idol winner won’t need the promo.

Maybe Simon is just looking for an excuse to meet Scotty and show off his impersonation skills face-to-face.

Rusty, I like the idea of them doing a 10th Anniversary Special. They should try to get all the finalists they can, in addition to the winners, and do solos, duets and group numbers. It would be cool to see the contestants perform with others outside their season (Kelly and Carrie duet would be epic!)

I dont think The Voice would be relavant in a hypothetical match up on winners beacuse The Voice has shown that it is not interested in finding an artist and then pushing that artist to have a successful career…I have no problem in predicting that Melanie will outsell a measly 10k in the first week..and if given the right material she could go platnium as well

Tee Hee, I was being facetious :).  I don’t think there’s a snowballs chance in hell that anyone at either of the other shows would entertain Simon’s idea even for a second (barring the opportunity to poke fun at him).

I love Rustysax’s idea of a 10th anniversary special.  I would absolutely watch that.  

I didn’t watch X-factor, and all I’ve seen of Melanie is that annoying Pepsi commercial.  She’s somewhat devoid of charisma.  Outside of one anomaly, the AI winners have all had a certain charm about them.  They’ve all had qualities that endeared them to a TV audience.  So, regardless of whether or not she could hit more notes than an AI winner, I can’t see her beating any of them (except 1) in a televised talent contest.  

and i have a hard time believing that nigel doesnt have some type of say so into who makes it through and gets cut…what other reason is there for P2 to still be in the competition

I think the judges think he can change up songs like he did with Thriller at his audition. If he can really change up songs like David Cook did in the competition, he could get far. Personally, I don’t like his voice & never liked his audition. 

Besides, doesn’t this inter-show competition between the winners of The Voice, X-Factor and Idol already exist? It’s called Soundscan and Mediabase.

Idol won the last round. Let’s see what happens this year.

Simon only included the shows that have gotten better ratings than his. So the Sing-Off doesn’t fit the bill.

In any case, as others have pointed out, it’s been done before as “World Idol” and it was basically a flop… at least as far as American and UK audiences were concerned, since their respective representatives finished 2nd and 5th only. I don’t think it did particularly well in the ratings either.

I think the ratings for World Idol were around 6 million which is much better than I expected considering they had the stupid idea to air it on Christmas Day.

That’s one of the most insightful things that Brian Mansfield has ever written.

Simon just want to associate himself with idol again.   Idol doesn’t need to associate itself with the other crappy wannabe singing shows like The Voice and X-FactorUSA.  Let the winners compete on the charts.

” you know what I’d like to see?  An AI “Tenth Anniversary Reunion” show, featuring all ten season’s winners.”

The problem with that is that on most seasons the best singers didn’t win.

Absloutely not, Ruben would serve Melanie her ass in her hand!  Ruben is a classically trained vocalist, also Ruben has a certain charisma also that attributed to his win, that Miss Amaro just doesn’t have.  I would add Taylor to that charisma thing too.  And Unless you’ve never heard Jordin sing I Who Have Nothing, you can’t put her in that category either.  

Obviously, you can’t do this because of the fact that the seasons run at different times and release schedules are so varied.

But if they had a super competition with top contestants from all shows, Astro would slay. He’s the only original act in the whole bunch and he’d pull out awesome diss raps.

you know what I’d like to see? An AI “Tenth Anniversary Retunion” show, featuring all ten season’s winners.”

Some may jump at the chance. I can’t see Kelly and Carrie wanting to do something like this. And some would love (need) the exposure more than others, like Lee.

They tried bringing back alumni for Simon’s exit but could not get every one. Between schedules and egos, it would take a miracle.

In my opinion, all of those Idols you mention are far more versatile and interesting performers than Melanie. She might be a more technically pure vocalist than most of them, but that’s not the only thing that matters. In my opinion, if it came to a vote, she’d lose out to most, if not all, of these people.

