This morning, Simon Cowell joined Capital Breakfast with Jordan North, Chris Stark and Sian Welby.
Speaking to the Capital Breakfast team live on-air this morning, music mogul Simon Cowell detailed his newly announced mission to discover the UK’s next boyband megastars – his first boyband endeavour since One Direction over 14 years ago. Simon also revealed that his 10-year-old son, Eric, recently ask him if he had ‘heard of One Direction,’ seemingly unaware that his dad is the powerhouse behind the band’s worldwide success!
Key
Simon Cowell – SC
Jordan North – JN
Chris Stark – CS
Sian Welby – SW
Simon Cowell unveils new project searching for the UK’s best new boyband
JN: “Simon, let’s get down to business, shall we? The world has been waiting on some huge news that you’ve got for us, and the time is now. Can we just say, thank you for coming to see us and announce it first and not going upstairs to Heart, because we know Amanda Holden is your very good friend. You’ve decided to choose Capital Breakfast to announce this news.”
SC: “Well I always told Amanda that you are the better show.”
JN: “Yay!”
SW: “Come on! Get that online now!”
JN: “Thank you, Simon! And Sian’s fiancé is a producer on that show as well.”
SW: “Yeah he is, he’ll be upstairs.”
JN: “Okay, so the stage is yours, Simon Cowell.”
SC: “Okay, well I’m here because yesterday we put this poster up – which was hilarious by the way, because I had to wear dungarees – and it was a kind of a stunt, and it basically said, ‘I need you.’ Because we decided a year ago, there hasn’t been a successful British boy band since One Direction. I still think those records would have been as successful today; I think the band would have been even more successful today. And for whatever reason there hasn’t been one since them. So I thought, you know, with my team last year, ‘oh you know what, let’s put aside some time and just go and do what we used to do,’ which is open auditions – first come, first serve – and just see if we get lucky enough to put a band together. Because the truth is, bands don’t form themselves. Somebody has to be the person to go, ‘I think you, you, you, you or you and you, whatever, will work together.’ Because they never knock on your door and say we’re here.”
SW: “Yeah, I get you. Because you almost have to be discovered.”
SC: “You do, yeah.”
SW: “So, well this is interesting then. So, it’s open I suppose to the whole of the UK? We’ve got people listening now and if they’re someone who is an aspiring singer or guitarist or… are you looking for that kind of mix, or all singers, or?”
SC: “Yeah, I think it’ll be a mistake to say exactly what we’re looking for until we find it. Because like I said, you know, if we were lucky enough to find Wham! it would be, like, great! If we found another One Direction, it would be amazing.”
CS: “So someone listening right now could be in your next boyband?”
SC: “Yes, and that means you have to get out of your bedroom, and you’ve got to come along and audition. Now, we’re going to have a lot of people on the road with us to help that process. Because we’ve got to see, 1,500, 2000 people? Maybe more.”
CS: “This could be life changing, couldn’t it?”
SC: “Yeah. I mean, if you think about all the successful artists – or solo artists – who’ve had careers starting from a band, whether it’s Beyonce, Harry Styles, the list goes on. Paul McCartney. I mean, the list goes on and on and on. So A), it’s brilliant fun, you can make a tonne of money, and then if you want you can go solo.”
JN: “Okay, am I right in saying these auditions, you’re just stripping them back like the old days of Pop Idol? It’s just in a room, there’s no stage, there’s no fancy set. It’s just stripped back?”
SC: “Yeah, it literally is that. It’s exactly what I used to do. Which is you would get your team in a room – and these are all managers, producers, writers, A&R people. It’s not singers judging singers, because I’m not a huge fan of that.”
SW: “That’s interesting.”
SC: “Well, because I don’t think singers want to find another singer.”
SW: “Because there’s sort of a bit of rivalry there, naturally?”
SC: “Of course.”
JN: “That’s like us looking for the next best radio presenters.”
SC: “Do you know what, I was going to say that. If you were going to do a ‘let’s find the next me,’ you would deliberately find someone bad.”
Simon Cowell admits that there have been years where he ‘hasn’t liked Britain’s Got Talent’ as he praises this year’s winner Sydnie Christmas
SW: “One thing I’ve got to ask you though – Britain’s Got Talent. Just finished the 17th season, do you think that this year was one of the best ever?”
SC: “Yeah. I thought it was my favourite group of finals ever, and my favourite final. I just really liked everyone.”
SW: “I agree, everyone was just such elite quality. Like, some acts that I’ve never seen, like the guys who did the taekwondo and they’re kicking all the plates and stuff. You’ve just never seen anything like it.”
SC: “Well, you know the thing is when you do these shows, everyone always says, ‘yes this is the best ever,’ and blah blah blah. The truth is you can’t fake it. Either you like it, or you don’t. And I really, really liked it this year. There have been years where I haven’t liked it.”
JN: “Really?”
SC: “Oh yeah. I mean, after all the auditions, you sit there and you know who the finalists are, and you’re like, ‘oh my God. Seriously?’ And the winner’s announced, and I’m like, ‘oh great,’ you know? And then I’m off.”
CS: “But you’ve got that down, haven’t you, Simon? Are you the kind of looking exceptionally sort of happy and clapping these people and going, ‘this is amazing,’ but inside you’re thinking, ‘this wasn’t it?’”
SC: “Yeah, I’ve got a new trick now. When I have nothing to say, I just ask them a question. I say, ‘how do you think that went?’ Which means I have nothing to say whatsoever.”
JN: “Is it quite tough being a TV judge? Because I think most people would watch it and go, ‘that’s got to be the best job in the world.’ But is it quite hard to do?”
SC: “It is hard, because it’s like you’re mining for diamonds, you know? You have to see a lot of people to find one good person, so it’s just relentless. And then it’s worth it. You know, when like the girl who won this year, I remember that moment when she sang for the first time. And then she told me she was going to sing that awful song from Annie, ‘Tomorrow,’ I’m like, ‘oh Christ.’ And then she was brilliant.”
SW: “The honesty is amazing!”
Simon Cowell hilariously reveals that his 10-year-old son asked him if he had ‘heard of One Direction,’ boasting that the band are ‘really, really good’
SW: “Did you enjoy hearing it again on the radio?”
SC: “I did. I’ve got to be honest with you, they always make me feel good those records. I mean, A) because I have great memories, and B) because I think they still sound like great records.”
SW: “They do, they haven’t aged, have they?”
SC: “In fact, my son is 10 and is now obsessed with them.”
SW: “Oh really? Oh, that’s nice, it’s a whole new generation.”
SC: “He actually said to me, ‘have you heard of this band called One Direction, dad?’”
SW: “Stop it!”
SC: “And I went, ‘yeah, why?’ and he went, ‘yeah, they’re really, really good.’ And I went, ‘oh, thanks.’”
JN: “Did you not say to him, ‘do you see this massive house we’re in? Down to One Direction!’ And many others – Robson & Jerome, and others as well.”
