<\/p>\n
In Netflix\u2019s talent-hunt show Simon Cowell: The Next Act, due in December, a guy best known for issuing stern judgments from behind a desk on American Idol and X-Factor reveals himself as a loving dad with no shortage of anxiety. \u201cI am very worried \u2014 I think we\u2019re gonna fail,\u201d Cowell says in the show after audition sign-ups are initially anemic.<\/p>\n
The series, which traces the formation of a new boy band, also proves that the fundamental formula somehow still works \u2014 there\u2019s always an unknown kid out there who can unleash talent so raw and obvious that even Cowell breaks character. \u201c I\u2019m trying to keep a poker face on and not smile,\u201d he says in the new episode of our Rolling Stone Music Now podcast, \u201cbut I couldn\u2019t help myself.\u201d To hear the whole interview, go here<\/a> for the podcast provider of your choice, listen on Apple Podcasts<\/a> or Spotify<\/a>, or just press play above.<\/p>\n More from Rolling Stone<\/strong><\/p>\n So why put yourself through this again?<\/strong> What was your biggest fear about this process? <\/strong> People have said that unconventional voices \u2014 a Bob Dylan or Frank Ocean \u2014 would never make it through your shows. What do you make of that?<\/strong> What do you think of American Idol in the post-Simon years?<\/strong> It is always been incredible to me that you guys got it so right with Kelly Clarkson in the first season of American Idol. <\/strong> You couldn\u2019t have asked for a more perfect winner. And we\u2019re still friends today. She\u2019s a amazing person, incredible personality. And just this killer voice. It was like a movie. I just wish it wasn\u2019t the guy. There was this other girl, Tamara, and she was phenomenal, and the two of them in the final [episode], that could have been amazing, but it didn\u2019t quite work out.<\/p>\n You felt that Justin Guarini was not good enough competition for Kelly?<\/strong> When Jennifer Hudson got voted off, was that a sign something was wrong with the process?<\/strong> Your biggest signing ever was One Direction, and we lost Liam Payne last year. How do you understand that tragedy?<\/strong> People were casting around for someone to blame, and some landed on you. Was that hurtful?\u00a0<\/strong> You built a reputation on being brutally honest with people. But do you ever look back and think you crossed a line into cruelty?<\/strong> It fascinates me that Harry Styles\u2019 audition for you was so vocally shaky, as I\u2019m sure he\u2019d be the first to admit. But this is a guy who went on to become a superstar. What does that tell us?<\/strong> What would\u2019ve happened to Harry if he hadn\u2019t come on the show or hadn\u2019t been in One Direction? No one could predict that. He would say the same thing, I think.\u00a0 Harry\u2019s smart. I always knew that about him. He understood his audience. And he\u2019s gotten better over the years. That\u2019s the great thing.<\/p>\n How do you want to be remembered? So your plan is to live forever? Download and subscribe to\u00a0Rolling Stone\u2018s weekly podcast, Rolling Stone Music Now, hosted by Brian Hiatt, on Apple Podcasts<\/a> or Spotify<\/a>, or go here<\/a> for the podcast provider of your choice. Check out nine years\u2019 worth of episodes in the archive, including in-depth interviews with artists including Mariah Carey, Bruce Springsteen, Questlove, Halsey, Missy Elliott, Dua Lipa, Neil Young, Snoop Dogg, Brandi Carlile, Phoebe Bridgers, Rick Ross, Alicia Keys, the National, Brian May, Roger Taylor, Ice Cube, Taylor Hawkins, Willow, Keith Richards, Robert Plant, Killer Mike, Julian Casablancas, Sheryl Crow, Johnny Marr, Scott Weiland, Liam Gallagher, Alice Cooper, Fleetwood Mac, Elvis Costello, John Legend, Donald Fagen, Charlie Puth, Phil Collins, Justin Townes Earle, Stephen Malkmus, Sebastian Bach, Tom Petty, Eddie Van Halen, Kelly Clarkson, Pete Townshend, Bob Seger, the Zombies, and Gary Clark Jr. And look for dozens of episodes featuring genre-spanning discussions, debates, and explainers with Rolling Stone\u2018s critics and reporters.<\/p>\n Best of Rolling Stone<\/strong><\/p>\n Sign up for RollingStone’s Newsletter<\/a>. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In Netflix\u2019s talent-hunt show Simon Cowell: The Next Act, due in December, a guy best known for issuing stern judgments from behind a desk on American Idol and X-Factor reveals himself as a loving dad with no shortage of anxiety. \u201cI am very worried \u2014 I think we\u2019re gonna fail,\u201d Cowell says in the show […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2175466,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25173],"tags":[27820,334911,22530,314737,23185],"class_list":["post-2175465","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artists","tag-american-idol","tag-apple-podcasts","tag-kelly-clarkson","tag-rolling-stone","tag-simon-cowell"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/\u2018I-am-the-Same-Person-On-and-Off-Camera.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2175465","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2175465"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2175465\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2175467,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2175465\/revisions\/2175467"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2175466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2175465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2175465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2175465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
