Simon Cowell has personally confirmed to BBC Newsnight that he and his team are working on bringing the UK show, X Factor to America.
Simon also confirms that the show will take place in Los Angeles, rather than in Las Vegas as some news outlets have been reporting. The team considered Las Vegas, but the LA peeps (I’m guessing FOX) preferred LA as the location.
ETA: The UK Times is reporting that Simon is considering dropping Idol, in favor of judging the X Factor when it comes to America. With declining ratings, and contestants who aren’t exactly barnstorming up the charts post Idol, could a Simon exit mean the end of American Idol?
Perez Hilton ran an item this morning, using Contact Music as the source, quoting Simon:
“I think the show will go to America. It has to go to America. There has to be an American version of the show. To not make The X Factor in the biggest market in the world would be crazy.”
I went off in search of the original quote, and found it in this full-length version of a recent interview Simon did with BBC Newsnight.
The interview is nearly 30 minutes long, and worth the listen if you have the time. If you want to fast forward, the bits about the US version of X Factor come at about the 20 minute mark.
There have been several reports, citing unamed sources, that Simon is making the X Factor part of his negotions for his new American Idol contract with FOX (his current contract runs out in 2010).
