Music Hype

Simon Cowell, the American Idol judge everyone enjoyed hating, is now apparently working on an international American Idol-type show to find the next great DJ. After judging shows including The X Factor, Britain’s Got Talent and American Idol, Simon Cowell just might judge a DJ talent show. It isn’t clear what connection Simon Cowell has to DJing, but it’d be interesting to see him move away from singing, and try his hand at a different form of art, and DJing getting a more respected place in popular culture.

Simon Cowell’s firm, Syco Entertainment, has reportedly joined the Smiths’, Will and Jada Pinkett, firm, Overbrook Entertainment, to develop this live, prime time international TV show, to air first simultaneously in the UK and US, together with Sony Pictures Television. The people involved have said they hope this show will become as successful as American Idol, and that like American Idol, it’ll have international equivalents, or at least reach international audiences, apart from its planned US & UK audiences.

The show has apparently been in development for over a year, which might explain why Simon Cowell decided to leave American Idol, a role in which he got plenty of publicity, but might have clashed with his new planned show. Simon Cowell has stated that partly why he came up with his new TV show was because “DJs are the new rock stars”, and that the time is right for making a show about them. Jada Pinkett-Smith also stated that they will scour the world to find the next best thing in DJing, and won’t limit the search for just one country.
It would be interesting to see what type of reward the creators have come up with, since a few shows and an album isn’t what the intended audience is really looking for. DJing is all about a long live performance, each one different than the one before.