Simon Phillip Cowell is an English television personality, entrepreneur, and record executive. He has judged on the British television talent competition shows Pop Idol (2001–2003), The X Factor UK and Britain's Got Talent (2007–present), and the American television talent competition shows American Idol (2002–2010), The X Factor US (2011–2013) and America's Got Talent (2016–present). Cowell founded the British entertainment company Syco in 2005, as well as its now-defunct predecessor, Syco Music in 2002.
The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. The third series was broadcast on ITV from 19 August 2006 until 16 December 2006. Louis Walsh, Sharon Osbourne and Simon Cowell all returned for their third series on the judging panel. Kate Thornton returned to present the main show on ITV, while Ben Shephard returned to present spin-off show The Xtra Factor on ITV2. After the semi-final on 9 December, Cowell became the winning judge even though the series had not yet finished, as two of his acts, Ray Quinn and Leona Lewis, became the two finalists. Lewis won the series on 16 December, with Quinn finishing as runner-up.
Britain's Got Talent is a televised British talent show competition, and part of the global Got Talent franchise created by Simon Cowell. Presented by Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly, it is produced by both Thames and Syco Entertainment, distributed by Fremantle, and broadcast on ITV every year in late Spring to early Summer. The show was originally intended for production in 2005, but filming was suspended in the wake of a dispute between ITV and the programme's originally planned host. Following the success of America's Got Talent that year, production resumed and the programme eventually premiered on 9 June 2007.
The Nobel School is a co-educational secondary school and sixth form located in Stevenage in the English county of Hertfordshire.
Hollie Steel is a performer originally from Burnley, Lancashire, England. In 2009 at the age of ten she was one of ten finalists on the third series of the ITV reality show Britain's Got Talent.
Aidan Davis is an English street dancer, rapper, and television host. In 2009, he reached the final of the third series of the ITV talent show Britain's Got Talent. He finished fifth place overall and later that year he toured the United Kingdom, making live performances with the series' other finalists.
Ronan Parke is an English singer from Poringland, Norfolk, UK who came runner-up in the fifth series of ITV show Britain's Got Talent in 2011 when he was 12 despite being the bookies' favourite to win. Since appearing on the show, he had signed a joint record deal with Sony Music and released a charted self-titled debut album Ronan Parke on 24 October 2011 which reached 22 on the Official Chart. He has also released a number of singles, including a Christmas single in 2012 and a charity single "Defined" in 2013 with the anti bullying organisation Kidscape. In 2018 he released a single titled "No Love " followed by an original album titled Found My Way and a Christmas single titled "Cheers".
Jai McDowall is a Scottish singer–songwriter who is currently a member of the band G4, who won the fifth series of Britain's Got Talent in June 2011. As the winner, he received £100,000 and performed at the 2011 Royal Variety Performance. McDowall was signed to Syco Music, a subdivision of record label giant, Sony Music. His debut album Believe was released on 9 December 2011. The lead single "With or Without You" was released the same day.
The seventh series of British talent competition programme Britain's Got Talent was broadcast on ITV, from 13 April to 8 June 2013; because of England's international friendly with the Republic of Ireland that year, the show took a break on 29 May to avoid clashing with live coverage of the match. Because of the work schedule of Stephen Mulhern, host of Britain's Got More Talent, filmed auditions had to be pushed back to mid-January that year, while no guest judge was brought in despite the absence of Simon Cowell for an audition session. Following the previous series, the programme's format was given a minor amendment - the cash prize offered to winners was reduced to £250,000 from this series onwards.
Jonathan Antoine and Charlotte Jaconelli, known collectively as Jonathan and Charlotte, were an English classical crossover duo from Essex. They finished as runners-up in the sixth series of Britain's Got Talent in 2012, being beaten by dancing dog act Ashleigh and Pudsey. At the time, they were aged 17 and 16 respectively. Despite not winning, the young duo were offered a £1 million record deal by Simon Cowell on his record label Syco. They released two albums, Together in 2012 and Perhaps Love in 2013. In February 2014, the duo decided to split and embark on solo careers.
The Loveable Rogues were a British band from London, consisting of members Sonny Jay, Eddie Brett and Te Qhairo Eugene, who rose to fame after reaching the final of the sixth series of Britain's Got Talent in 2012.
The Mend were a British boy band consisting of members Kris Evans, Jay Kontzle and Craig Worsley. They originally auditioned for The X Factor in 2011 but failed to get any further than bootcamp, due to having a management deal. They went on to audition for Britain's Got Talent in 2012 and reached the semi-finals but, after the public vote was invoked, due to the judges' split decision, they failed to go through to the finals. They were then brought back by the judges for the final and finished in seventh place overall. They released their debut single "Where Were You" on 24 March 2013, independently.
Richard and Adam Johnson, performing as Richard & Adam, are Welsh classical singers, best known for finishing in third place on the seventh series of Britain's Got Talent. They come from Holywell in Flintshire, Wales. Their debut album The Impossible Dream topped the UK Albums Chart and spent four consecutive weeks at number one, making it the longest-running number-one album of 2013 in the UK.
Luminites were a four-piece English band from London who rose to fame after reaching the final of the seventh series of Britain's Got Talent in 2013.
"Lighters (The One)" (originally called "The One"), is a song by British singer Ash Gray, released as his debut single on 30 June 2013 in the United Kingdom under his previous name "Gabz". Gray wrote the song and was produced by Graham Stack. The song entered at number six on the UK Singles Chart.
Asanda Jezile is a singer from London. Her parents moved to the UK from Eastern Cape, South Africa. She was a finalist at the seventh series of Britain's Got Talent, finishing in last place.
Bars and Melody are a R&B and rap duo consisting of rapper Leondre Devries and singer Charlie Lenehan, who took part in the eighth series of Britain's Got Talent in 2014. During their audition, they were automatically sent into the semifinals of the competition after the head judge, Simon Cowell, pressed the golden buzzer. They ultimately finished in third place in the series. Their first single after the show, "Shining Star", was released on 30 July 2014, accompanied by the acoustic version of their song "Hopeful".
"Hopeful" is the debut single by British pop duo Bars and Melody. It is based on the lyrics and music of Twista's 2005 song "Hope", featuring Faith Evans. The song was released on 25 July 2014 through Syco Music. It debuted at number 5 on the UK Singles Chart, with sales of 40,191.
Calum Scott is an English singer and songwriter. In April 2015, he rose to prominence after competing on the ITV talent contest Britain's Got Talent, where he performed his version of Robyn's hit "Dancing on My Own" and earned Simon Cowell's Golden Buzzer. After coming sixth in the contest, he released his version as a single the following year, which peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart and became Britain's best-selling single of summer 2016.
Jane Kristen Marczewski, better known by her stage name Nightbirde, was an American singer-songwriter.
