Simon Cowell | featured news

Mario Lopez will be back, but Khloe Kardashian won't. The Extra host will return for a second season as host of Fox's The X Factor, this time without last year's co-host Kardashian. It will mark the third hosting configuration in three seasons for Simon Cowell's singing competition. Steve Jones hosted Season 1.

Steve Jobs' passing has left the world without a guru-like figure who can get the world talking about tech, albeit Apple tech. Tim Cook is stage-shy, Bill Gates is no longer the force he once was (he appears to be more interested in finding ways to save the world) and Mark Zuckerberg is too caught up in the Facebook IPO debacle. Step forward Will.i.am and Simon Cowell, who believe they can stir tech passions with an The X Factor-style show.

Britney Spears and Demi Lovato have been the subject of major media scrutiny in their day. Finally, the two new additions to X Factor 's panel are the ones doing the judging. Pop princess Spears, 30, and former Disney star Lovato, 20, replaced last season's Paula Abdul and Nicole Scherzinger. On Wednesday, they joined music producer L.A. Reid and X Factor executive producer Simon Cowell at the judges' table for their first taped audition show. (Live comes later.)

All signs are pointing to Khloe Kardashian as the new host of The X Factor, newly made-over by creator Simon Cowell with Britney Spears and Demi Lovato at the judges' table. So says TMZ, which reported Friday that Kardashian -- known as the funny one among her reality-famous siblings -- is the frontrunner to get the gig following a successful screen test. If Cowell, who apparently considers her a magnet for young viewers along with Spears and Lovato, hires the E! star for his Fox talent competition, then she would basicaly have to start right away. The second-season reboot of X Factor premieres Sept. 12 and 13.

The opening episode of the ninth series of X Factor averages 8.7 million viewers, the lowest launch audience since 2006.

Simon Cowell is making a bold bet Britney Spears and Demi Lovato will increase viewers and propel the second season of Fox’s reality competition, X Factor, into a ratings hit. Before a single episode of the British import aired in the US last fall, Cowell, its creator and executive producer, predicted it would draw 20 million viewers and best American Idol, Cowell’s former series.

He gets colonic irrigations, Botox injections and vitamin drips, and insists on black toilet paper in his home. A revealing new biography offers intimate – some might say too intimate – details about Simon Cowell, along with a portrait of the entertainment mogul's savvy business side.

The powerful 19-year-old vocalist from Sunrise, Fla., won the Fox talent competition Thursday over soulful 30-year-old singer Josh Krajcik of Wooster, Ohio. Amaro, who was mentored by judge Simon Cowell and was at one point eliminated from the contest, was awarded the grand prize: a $5 million recording contract and a starring role in a Pepsi commercial. "Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God," Amaro repeated after host Steve Jones announced her as the winner.

"The X Factor" judges didn't want to stop listening to Melanie Amaro. The powerful 19-year-old vocalist from Sunrise, Fla., wowed the Fox talent competition's panel with her soaring rendition of Beyonce's "Listen" during Wednesday's final performance round, prompting head judge Simon Cowell to declare that Amaro should win the show's grand prize: a $5 million recording contract and a starring role in a Pepsi commercial.

Fox has renewed "The X Factor" for a second season, the network announced on Wednesday. Simon Cowell was extremely pleased with this latest development, saying,...