Simon Cowell Talks Success and Failure on Oprah’s ‘Master Class’

That was a long piece of self promotion for Simon but for the most part pretty interesting.

The last part of the interview seems to hint to the fact Simon went out of idol because he thinks the show can’t improve.
As for the Carrie Underwood mention, it’s clearly his best prediction as an AI judge since he couldn’t say the same thing with a straight face about Kelly or Daughtry.

I’m very surprised that Leona’s name or the X factor wasn’t thrown in the mix even once. She’s one of his biggest creation.

That was excellent! Smooth and glossed over, but still sounding deep and honest on my mind. The *actual literal wolwes* cut in were hilarious, though.

I’m getting super bored of Simon being presented as the “truth-sayer”, however. It’s like, “Americans are physically incapable of saying the mean truth on one’s face, and we have this rare flower that can say on air that people suck.” Isn’t there any other denominator that Oprah could have used?

Also, in the end, the editors made a mistake of cutting Lee’s win in when Simon was saying that it’s the controversy and buzz that matter the most. Picturing that statement with season 9, which is now the most famous for NOT creating buzz, is like the reason that the program offers (between the lines) as the reason of Simon leaving; the the show would be now *done*.

@ emmuzka– i agree with your every word.

The minute we can’t do better, I’m out.”

Hmmm wonder if he thinks S8 was the best since it was after that season he announced he was leaving.

Simon has wanted out for years, he stayed because he was obligated by contract. If I had to peg the moment when he started phoning it in I’d say Sanjaya lasting as long as he did along with Melinda losing.

That was nice puff piece for Simon.

It’s pretty fascinating stuff. Simon may joke around about usually being right, but the crux of his advice to anybody who wants to succeed is to never ever believe your own hype or allow your ego to get out of control.

Simon is one of the most egotistical non-fictional characters I’ve ever seen on television.

The last part of the interview seems to hint to the fact Simon went out of idol because he thinks the show can’t improve.

Well, of course he would. Idol can’t possibly be improved, so watch his own show X-Factor. We are going to run out of popcorn before this is all done.

BTW I love the impression he gives that he had a hand in creating Idol (“We did this”, “We thought that”). He was hired help. He was talented onscreen talent, but he didn’t come up with the idea for the show. That’s why he started his own talent shows following the Idol paradigm.

I’m very surprised that Leona’s name or the X factor wasn’t thrown in the mix even once. She’s one of his biggest creation.

Her second album flopped in the US. If you flop, you don’t exist to Simon. You don’t have to be good, you just have to move a lot of units. So, you can sing a ghastly version of “White Horses” and have Simon brag about what a watershed moment of creativity it is if only you move enough units of it. Simon is a modern day carnival barker. He doesn’t care about the quality of the product he’s selling. He just wants to create a climate where people will want to buy it.

If I had to peg the moment when he started phoning it in I’d say Sanjaya lasting as long as he did

And yet, the “Sanjaya” character has become a staple of his X-Factor shows. He learned that these affable non-singers can generate a lot of press and buzz. Louis may be the one that picked Jedward and Wagner to be on the show, but I don’t believe for a moment that a control freak like Simon isn’t okaying those choices. He needs somebody else to pick those contestants so that he can act exasperated that they keep lasting. It has to be Louis because he can’t be that mean to one of the “sweet girl judges” he casts.

And don’t forget, according to Rushfield, Simon pushed Nigel off of the show (AI) because Nigel wouldn’t cast a Sanjaya character (Kyle) in S7. What do we get in S8 when Simon gains more control of production? A bunch of heavily pimped “Sanjaya” characters in the semis (e.g. Norman and Tatiana). What happens in S9 when a contestant is DQ’ed? They bring in a “Sanjaya” (Tim Urban) to fill in the last spot.

Dude loves the “Sanjaya” characters.

You don’t have to be good, you just have to move a lot of units.

Isn’t this a quote from Dante’s Inferno?

The UK X Factor is a big pantomime, where nothing is what it seems, and it has become apparent that Simon is the anti-thesis of a truth-sayer.

I really enjoyed that. He’s a huckster and makes no bones about it. He’s not talking about artistry or creating great music. He’s just talking about selling.

It was fun to see the Trifecta of success – Kelly, Carrie and SuBo.
Meaning Simon isn’t wedded to Idol and can adapt his shtick to X Factor. Great promo.

Actually, there was footage from Pop Idol (that guy singing, 4 judges sitting on the couch) and BGT (Susan Boyle).

but he didn’t come up with the idea for the show. That’s why he started his own talent shows following the Idol paradigm.

Simon is notorious for not having any of his own ideas. LOL. He even recycles songs from Idol. It is hilarious. But, he’s a good copier, I guess.

I can’t wait to see how he adapts XFactor for an American audience. I don’t think he’ll change anything, except maybe borrow whatever he thinks worked this year on Idol. Who ironically, are busy stealing a lot from HIM. Oh, the entertainment to be had this year.

I wouldn’t say the competition between Idol and X Factor is going to provide better entertainment. This looks like a potential lose/lose situation to me. Idol loses what made it special and X Factor doesn’t work as well as Idol.

