Music

Britney Spears and Demi Lovato confirmed as X Factor judges

by Aaron Zorgel

May 15, 2012

During FOX’s 2012 upfronts presentation yesterday at the Beacon Theatre in New York, both Britney Spears and Demi Lovato made appearances to confirm their participation in the upcoming season of the American version of X Factor. Spears and Lovato will join Simon Cowell and Epic Records C.E.O. L.A. Reid on the judges panel, replacing Paula Abdul and Nicole Scherzinger, who were let go from the show after its first season. Will Britney and Demi give X Factor the ratings and credibility boost the show needs to compete with other televised singing competitions?

Spears and Lovato will join Simon Cowell and Epic Records C.E.O. L.A. Reid on the judges panel, replacing Paula Abdul and Nicole Scherzinger, who were let go from the show after its first season.

Some say that Scherzinger and Abdul weren’t fetching the ratings that Cowell was after as executive producer last season. X Factor struggled to pull competitive ratings last year, averaging about 10 million viewers per episode. For context, American Idol typically has numbers around 15 million viewers, and The Voice usually draws 10 or 12 million.

There was much speculation as to who would replace Scherzinger and Abdul on the panel, with rumours of Beyoncé, Katy Perry, and Miley Cyrus all circulating on the internet. When news of Britney Spears’ 15 million dollar deal broke earlier this month, it became clear that Cowell was serious about upping the credibility of his judging panel this year.

I’m wondering whether Demi and Britney will be able to make the show exciting. We all know that Britney has the depth of a puddle. And the relatively unexperienced Demi has a history of being emotionally fragile, which makes me think she’ll shy away from tearing down contestants, and telling it like it is.

This deal does confirm that we’ll be watching when the show’s second season premieres in September, if only to see how Britney and Demi handle their new judging duties. Given that both stars have had fairly public meltdowns, maybe this new incarnation of the X Factor will benefit from having a bit of a “crazy” factor.

Both Demi Lovato and Britney Spears took to Twitter to express their excitement. Will they give Cowell the ratings and credibility boost the show needs to compete with other televised singing competitions?