Have we gone back in time to 2010? If only! No, Simon Cowell is just back in the headlines, reasserting his svengali status for his new Netflix show. Reviews suggest that Cowell’s attempted comeback, 15 years since his celebrity peak, highlights less his particular star power than how totally the world has moved on. But is there anything to learn from SyCo now, and will his new boyband work? Let’s see!
1. Cowell is chasing a new direction
Simon Cowell: The Next Act, which hit Netflix on Wednesday, follows Cowell in his bid to put together “the next One Direction”, and do his bit to reassert western dominance in the only sphere that matters: the pop charts! “There hasn’t been a boyband from the UK or America who I think is as exciting as these K-pop artists,” Cowell declares.
But while he’s convinced of the “ginormous” opportunity for a “male version of the Spice Girls”, the six-part docuseries has been widely panned, with reviews describing it as anachronistic and even bleak.
Searching for future stars, Cowell labours the importance of open-call auditions, billboard marketing and regional radio promotion. At one point he even slaps wheat paste on a poster himself, hoping for “some media attention” – though he has “always believed radio is the best tool”.
View image in fullscreen Cowell and his fiancee
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