I doubt the winners of any of these shows would be interested. They are trying to build careers and separate themselves from the whole reality show thing. What would be the point?

“I think the ratings for World Idol were around 6 million which is much
better than I expected considering they had the stupid idea to air it on
Christmas Day.”

I thought it was New Years Day?

I still love the Voice and it has some good singers so far.  Xfactor had a couple of good singers but I hate the show.  For me, Idol started slow and boring this year, but I have to say the talent I saw the last two nights blew me away.  I saw a post on FB that Idol seemed to have exceptional talent this year.  I agree.      Is it just that so many came out for some reason, or did the producers start putting through actual singers instead of casting a reality show with fodder?  Based on the last two nights, it would be hard to whittle down to top 13 unless some let nerves get to them.   The judges are  still boring and underwhelming however.  

The performance show was definitely Christmas Day. The results show was New Year’s Day the week after.

A number of Idols go through the “separation” phase where they want nothing to do with the very show that made them famous. Over time that wears off but there would need to be a huge incentive to go, or a phone call from someone no one in their right mind would say no to but I can’t think of anyone that crosses all seasons with that much influence. Clive Davis dropped out of A I …

In Europe, Christmas Day is one of the biggest days of the year for TV. That was probably the reasoning. In North America, it has the lowest ratings of any day on the calendar.

I am most certainly aware that there are amazing musicians out there who are not great singers. I love Bob Dylan too. However, I do believe that melanie has a lot of emotion in her voice. I think the closest winner to her in terms of style is Jordin, and IMO Mel’s voice is so much more interesting.

Look, I’m not saying this would work by any means, just that it would be fun to watch.

Compare Jordin’s I Who Have Nothing (which was sung well), to Melanie’s Earth Song, and there is no comparison.

You’re right, Ruben has an amazing technical voice. I personally prefer Melanie, but he is an amazing singer.

Of course he does.  Nigel just wants to pretend that he doesn’t.  lol

You’re both right.  According to wiki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Idol

The performance show was held on Christmas Day 2003, with the results show held on New Year’s Day 2004.

Also:

Judge Simon Cowell (from the original Pop Idol) was very critical of the format. He went as far as saying he hated it, in that it made the winners from the ten other Idol competitions into losers. Cowell also thought many of the judges were trying to copy his abrasive style.

lol

What Simon doesn’t get is the fact that it’s the voters who would choose.
He may want his contestants to compete against Idol contestants; but he sure
as hell doesn’t want his voters to compete against Idol voters!

I sent Nigel many, many suggestions for a 10 year Anniversary Show, and to make sure David Cook has his calendar date open.  Didn’t work – never happened.

I do believe Simon has “help” read his tweets.  He most certainly knows now that this is a stupid idea.

The voice doesn’t count because they can’t even bring their selves to mention Javiers name..maybe if he had stuck to his acoustic r&b style music instead of the soft rock stuff he has now then would have done better in sales

Melanie would beat the last 3 winners of idol…and I haven’t heard jordin sing in awhile so I don’t know how her voice has matured…Melanie would not beat people like Kelly and Carrie because they are already superstars and melanie is just starting out…xfactor has produced many stars around the world…I hope melanie will become one in the states

Some may jump at the chance. I can’t see Kelly and Carrie wanting to do something like this. And some would love (need) the exposure more than others, like Lee.

Carrie has never severed ties with the show.  Last year was the first time where she didn’t appear on the show at all.  I doubt that it would be about wanting the exposure, and I think that they all would do it, if it’s one show, which was suggested, and if they are given advance notice.  Either last year or the year before, Kelly represented AI at the opening of a Microsoft store, so she’s not above doing a televised event for the show either.

Ron Simpson said: The problem with that is that on most seasons the best singers didn’t win. 

That’s subjective, and wouldn’t be something that stopped an anniversary show from taking place.  It didn’t stop AI from showcasing 7 of the 8 winners in 2010, when Simon left.

They tried bringing back alumni for Simon’s exit but could not get every one. Between schedules and egos, it would take a miracle.

