Tv, X Factor | 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.

Epic Records chairman L.A. Reid will not be returning for season three of  “The X Factor,” according to The Hollywood Reporter. The reality-TV judge is quitting the Fox talent show to focus more on developing new and signed musicians.

This season of "The X Factor," from which Paige Thomas and Vino Alan were only somewhat surprisingly eliminated on Thursday night, as the top eight dwindled to the top six, often comes off as a strange, seat-of-the-pants affair – an overproduced, unpolished hodgepodge of random quirks and unplanned gaffes.

It's remarkable how strong the Charlie Brown specials continue to perform in the ratings, year after year. "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" is not the most popular entry in the beloved animated franchise (both "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and It's the "Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" deliver bigger numbers). Yet the program still managed to hold its own against CBS' "Survivor" and Fox's "The X-Factor" (in fact, the special edged out Factor in total viewers, see below). Plus,"A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" delivered its biggest audience in four years — 8.1 million viewers and a 2.2 rating in the adult demo, up 22 percent from last year. Pretty spry for a 39-year-old repeat, huh?

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.

HLN's Showbiz Tonight goes one-on-one with 13-year-old 'X Factor' singing sensation Carly Rose Sonenclar.

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.