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On October 30, 2012, "The X Factor" executive producer Simon Cowell did a very revealing telephone-conference call with journalists about "The X Factor" U.S.'s second season. I'll have the entire interview posted here in the next day or two, but here are a few of the things that he talked about during the Q&A session: Cowell thinks that no one over the age 25 has a chance of winning on the show this year. He also said that this year, there won't be a "wild card" contestant who will be brought back on the show.
Predictably, Cowell said that he thinks judge Britney Spears and co-host Khloe Kardashian were the right hiring decisions for "The X Factor' U.S. (although the show's downward spiral in the Season 2 ratings prove otherwise), but Cowell brushed off any questions about how concerned he might be about the show's ratings. Cowell admitted that he doesn't know yet how Spears and Kardashian will do in the live episodes (which begin on October 31, 2012, at 8 p.m. Eastern/Pacific Time) but he hopes that they will prove the naysayers wrong.
But you probably don't want to hear about some of the repetitive PR lines that Cowell has been saying in other interviews over the past several months.
Let's get to to good stuff. I'll include Cowell's full quotes later when I have more time, but for now, I'm reporting a summary of what he said.
Most-Wanted Category by the Judges
Cowell said that he thinks the Teens category (mentored by Spears) is the one that all of the judges wanted, and it's the category that all of the judges think is the biggest threat to win over the other categories. Cowell expressed confidence in his Groups category, but he admitted it's been tough for groups to win on "The X Factor." He thinks the finalist groups on the show in 2012 are much better than the finalist groups that were on the show in 2011. As for the Young Adults category (mentored by judge Demi Lovato), Cowell said they have some good candidates (particularly Jennel Garcia), but he doesn't think anyone will win from that category. He was blunt in saying that he thinks the Over 25s category (mentored by judge L.A. Reid) has "no chance" of winning.
Wild Card, Jillian Jensen and Jeffrey Gutt
There will be no "wild card" for "The X Factor" U.S. this year because Cowell said there isn't an eliminated contestant he feels strongly about bringing back on the show, like he did with Melanie Amaro in 2011.
He admitted that he thinks the contestant elimination that was the show's biggest mistake in 2012 was 36-year-old Jeffrey Gutt, because Cowell thinks Gutt is a better singer than a few of the contestants in the Over 25s category. (Cowell didn't say which contestants he thinks are inferior to Gutt.)
Cowell said that even though he knows that 20-year-old Jillian Jensen's elimination was controversial, he doesn't want her back on the show. He said he respects Lovato's decision to eliminate Jensen, and he thinks Lovato made the decision because things with Jensen were getting too "gloomy" (Cowell's word), and he agrees with Lovato's decision to choose someone she thinks is more entertaining than Jensen is. He emphasized that Lovato genuinely liked Jensen, and that Jensen was a good singer, but there were concerns about Jensen's personality. Although Cowell didn't really come right out and say it, he pretty much implied that Jensen's bullying sob story and her tendency to cry a lot was too much of a downer, and that was one of the reasons why she was cut from the show.
Girl Group is a Bunch of Difficult Divas
Cowell said that one of this year's girl groups (which he would not name in the interview) is arrogant, difficult and doesn't want to do interviews, and he's concerned about their "likability." Given that Sister C is the only one of his girl groups who has been described this way by Cowell on the show, and Spears called Sister C "annoying" in one episode, it's a safe bet that Cowell was talking about Sister C.
The other girl group that he's mentoring this year is Lylas, and Cowell hinted that they are his favorite group in his mentor category because he thinks they have the most potential (compared the other groups he's mentoring this year) of having hits after they're on "The X Factor." No one asked Cowell about the rumor that Lylas will be changing their name because another girl group named Lylas (whose members are sisters of pop star Bruno Mars) claim to have the legal use of the name. We'll have to wait and see if Lylas from "The X Factor" do change their name, because it's looking increasingly likely that they have no other legal option but to change the name.
Live Episodes
Cowell said that the judges (not viewer voting) will eliminate several contestants on November 1, 2012. He declined to say how many of the contestants will be eliminated on November 1, but he did say that viewer voting would begin on November 7, 2012.
He also mentioned that the elimination format leading up to the season finale will be the same as it was in 2011: The contestants in the bottom two will do a "save me" sing-off, and the judges will vote on which contestant to eliminate. If the judges have a deadlocked vote, the contestant eliminated will be the one who got the lowest number of votes from the public.
As for co-hosts Kardashian and Mario Lopez, Cowell said he initially wants them on stage together as much possible in the live episodes, but he won't rule out the possibility that later in the season, one of the co-hosts (probably Kardashian) will be backstage with the contestants while the other co-host will be in front on stage and will be the main person interacting with the judges.
He also admitted that Fox was too nervous about his idea to have two co-hosts who had no experience as TV hosts, and that is one of the main reasons why Lopez was hired. (Kardashian has no previous experience as a TV host, while Lopez has years of experience.)
Toward the end of the interview, Cowell concluded by saying he's expecting for there to be meltdowns during the live episodes.
Fox has not yet announced when the show's two-part Season 2 finale is, but it's widely assumed to be on December 19 and December 20, 2012.
Here are some things that Cowell did not discuss in the interview but are worth speculating about nif the show will do the season finale like it was done in 2011:
Part 1 of the season finale (presumably on December 19) should have the Top 3 contestants performing for the last time for the public's votes. Then in Part 2 of the season finale (presumably on December 20), the third-place contestant is announced, and then the runner-up and winner are announced.
So if one contestant is eliminated every week and there are supposed to be the Top 3 left on December 19, that means on November 1, there will be nine (or possibly 10) of the 16 contestants left who will advance to the November 7 show. There could be more than one elimination in the same episode in late November, just like there was in 2011. We'll have to wait and see.
Source 2
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