Simon Phillip Cowell is an English entrepreneur, television personality, and record executive. He is the founder and sole owner of the British entertainment company Syco and is the creator of the X Factor and Got Talent television franchises. 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).
The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent; the winner of which receives a £1 million recording contract with the Syco Music record label. The first series was broadcast from 4 September to 11 December 2004. The competition was split into several stages: auditions, bootcamp, judges' homes and live shows, with Louis Walsh, Sharon Osbourne and Simon Cowell as judges. Kate Thornton presented the show on ITV, whilst Ben Shephard presented the spin-off show The Xtra Factor on ITV2.
Syco Entertainment is a British media entertainment 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 high-profile 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 high-profile television and music brands through partnerships with the label Sony Music and the television production company.
Syco Music, originally S Records, was a division of Syco Entertainment founded by British entrepreneur and record executive Simon Cowell. Founded in 2002, the label launched while Cowell was still employed by BMG, the label oversaw music releases by Robson & Jerome, Five, Westlife and Teletubbies. A year later, BMG, now named Sony BMG, bought Cowell's share in both Syco Music and Syco Television. Later in 2010, Cowell and Sony Music entered a joint venture agreement that would see Cowell and Sony each own 50% of the new Syco Entertainment company which encompassed both the previous Syco TV and Syco Music divisions. The brand had multiple well-known acts signed such as Fifth Harmony, Camila Cabello, One Direction, Little Mix and CNCO. In July 2020, Sony sold the rights to the television formats and assets back to Cowell, effectively divesting all of Syco's non-music divisions. As part of the venture, Syco Music, its current roster and back catalog remains with Sony Music as a wholly owned subsidiary. However, as of September 2020, and according to industry magazine Music Week, the label is now defunct, with staff either leaving or being redeployed elsewhere within the Sony Music group.
Alexandra Imelda Cecelia Ewen Burke is a British singer, songwriter and actress. She won the fifth series of the British television series The X Factor in 2008, and has been signed to Epic Records, RCA Records and Syco Music.
Carly Rose Sonenclar, who performs under the name Carly Rose, is an American singer, songwriter and actress. In December 2012, she became the runner-up on the second season of The X Factor.
Melanie Ann Amaro is an American singer who won the first season of The X Factor USA in 2011, securing a $5 million recording contract with Syco Music and Epic Records. Amaro was also the youngest contestant to win the competition during the show's run (2011-2013).
"Ghost" is the debut single by British singer and songwriter Ella Henderson. It was released on 8 June 2014 as the lead single from her debut studio album, Chapter One (2014). Henderson co-wrote the song with Kenan Williams and its producers, Ryan Tedder and Noel Zancanella.
Fleur East is an English singer-songwriter, rapper and presenter. She competed on the second series of the televised singing competition The X Factor in 2005 as a member of the girl group Addictiv Ladies. In 2012, she then launched a solo career with the record label Strictly Rhythm and released songs with dance musicians including DJ Fresh and Drumsound & Bassline Smith. East returned to The X Factor as a solo artist in 2014 for its eleventh series, where she finished in second place behind Ben Haenow.
"I Am" is a song by British singer and songwriter Leona Lewis from her fifth studio album of the same name. The song was written by Lewis, Toby Gad and Eg White, with Gad and White producing it. Lyrically, "I Am" is about the feelings and emotions experienced by Lewis following her departure from her former record label Syco and its boss, Simon Cowell. It is a dance-influenced track which makes use of strings, piano and drums as part of its instrumentation. Its composition garnered comparisons to singers Avril Lavigne and Massive Attack. Island released "I Am" on 17 July 2015 as the lead single for the United Kingdom, but it is the second single to be released from the album overall. Remixes by Fastlane and DEVolution were also released. The track garnered a positive response from music critics, many of whom praised Lewis' strong and emotive vocal performance and described it as a standout on the album. Lewis has performed the song live on The National Lottery: In It to Win It and at the BBC's Radio 2 Live in Hyde Park festival.
"Second Hand Heart" is a song by English singer Ben Haenow, from his self-titled debut studio album, Ben Haenow (2015). Featuring American singer Kelly Clarkson, it is an upbeat pop song produced by Afterhrs, Jason Halbert, and Pete Hammerton, written by Artist vs. Poet members Joe Kirkland and Jason Dean with Afterhrs members Ian Franzino and Andrew Haas, with additional writing by Neil Ormandy. "Second Hand Heart" was issued as the album's lead and only single on 16 October 2015, by Syco Music and RCA Records.
Ben Haenow is the self-titled debut studio album by English singer Ben Haenow, released on 13 November 2015, through Syco Music and RCA Records. After winning the eleventh series of The X Factor in 2014, Haenow travelled to Los Angeles to immediately begin development of the album by collaborating with established musicians such as Kelly Clarkson, Julian Bunetta, Iain James, Kodaline, Anne Preven, Red Triangle, Steve Robson, J.R. Rotem, and Amy Wadge.
"Sax" is the debut single by English singer, rapper and songwriter Fleur East, from her debut album Love, Sax and Flashbacks (2015). It was released as the lead single from the album on 6 November 2015 by Syco Records.
Love, Sax and Flashbacks is the debut studio album by English singer, songwriter and rapper Fleur East. It was released on 4 December 2015, through Syco.
Reggie 'n' Bollie are a Ghanaian music duo consisting of Reggie Zippy and Bollie Babeface. They formed in 2012 and are best known for finishing as runners-up on the twelfth series of The X Factor UK in 2015.
PrettyMuch are an American pop and R&B boy band based in Los Angeles, California. Formed by Simon Cowell in 2016, the band consists of Brandon Arreaga, Edwin Honoret, Austin Porter and Zion Kuwonu. The band has released five EPs, and a debut album as of 2023.
Grace Davies is an English singer-songwriter. She is an independent artist, previously signed to SYCO Music (Sony) before the label's demise in 2020. She is best known for her original song "Roots", which she performed during her first audition on the fourteenth series of The X Factor in 2017 - where she came runner up, mentored by Sharon Osbourne.
Jane Kristen Marczewski, known professionally as Nightbirde, was an American singer-songwriter.
