Sir Elton John recently lashed out at X Factor, calling the show “boring” and “mind crippling,” but judge Simon Cowell will not stand for this while he’s in charge of the ship.
This is not the first time that Cowell finds himself in a position in which he must defend the quality of the artists that are released onto the market thanks to the show.
In an interview with NME from December 2009, Simon tried to silence critics by saying that, if it hadn’t been for shows like X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent, the music industry
would have gone down the drain.
As such, it’s no wonder he’s not taking lightly to Elton John’s comments that the show is “boring” and stupid and clearly unable to make an “artist” but rather a pop star.
According to
Monsters And Critics, Cowell addressed Elton’s comments on two separate occasions; on both, he tried to be as gentle and polite about it as possible.
“Elton John said in the papers... he said that these shows don’t produce stars,” Cowell said after Rebecca Ferguson’s performance on X Factor over the weekend.
“Well Elton if you’re not watching, I’m going to send you this tape and you can take back what you said,” he added.
In a separate interview, cited by the same e-zine, Cowell said he’d bet money the veteran singer watched the show every single week. He still missed the point of it all, though.
“The truth is Elton’s watching the show every week. What he’s slightly missing the point on, and you always hear this resentment from bigger artists nowadays... they don’t like the fact that a show can make an artist,” Simon said.
As he sees it, instead of projecting negativity and spewing hate, older, established artists would do much more good if they just took the time to see what the newcomers were all about.
“I always say to these people who criticize – why don’t you spend some time with new artists,” Simon said. Consequently, he’s actually sending a direct message to Elton John.
“If Elton feels that strongly about it then my message to him is: ‘You show me how to do it’,” the X Factor judge says.
As of now, Sir Elton John has not responded to the “challenge” of mentoring X Factor contestants, since that’s where Simon seems to be driving at.
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