14 DAY TRIAL // Paula Abdul comes to join Cheryl Cole, L.A. Reid and, of course, Simon Cowell as judge on the US version of X Factor. Former Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger and Steve Jones will share hosting duties, reports suggest.
When he revealed the shortlist for the two remaining judges positions on the show, Cowell indicated that he was making extra efforts to get Cheryl and Paula for the show.
Such choices made a lot of sense too: he’s worked with Cheryl on the British version of the show, and with Paula on American Idol; as such, he knew just what to expect and how audiences would react to them.
PopEater says that Cowell is now getting his wish, with Paula now in the final rounds of negotiations, right before signing on the dotted line.
“The X Factor judging panel is complete, with the final chair to be filled by Paula Abdul, who just closed the deal in last-minute negotiations, according to the Hollywood Reporter,” PopEater reports.
“Abdul will take her seat alongside Simon Cowell, reuniting the former Idol stars once again. Cheryl Cole and Antonio L.A. Reid have already been named as the other X Factor judges,” says the e-zine.
Fans of Nicole Scherzinger who also happen to have loved her stint as guest judge on the UK X Factor should be happy to know that, while she didn’t land the same position for the upcoming show, she will still be involved in it.
“Meanwhile, Pussycat Doll and former Dancing With the Stars champ Nicole Scherzinger has been hired to host the US talent competition when it premieres on Fox in September,” PopEater informs.
“But Scherzinger will have a co-host, according to EW.com: Steve Jones, British TV personality. Jones, 34, is a Welsh-born former model and a virtual unknown in the US,” says the publication.
As a side note, when Ryan Seacrest started off as host on American Idol, the same could be said about him: and he’s now the highest earning man in television, with an estimated salary of $55 million a year, as we also noted a while back.