“America’s Got Talent” judge Simon Cowell says it rarely takes more than a few seconds for him to know whether a singer has real star potential. The 66-year-old British music mogul and television personality explained that the energy inside the audition room often reveals everything before a performance is even finished. In an interview with Fox News Digital, Cowell said the audience’s response has long been his most reliable indicator.
Cowell Explains Why Audience Energy Signals Real Star Power
Getty“If you’ve got an audience behind you, you feed off an audience’s energy,” he said. “Everything changes.”
“When someone’s not great, the audience is very quiet,” Cowell continued. “When an act is fantastic, it can either get really loud or you have that perfect silence.”
Cowell said he learned to trust that shift in energy over the years of live auditions.
“So I’ve always learned to read an audience. Or certainly when you’ve got people around you,” he said. “So when I was auditioning on the show, we had a lot of people in the room with us. And when someone did walk in, the whole energy changed.”
From ‘American Idol’ to Global Superstars
GettyCowell rose to global prominence as a judge on the U.K.’s “Pop Idol” and its American spin-off, “American Idol,” where he became known for his blunt critiques and sharp instinct for commercial talent.
GettyHe later created the hugely successful franchises “The X Factor” and “Got Talent,” helping launch careers for artists including Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, One Direction, Little Mix, and Leona Lewis.
Over time, Cowell became known not just for criticism but for recognizing raw potential long before it became apparent.
“I’ve always been a fan of finding people who normally don’t have an opportunity, for whatever reason,” he said. “You know, people who don’t come with managers or don’t have any connections, the people you go and search for.”
Why Brutal Honesty Matters to Cowell
Cowell has never softened his feedback, and he believes that honesty ultimately serves contestants better.
“If I get to see them afterwards, I will go and talk to them and tell them why I didn’t like them,” he said. “Sometimes I can give them advice.”
“There are times — I’m not gonna lie — where people come in, and I’m thinking, ‘Wow, I just don’t see this happening to you because you’re not singing well. I don’t think singing lessons are gonna help.’ And sometimes you’ve got to give people a different steer in life.”
Cowell said that approach came from his own early experiences in the music industry.
“I’m a great believer — you just don’t bulls— people,” he said. “People fortunately were the same with me. They were very, very, very blunt with me and told me whether I was doing something good or bad.”
What Still Drives Simon Cowell Today
Cowell served as a judge on “American Idol” for the show’s first nine seasons, from 2002 to 2010, alongside Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson. Ryan Seacrest later became the series’s longtime host and returned when the competition was revived on ABC.
GettyAlthough Cowell and Seacrest no longer stay in regular contact, Cowell said their distance is not rooted in conflict.
“I think you just sometimes drift apart, and that happens,” he said, in an interview with The New York Times. “It was really nothing more than that.”
Cowell has since returned to television with the Netflix docuseries “Simon Cowell: The Next Act,” which follows his search for the next global music star.
“That’s why we started these shows years ago,” Cowell said. “Because I always believe there’s always somebody out there with tremendous talent, tremendous potential, who for whatever reason, just hasn’t got a break.”
“When it works, it’s the best feeling in the world,” he added. “I just love it.”
Very revealing and candid, as he always seems to be on his public shows. I imagine it is just easy to believe this guy. You don’t see much put on, quite rare. among public figures, entertainers or politicians.