Cowell, Songwriters, and Pop Idol
Published September 24, 2002
The Guardian speaks to American Idol's acerbic judge, Simon Cowell:
- It should have been a good week. Simon Cowell had just received the latest set of demos from songwriter Andreas Carlsson. Cowell, at the time BMG's chief executive of A&R, listened to them on his way home and decided that there was at least one song that would be a worldwide hit for whichever artist was lucky enough to record it. He booked a flight to Sweden, where Carlsson is based, and persuaded him to put the song aside for BMG boy band 5ive. Fine, said Carlsson, but only if 5ive were able to fly to Stockholm and start recording the following week.
Cowell picks up the story. "It's a fairly standard procedure. You go there, you do the song, end of story. So what happened? Next thing I know, there's a phone call from the studio. 5ive decided that they didn't like the demo, and left. Anyway, to cut a long story short, the song in question was Bye Bye Bye, which became a hit all over the world for *Nsync."
That was two years ago. 5ive released one more single, then split. Some Smash Hits readers may have mourned their passing, but the world of music remained largely unchanged. There are plenty of applicants to fill the space left by a boy band who got too big for their boots. As Cowell puts it, "You know, once you've got to that stage with an artist, it's just, 'Fuck off'. What's the point?"
If pop music in the 21st century seems to be carrying on as though the Beatles never happened, there's a good reason for it. The Beatles were never meant to happen. Until they came along and effectively seized the means of production by writing their own songs, the A&R man's job - matching artists to repertoire - ruled pop. Afterwards, his job was reduced to that of talent scout.
- Cowell, Songwriters, and Pop Idol
- Published: September 24, 2002
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- Section: Music: News
- Writer: Eric Olsen
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PLZ FORWARD TO: SIMON COWELL - AMERICAN IDOL
I know you're really into honesty, so here's some from me to you: the last American Idol show, Sept 23, 02, sucked bigtime. It was just a theme park extravaganza with too many kids on stage, too much hype, AND the ever arrogant Tamyra, Christina and Ryan were tiresome....Their meanspirited exclusion of Nikki was so obvious and obviously painful to Nikki. She's a trooper, no doubt, but enough is enough. Tough shit that Tamyra, Christina and Ryan didn't make it to the top three...Their contempt for Nikki on stage is palpable. How graceless can they get? They're ostracizing Nikki is obvious. They intentionally high five each other leaving Nikki out...what's that about??? Sorry, but Nikki was dissed every week, but still, her act to stand strong in the face of ongoing criticism has to be wearing and profoundly painful. How can a sensitive singlemother with her heart cracked open from having a child to raise alone, keep up the "I'm okay with it" act? The fact is America loved Nikki. No, she didn't ahve the super great voice to have beat out the other girls, that's true. But, fuck it, you know as well as I do, those other three just don't appeal. They aren't intesting. They don't have the stage presence or performance or the magnetism. Nikki is not only the better performer, but is the most appealing. Not finding songs that she can do is a huge disservice to her and her fans. What kind of music producer are you. Not all your stars have great voices. Give us a break. I still say with a great band behind Nikki and songs that fit her, she'd make it to stardom, past the tiresome, redundant, boring, unappealing, haughty, yawn, arrogant Tamyra and Christina, and ditto, the slithering, Ryan. I'm sure I'm not the only one that thinks so. Also, while you may want to hold on to your high and mighty judge and musical jury claim, the other truth is: that Nikki made even you squirm. I know you wanted her to succeed, so show her some consistant support. Develop and cultivate her voice, she'll be a big star if you can fix her right. Best wishes. a fan who's seen it all. D. Bader