Well, the peanut gallery is starting to speak up.
It seems that Fox TV may have a predicament on its hands when Simon Cowell’s “X Factor” comes to their network in September 2011.
I’ve been told by an inside source that Paula Abdul will be a judge on “X Factor” with Simon, reuniting them in all their glory. The show will play in the fall, while “American Idol” has its spring outing.
It does like the tide is turning against “American Idol” with every new announcement. Will Randy Jackson –who’s remained mum so far–wind up joining his ex comrades on “X Factor”? Who knows?
But last week’s announcement that “American Idol” was moving its recording contracts to Universal Music were met with headlines in many places and silence from its old haunt, Sony/Columbia.
What we all sort of forgot is that back in January, Cowell cut a deal with Sony for the “X Factor” deals. A Sony source didn’t even stifle a chuckle when I bemoaned the loss of future Idols. “We have X Factor!” they said, with glee (small g).
Indeed, “X Factor” a year from now will seem fresh and new and have lots of hype. At the rate things are going, who knows if “American Idol” will still be on the air. And still, I don’t get how Fox handles all this in-house.
Paula, meantime, is revving up auditions for her dance competition show on CBS. I’m told that won’t interfere when “X” marks the spot.