We were sitting around, me and my team, and we were saying, \u201cGod, we really miss working with bands.\u201d And then there was this element of \u201cOh, God, if it was a disaster, there is a strong likelihood that I wouldn\u2019t do this again.\u201d So there was a sense of finality. And of course you want to prove yourself to yourself. Can I still do it again? The world has changed a lot. Music\u2019s changed. But at the heart of it, weirdly, nothing really has changed because it really still comes down to the same basics, which is you\u2019ve gotta find stars.<\/p>\n
Oh, it was everything. You\u2019ve gotta be confident. Otherwise, why bother doing it? I mean, I didn\u2019t do this to fail. At the same time, once we started the process, I was like, \u201cOh God, what if no one turns up?\u201d That was a huge factor. And the real fear was \u2014\u00a0when we narrowed the numbers down and I was flying them out to the U.S. to work with producers and very well-known vocal coaches and musicians \u2014 what if they sound terrible?<\/p>\n
When I heard Bob Dylan\u2019s version of that Adele song, \u201cMake You Feel My Love,\u201d I didn\u2019t know he wrote the song. I think if he\u2019d walked in and sang that version, I\u2019m not gonna lie, I would\u2019ve gone, \u201cForget it.\u201d Seriously. Look, I\u2019m not a fan of Bob Dylan, but if people like him, then they like him, and if you don\u2019t, that\u2019s fine.<\/p>\n
I haven\u2019t watched it. We really did have a good time \u2014 me, Randy [Jackson], and Paula [Abdul], when it was the three of us. It was just brilliant. And then I think after Paula left, I thought, \u201cYeah, that\u2019s it. It\u2019s not gonna be the same now.\u201d And so I was very quick to follow.<\/p>\n
Oh, it was like a dream. I do remember actually saying to someone, hypothetically, \u201cI\u2019m certain there\u2019s someone out there and he or she\u2019s probably working in a bar, has tried to get a deal, can\u2019t get into the right people or the label, but is brilliant.\u201d I just had that feeling. It took a while to get there. Some of the early people we saw in the first couple of cities \u2014\u00a0everyone was terrible. So I thought this show could be a disaster.<\/p>\n
No, no way. I think he would be the first to admit it himself.<\/p>\n
No, it was a song choice. I said, \u201cdon\u2019t sing that song \u2014 I just don\u2019t think it\u2019s gonna resonate.\u201d So when it happened, yeah, there was an uproar because she was so good. In a weird way, it was the best thing that could have ever happened to her because there was such an outcry that she got that part in [Dreamgirls]. What was so funny was everybody thought I was somehow responsible for her being voted out.\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t the one who was voting! I went to the Oscars party that year, and of course she was nominated, and everyone was staring at me \u2014 \u201coh, you are going to really get it.\u201d And then of course she won. Everyone kept staring at me and I\u2019m like, \u201cI\u2019m happy! What do you think? I\u2019m unhappy? It wasn\u2019t my fault!\u201d<\/p>\n
When I heard the news, it really hit me. I saw him a year before this happened. He came over to my house. We talked about his son and being a dad. I remember saying, \u201cMusic is not everything.\u00a0 Don\u2019t let it run your life anymore. Find something else that you are passionate about.\u201d You ask yourself that question: \u201cCould I have done anything more? What would\u2019ve happened to Liam if he hadn\u2019t been in the band?\u201d Having spoken to his mom and dad recently, all they kept telling me was he was so proud of what he had achieved. I wish I could turn back the clock, of course. When I spoke to him that day, I felt really good about him. I thought, \u201cWow, you seem in a really good place.\u201d<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t read any of this stuff because if I did, you would just torture yourself. The idea that you are essentially responsible for somebody\u2019s life, 10 years after you\u2019ve signed someone? You can\u2019t do that.<\/p>\n
Look, every one of us is gonna say at one point, God, I shouldn\u2019t have said that. But it\u2019s kinder to be really clear to someone who has zero talent. \u201cDo not think that if you carry on doing this, something magical is gonna happen and you are gonna become the biggest rock star or pop star in the world, if you can\u2019t sing.\u201d The show is supposed to be honest, and I\u2019m not going to bullshit these people and give them fake hope. If Eric, my son, said, \u201cDad, I want to be a singer,\u201d and he sang to me and every note was outta tune, I would say, \u201cDarling, you can\u2019t sing.\u201d I wouldn\u2019t lie to him.<\/p>\n
You\u2019re looking for potential. There\u2019s no such thing as the perfect audition. Most people are nervous. They choose the wrong song, or they haven\u2019t had the experience. You know, he was very young when he came on the show. He did have tremendous charisma. He came out, he was funny. The audience instantly liked him., I didn\u2019t think he was ready to compete as a solo artist that year. So we thought, very quickly, along with some other boys who were in a similar situation, wouldn\u2019t it be better for them to start off in a band?<\/p>\n
<\/strong>You are referring to my age! I go to this wellness clinic where they actually take your blood, they rinse it, they filter it, they put it back into your body. I\u2019ve actually aged backwards by eating better, more exercise, less stress.<\/p>\n
<\/strong>I actually was gonna freeze myself once because I thought why not? But then I found out you basically come back in 2,000 years as a floating head. I\u2019d like to be remembered as somebody who\u2019s always worked hard. I do believe that I\u2019ve been nice to everyone I\u2019ve met. I\u2019ve met a lot of people who are nice on camera [but] are absolute monsters off camera. I am the same person on and off camera.<\/p>\n