So I see two meh shows instead of one megahit.

The UK X Factor is a big pantomime, where nothing is what it seems, and it has become apparent that Simon is the anti-thesis of a truth-sayer.

The whole “Simon as truthsayaer” meme is really a myth. He’s all about manipulation to achieve his goals. Watching him praise that horrid boyband he put together for X Factor should put an end to the “truthsayer” crap.

This looks like a potential lose/lose situation to me. Idol loses what made it special and X Factor doesn’t work as well as Idol.

That could TOTALLY happen, I admit.

I do think the media sniping between the producers will be fun to watch, though.

The whole “Simon as truthsayaer” meme is really a myth. He’s all about manipulation to achieve his goals. Watching him praise that horrid boyband he put together for X Factor should put an end to the “truthsayer” crap.

I don’t think anything will ever end it, frankly.

I thought some of the stuff he said was interesting, but I was eye-rolling the entire show.

I was surprised how there was no mention of X Factor. I figured he would somehow manage to make it an hour-long promotional push.

I actually think there was a lot of truth to what Simon said in his interview. You find someone you like who has talent but then you still need to give them quality material (i.e., material that will sell well) to produce a record that will be a hit. Also, Simon may not have been instantaneously a fan of Kelly and Daugtry but during the shows he was complimentary and clearly tried to say they should win their seasons (IMO). I think his point demonstrates why other idols who had talent did not succeed such as Adam Lambert or David Cook. Adam Lambert for example, needed more guidance to be mainstream and commercial. Simon praised him a lot on the show but he also told him when he thought that Adam stretched the envelope too far (even though sometimes this is necessary to get attention, e.g., Ring of fire). But had Adam had Cowell managing his career instead of Fuller, I think Adam would have fared better. I’m fairly certain Cowell would not have allowed the AMA performance and really worked hard to find Adam the best possible material for the record (and by best possible I mean greatest selling potential). David Cook, on the other hand, needed much better material than what he was given. Daughtry’s record is far superior. Also, another point of Simon’s that rings true to me is that success can take a while and that you learn as you go along and though the idols are expected to make it big immediately, with hard work, some may make it later.

As far as I know, Pop Idol was his creation.

smartalek: I agree with you. I also think that some idols with hard work will make it big later on. I think that 19/AI has never been good with long term planning for their idols. They want that instant big success for them but have not been able to get it.

Smartalek, you really can’t compare Cook’s record to Daughtry’s. Cook’s was rushed while he was on the AI tour while Daughtry took his time and his record was released much later.

As far as I know, Pop Idol was his creation.

That was the other Simon, Simon Fuller. When Cowell copied Pop Idol’s concept to create X-Factor, Fuller sued him. After some wrangling, Cowell got to keep the UK market while Fuller got the much larger US market and Cowell as his on screen talent for some number of years.

I think his point demonstrates why other idols who had talent did not succeed such as Adam Lambert or David Cook.

I’m confused by your statement. You don’t think Adam or David have had success?

David Cook, on the other hand, needed much better material than what he was given. Daughtry’s record is far superior.

I think the album definitely could have been better (and I’m eager to hear #2) and while I know it didn’t reach Daughtry level of success, it did go platinum so I’d say that’s not too shabby.

@batgirl478, Well Adam and David are successful when you compare their sales to Kris and Lee, both of whom didn’t go gold but they aren’t particularly successful when you compare them to the benchmark idol successes: Carrie, Kelly, and Daughtry.

I can’t wait to see what the American audience response is when they see Simon pimp his own X-factor contestants. He’s about to be exposed…. it’s never about truth with him, it’s about dollar signs.

aww i love him

@batgirl478, Well Adam and David are successful when you compare their sales to Kris and Lee, both of whom didn’t go gold but they aren’t particularly successful when you compare them to the benchmark idol successes: Carrie, Kelly, and Daughtry.

Maybe that's not the most meaningful comparison to make. Each Idol is releasing into a different sales environment (and in Carrie's case, into a totally different genre). It may make more sense to compare sales with other new artists releasing at the same time, as opposed to those releasing their debuts years ago.

the crux of his advice to anybody who wants to succeed is to never ever believe your own hype or allow your ego to get out of control.

Physician heal thyself!!!!

That was a long piece of self promotion for Simon but for the most part pretty interesting.

The last part of the interview seems to hint to the fact Simon went out of idol because he thinks the show can’t improve.
As for the Carrie Underwood mention, it’s clearly his best prediction as an AI judge since he couldn’t say the same thing with a straight face about Kelly or Daughtry.

I’m very surprised that Leona’s name or the X factor wasn’t thrown in the mix even once. She’s one of his biggest creation.

I can’t even bother to watch Simon’s interview. Tired of him and his massive ego thinking he’s always right. It was obvious he was trying to sabotage Idol last season, because he wanted to bring his own show. Yeah, Simon didn’t want to put Kelly Clarkson and Chris Daughtry through at audition and see how well they’ve done with their music career. It was Randy who really liked them and Paula agreed with him too. Part of the reason Simon was so big on Carrey Underwood is cause she’s blonde, pretty and marketable. I’ve watched Idol from the start and I won’t miss Simon and his attitude.