David Cook was the only one who wasn’t there, and that’s because he had a prior engagement. AI decided to put that tribute together at the last minute. They have a bad history of doing that.

If The Sing Off is included, I’m all for it.  Pentatonix would blow them all out of the water.  Plus it might up the audience for The Sing Off, allowing it to continue.

I admit that Melanie will most likely outscream my favorite Idol, but that’s about it. I already change the channel when her Pepsi ad comes on the other day.

Melanie is definitely my favorite winner of the three singing competitions from 2011. The first time since Jordin Sparks that a good winner was chosen on American singing show. 

I most definitely could see Kelly and Carrie taking part in an Idol reunion. Why would they not?  And because some winners didn’t sell 7 million records, doesn’t mean they’d want to, or need to, take part in a reunion either. It’s possible they are very content on the path they took and want to continue to distance themself from the show even more so than Kelly or Carrie.

“Good” being subjective, of course. We’ll see if she is as “good” as David Cook or Scotty McCreery once her inaugural album sales numbers start to trickle in. I am not a fan of her music or voice, nor do I think her style is particularly current or Pop radio friendly, but I can still recognize a talented artist/singer outside my preferred genre, and she is certainly talented.

This would make losers out of the other winners.  There is NO way unless contractually obligated would anyone do this.

Me too.  I love her voice. I was very happy she won.

It would be funny if each show could choose a contestant from any season and compete.  What is Jennifer Hudson or Adam Lambert were to compete against Melanie and Javier..I say..Game over..Hudson or Lambert would win …voice and power singer wise for sure.

i think we can agree that melanie would get smoked

I think they should do a summer series of reunion shows for all 10 seasons, they could get as many of the top 10 as they can, and they could either do an original song or a cover.   

melanie vs adam= adam lambert wins MEGA FATALITY
melanie vs jennifer=jennifer hudson wins FATALITY
melanie vs javier= javier colon wins FATALITY
melanie vs ruben= ruben studdard wins FATALITY
melanie vs kelly= kelly clarkson wins ULTRA FATALITY
melanie vs carrie= carrie underwood wins ULTRA FATALITY
javier vs adam = adam lambert wins FATALITY
javier vs jennifer=jennifer hudson wins FATALITY+FLAWLESS VICTORY
javier vs kelly= kelly clarkson wins FATALITY + FLAWLESS VICTORY
 javier vs carrie=javier colon wins=FATALITY
javier vs ruben=javier colon wins =FATALITY

VOKAL KOMBAT part 1

I remember David Cook being gone but some other high profile Idols weren’t there either like Adam, Clay, etc but maybe it was the best they could do on short notice. Maybe if they start now, they can lock in May of 2013.

I think the voting practices are pretty well documented and as long as the voting is unlimited, and the criteria is cute, humble, appeals to mid America, and plays guitar then yes. Melanie and Javier would lose to an AI based voting block. I think Simon believes his winner is more talented, but that doesn’t necessarily win votes or sell albums.

People on here need to just relax! Simon’s comment wasn’t supposed to be taken seriously. I do have a little question for MJ though…where are these idol “star” careers? The vast majority of the contestants on idol are traveling around desperately to various clubs trying to make a name of themselves. Some of the winners are doing that too… As for the voice, well, enough said. 

I remember David Cook being gone but some other high profile Idols weren’t there either like Adam, Clay, etc but maybe it was the best they could do on short notice. Maybe if they start now, they can lock in May of 2013.

David Cook had an important charity event that night.  

Adam had tweeted a couple weeks before the event that he wouldn’t be there, and hadn’t been asked to perform.  By the time the Simon farewell thing came about, Adam was deep into final tour rehearsal and on vocal rest after catching a cold.

That was all documented on gossip blogs because there was a general feeling that David and Adam were greatly missed by the fans.

