WHAT IS ‘THE X FACTOR’? SIMON COWELL REVEALS THE DETAILS

When Simon Cowell left “American Idol,” what did you expect him to do — retire to Bali?

Instead, he went to work at adapting his runaway UK hit, “The X Factor,” for an American audience, and details about the show were released this morning.  It’s definitely not an “Idol” clone — instead of auditioning before a small panel of judges, those contestants who make it through will be battle-tested by singing before an audience of 3000 or more people! Cowell says that makes a huge difference: Not only will contestants have to battle the nerves that come with performing in front of such a big crowd, the audience essentially becomes the fifth judge on the show.  (Click on the audio player to hear Simon Cowell)

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Contestants will be vying for spots in one of four categories: Young Girls, Young Guys, Older Singers, and Vocal Groups.  Each category will be mentored by one of the judges, so the judges will be competing with each other to make one of their performers the winner. Cowell explains why the various catagories are so important to finding that one special winner, especially when the goal is to find someone who will be a global superstar: (Click on audio player)

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And when you watch the show, expect an experience more like a real concert, complete with costumes, backup dancers, and live musicians on stage. This, according to Cowell, will better prepare the winner for success after the show is over:

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Auditions begin at the end of March and will take place in six cities: Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Miami, New York/New Jersey, and Seattle.

Oh, and then there’s the grand prize, which is bigger than anything we’ve ever seen before on TV: a recording contract worth $5 million.

Now that details of the show’s format have been revealed, the big question is: Who will join Simon Cowell at the judges’ table? Plenty of names have been tossed around, and an official announcement should come soon, but who would you like to see as a judge for “The X Factor”?

To get late-breaking news, you can follow “The X Factor” on Twitter at www.twitter.com/thexfactorusa.
For information on audition cities and other news about “The X Factor,” go to www.fox.com/xfactor.

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