The women will be ruling the judging panel on this upcoming season of Fox’s The X Factor, and Simon Cowell’s actually fine with that. During the summer 2013 Television Critics Association press event, Cowell said that the idea of being placed on a panel alongside three female judges is working exactly how he anticipated it would.
“We said at the time it’s a girls’ world at the moment in the music business,” explained Cowell. “So many girls doing so well in the charts, we thought the panel should reflect it…but be careful what you wish for.”
Joining Cowell at the TCA event was returning judge Demi Lovato and The X Factor newbies Kelly Rowland and Paulina Rubio, who talked about being a part of the popular singing competition.
On the final votes and why 3rd or 4th place winners often have a better career than the actual winner:
Kelly Rowland: “It’s actually happened a long time. I remember it even a long time ago, when the ladies and I went up for Star Search years ago, we lost against a Country rock band. You know, it’s just the way, I think, America kind of votes. I think that that’s just sometimes what those voters might be wanting at that time, and [there’s] nothing wrong with that. But, I mean, we were completely R&B, got up there, hip-hop, ‘Yeah, one, two, one, two,’ and lost – and then went on to have great careers. So, it happened. I think that, no matter how it happens, I still think that we gain respect because we have great artists that have come to perform on the show and shown America their best and they’re proud of it. And then we get something special out of it later.”
On approaching the role of a judge:
Kelly Rowland: “Definitely constructive when it comes to criticism, you know, because you know what that ‘no’ feels like, especially when it’s just the no flat-out and no one gives you a reason why. I think that watching Demi even last year, every time she told someone why she wasn’t a fan of what they did, she would give them a reason why and tell them what they should work on.
I’m thinking that’s really constructive because then you leave someone with a hope that they can go away and have something to work on, and it makes them better. And I think that’s what I really love about the panel this year is, you know, Simon may tell someone no five times, but they come back because they believe it’s okay, that sometimes we’ll get a no. But we believe in a lot of people that come up as well.”
On the return to the original X Factor categories of Boys, Girls, Over 25s, and Groups:
Kelly Rowland: “I know, for me, it didn’t matter which category I got. I was just going to be happy because there’s a winner in each one. Do you know what I mean? So I just felt like, ‘Oh, well, we’ll just take this. It will be easy. This will be great.'”
On her background and why she wanted to be an The X Factor judge:
Paulina Rubio: “Well, first of all, I started with a recording deal when I was seven years old. That along the way gave me a little perspective, and I wanted to transmit that to the new talent. When Simon first called my people, I was really, really excited. I was coming from doing The Voice kids, which we broke all of the ratings in NBC Telemundo. And then when he invited me to come to this new journey, I was really, really excited.
We have a lot of fun right now. The three girls and I bonded immediately. We agree sometimes with Simon. We don’t sometimes. That’s part of the chemistry and the yin and yang that we want in the panel table. And then when I met Andrew [Llinares[ and Robert [Wade] and the rest of the producers, we thought that we were going to be friends and we were going to be partners, and that’s what we are doing now.”
On her Telemundo experience:
Paulina Rubio: “I’m always really positive about everything that I do, and most of the things that I have [done] being with The Voice kids, it’s unpredictable. The kids are between 10 and 17. So one of my two passions in life is kids, as I’m a mom of a two year old, and music, which I’ve been doing it all my life. So it was instantly a yes for me when Simon invited me to this project.”
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The X Factor season three premieres on September 11, 2013 at 8pm ET/PT on Fox.