I don’t recall any great outcry about Clay’s absence, so I don’t know why Clay wasn’t there.  But the short notice is reason enough.  It’s not like he was right there in LA or that he didn’t have his own schedule.

Maybe they need to start thinking about the 15th anniversary.  It’s almost too late for a 10th.  

But, uh, the super contest?  Dumb idea.  When you’re a popular incumbent, you don’t schedule political debates with your rivals.  It just gives them a platform.  

And there’s no incentive for the singers.  They come to these shows to fulfill their dreams of being recording artists.  They don’t come for the thrill of becoming a cog in Simon Cowell’s ego factory.

Let the winners of all three shows battle it out in the number of SALES.That is the true test of popularity of the singer, and so far Scotty is way ahead. 

(quote) BTW, here are the idol winners that I strongly believe Melanie Amaro can outsing (at least on a technical level): Ruben, Taylor, Jordin, Kris, Lee, and Scotty. (/quote)

Don’t get me wrong, if you want to watch a competition about technical
level, AI doesn’t have to push Scotty on that, just ask Pia to fight with them
to see who hits the higher bigger and more right notes… If this is the concept
of the competition, so why not to invite Glee club to attend too?

All singing competition for me are about the whole package
that contestant can put out, the unique voice that can make people melting and how
they could deliver songs to connect with the audience and touch deeply into
their souls their hearts.

Speaking of that 3 winners, fairy they had all the same
chance every night to gain the audience attention and their heart. I don’t say
Melanie or Javier didn’t have allthe thing I mentioned, they obviously did and
that was why they won. But what they had in fact couldn’t compare with what Scotty has got. Scotty simply stole people hearts by his *lacking of technical level* voice (your words), he didn’t force anyone to love him, but people just simply felt crazy in love with his voice and willing to buy anything he puts out, then buy like crazy until his products hit Gold, Platinum… Why those two winners couldn’t do that while they had the same chance after all…?

I don’t care Melanie can outsing Scotty or not, but one sure thing I strongly believe, if Simon and Nigel are going to deal on that issue,
lets the competition starts, then Scotty will win in double or even triple in
term of voting, because he will again draw people into him so naturally like
the way he moved them on AI.

The real winner is who sells the most and who can last the most. Isn’t that the idea of the shows? To find the next star. There are many top selling singers that Melanie could out sing today, but it is more than just about singing. People have to have a ‘connection’ to the singer and the sales show it for Scotty and other Idols.

Carrie would definitely beat Javier, no contest.

Carrie was there last year also when she sang with Lauren.

I agree with everybody who said that they all are already competing in that thing that is called “the real world”.  And Melanie (who I have never heard singing and, hopefully, never will) is not doing too well so far.  Couldn’t Simon buy her a good song to sing?

 What a silly thought what a step backward for all the winners and more importantly who cares who would win (beside Simon and Nigel). They all need to move away from being reality TV show singers and work on being accepted as artist in the real music industry or they will never be anything more then reality TV show contestants.

I like the idea of having a show where all the winners have a sing-off but instead of being a competition; make it into a charity show.  

Wasn’t David Cook the only winner missing from that show?

Let Simon and the XFactor people do the promotion it should be doing for Melanie and leave the contestants of the other shows out of it. 

The sales and longevity of the winners of all these shows will speak for themselves.

Yeah, Kelly Clarkson became 2nd… a norwegian plummer won, singing a wonderful rendition of U2′s “Beautiful Day”.

It pains me to say this but it looks like Simon’s boy band (from the Brit X Factor) One Direction is going to be huge in the US. So it is in the realm of possibility that S2 of the XF could produce a big star. Just saying.

Terrible idea from Simon. He is really becoming more despearate.

After winning this talent show, you need to expand your music careers like performing in bigger stage and not retreat back to competition.

Even Lee D will not go back to the competition again. And you think Kelly C, Carrie, Fantasia etc etc will do this again?

Even Scotty will not doing this. He already got a platinum album . His next move its to make his career music forward and not backward.

nah