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.
Dancing on Ice is a British television series currently presented by Stephen Mulhern and Holly Willoughby. Former hosts include Phillip Schofield, who hosted from 2006 to 2023, and Christine Lampard, who hosted in Willoughby's absence from 2012 to 2014. The series features celebrities and their professional partners figure skating in front of a panel of judges. The series, broadcast on ITV, started on 14 January 2006 and initially ended on 9 March 2014.
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.
Syco Entertainment is a British media entertainment and production company, headquartered in London, founded and owned by British entrepreneur and record executive Simon Cowell. The company focuses on TV production. The company was formed in 2005 through Sony Music Entertainment entering a joint venture by purchasing Cowell's shares of his record label S Records and television company Syco Television. In 2009, Sony and Cowell entered a joint venture agreement that covered the joint ownership of Syco's television formats, which include the Got Talent and The X Factor franchises. Until 2020, the company operated television and music projects with Sony Music labels around the world and television production company Fremantle. It employs a staff of more than 50 in offices in London and Los Angeles, and manages a string of television and music brands through partnerships with the label Sony Music and the television production company.
The X Factor is a British reality television music competition, created by Simon Cowell. Premiering on 4 September 2004, it was produced by Fremantle's British entertainment company, Thames, and Cowell's production company Syco Entertainment for ITV, as well as simulcast on Virgin Media One in Ireland. The programme ran for around 445 episodes across fifteen series, each one primarily broadcast late in the year, until its final episode in December 2018. The majority of episodes were presented by Dermot O'Leary, with some exceptions: the first three series were hosted by Kate Thornton; while Caroline Flack and Olly Murs hosted the show for the twelfth series.
The third series of British talent competition programme Britain's Got Talent was broadcast on ITV, from 11 April to 30 May 2009. The judging panel of Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan returned from the previous series; a fourth judge, Kelly Brook, was added, but removed from the series shortly after filming began.
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.
Diversity are a British street dance troupe formed in 2007 and based in London. They are best known for winning the third series of Britain's Got Talent in 2009, beating Susan Boyle in the live final.
Perri Luc Kiely is a British street dancer, TV and radio presenter. He is a member of the dance troupe Diversity, which won the third series of Britain's Got Talent in 2009. He finished as runner-up in the 12th series of Dancing on Ice in 2020. He and fellow Diversity star Jordan Banjo co-present the radio show 'KISS Breakfast'.
Jai McDowall is a Scottish singer–songwriter, 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.
Sarah Patricia Jones is a British salsa dancer, best known for winning the Spanish talent show Tú sí que vales alongside her dancing partner Nico in 2009. In 2014, Paddy and Nico competed in the eighth series of Britain's Got Talent, where they finished ninth overall.
The sixth series of British talent competition programme Britain's Got Talent was broadcast on ITV, from 24 March to 12 May 2012. The sixth series saw Simon Cowell resume a full commitment to the programme following the previous series, yet neither David Hasselhoff and Michael McIntyre returned to take part in the new series, leading to them being replaced by Alesha Dixon and David Walliams. Because of her pregnancy during filming of the auditions, Amanda Holden was required to miss a number of sessions, leading to producers asking Carmen Electra to step in as a guest judge in her place.
The Talent Show Story is a British television documentary series about the history of British television talent shows. The series comprises five episodes and was broadcast on ITV from 7 January to 4 February 2012. It is narrated by Victoria Wood. It was co-produced by Shiver Productions and Thames.
Ashleigh and Pudsey was a British dog trick act, comprising trainer Ashleigh Jade Butler and Pudsey, a male Border Collie, Bichon Frise, and Chinese Crested powderpuff cross. They achieved prominence as contestants in the sixth series of the television talent show Britain's Got Talent, which they won on 12 May 2012, becoming the first dog trick act to win the competition.
The eighth series of British talent competition programme Britain's Got Talent was broadcast on ITV, from 12 April to 7 June 2014; because of England's international friendly with Peru, the show took a break on 30 May to avoid clashing with live coverage of the match. Auditions were held in Northern Ireland instead of Scotland for this series, with hosts Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly having to stand in for Simon Cowell, after illness forced him to be absent during a day of auditions. This series was the first in the programme's history to introduce the "Golden Buzzer" format to the competition – an element that was being introduced to the Got Talent franchise since it was first introduced on Germany's Got Talent in 2012.
The ninth series of the British talent competition programme Britain's Got Talent was broadcast on ITV, from 11 April to 31 May 2015. The series saw the "Wildcard" format introduced in the sixth series being modified in this series to include a "Public Wildcard" – like the "Judges' Wildcard" any act eliminated in the semi-finals, primarily those that lost out in the Judges' vote, could be reinstated by the public, based on the one that received the most votes from them before the final. Although speculations and rumours began to emerge after the previous series ended, claiming that some of the judges would be leaving before the ninth series, these were later dismissed as being unfounded by ITV, on 16 January 2015.
The tenth series of the British talent competition programme Britain's Got Talent was broadcast on ITV, from 9 April to 28 May 2016. To celebrate ten series of the show, the final featured a special performance entitled "Best of Britain’s Got Talent", which featured several participants who had appeared on the show during the previous nine series, including Ashleigh and Pudsey, Attraction, Diversity, Jon Clegg, Stavros Flatley, Collabro and Spelbound. It was the last series to have its live episodes broadcast at The Fountain Studios before the site's closure that year.
The fourteenth series of British talent competition programme Britain's Got Talent was broadcast on ITV, but in two parts as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom during that year which affected production on the programme. The first half consisted of audition episodes that had already been filmed, which were aired between 11 April to 30 May 2020. The second half consisted of the remaining episodes when production could resume, and were aired between 30 August to 10 October 2020. The series was notable for Simon Cowell's absence from the semi-finals and final after he sustained an injury following an accident in August, forcing him to be replaced by Ashley Banjo. He still appeared in the audition episodes as they had been filmed and aired before his injury. Before Cowell's injury, it was intended for him to be virtually present for the semi-finals because of travel restrictions and his commitments to America's Got Talent.
The fifteenth series of British talent competition programme Britain's Got Talent was broadcast on ITV, from 16 April 2022 to 5 June 2022. Filming of the series was originally planned for 2021, but with the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom having led to strict government restrictions on television production, many of the production team, including Simon Cowell, felt it would be wiser to postpone filming until conditions improved. Filming eventually began in January 2022, with Cowell making his return as a judge for the programme following his accident during the previous series.
The sixteenth series of British talent competition programme Britain's Got Talent was broadcast on ITV, from 15 April to 4 June 2023. Following the previous series, David Walliams resigned from the programme in the wake of criticism to comments he had made of contestants during the 2020 series, leading to him being replaced by Bruno Tonioli in January 2023. During auditions, Cowell allowed a change to the Golden Buzzer format, granting more being given than in previous series.
