Simon Phillip Cowell is an English television personality, entrepreneur 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 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).
"I Dreamed a Dream" is a song from the 1980 musical Les Misérables. It is a solo that is sung by the character Fantine during the first act. The music is by Claude-Michel Schönberg, with orchestrations by John Cameron. The English lyrics are by Herbert Kretzmer, based on the original French libretto by Alain Boublil and Jean-Marc Natel from the original French production.
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.
Yvie Burnett, is a Scottish mezzo-soprano and vocal coach, best known for her work with Simon Cowell on television shows The X Factor and Britain's Got Talent, The Big ReunionThe Voice UK and BBC's Let It Shine.
Faryl Smith is a British soprano whose performance repertoire includes opera, classical and classical crossover. Her diverse concerts draw a wide range of audiences, and she particularly enjoys introducing new audiences to classical music. Faryl has released two albums with Decca Records both in the UK and the US and works frequently with many different charities.
The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. The fifth series was broadcast on ITV from 16 August 2008 until 13 December 2008. Dermot O'Leary returned to present the main show on ITV, while Fearne Cotton was replaced by Holly Willoughby as presenter of spin-off show The Xtra Factor on ITV2. Simon Cowell, Louis Walsh, and Dannii Minogue returned to the judging panel. Sharon Osbourne left after four series and was replaced by Cheryl Cole. The series was won by Alexandra Burke, with Cole emerging as the winning mentor. Auditions in front of producers were held in April and May, with callbacks in front of the judges in June. The number of applicants for series 5 reached an all-time high with a reported 182,000 people auditioning. A number of well-established music acts from around the world, such as Beyoncé, Mariah Carey, Britney Spears, Girls Aloud, Take That, Il Divo, and series 3 winner Leona Lewis, performed during the live stages of the show.
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.
Susan Magdalane Boyle is a Scottish singer. She rose to fame in 2009 after appearing as a contestant on the third series of Britain's Got Talent, singing "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Misérables.
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.
I Dreamed a Dream is the debut studio album by Scottish singer Susan Boyle. It was released on 23 November 2009 by Syco Music in the United Kingdom, and by Columbia Records in the United States one day later. In the standard edition, 11 out of the 12 songs that appear on the album are cover songs, plus the original composition "Who I Was Born to Be". It quickly became the world's biggest selling album of 2009, according to IFPI. The album had sold around 10 million copies worldwide since its debut.
The discography of Susan Boyle, a Scottish singer, contains seven studio albums and thirteen singles. Boyle achieved global attention after auditioning for Series 3 of Britain's Got Talent in 2009. After much attention, Boyle signed a record deal with British record producer Simon Cowell, releasing her worldwide multi-platinum selling début album I Dreamed a Dream. The album's first two singles, "Wild Horses" and "I Dreamed a Dream" were successful, both reaching the top forty of the UK Singles Chart.
The fifth series of British talent competition programme Britain's Got Talent was broadcast on ITV, from 16 April to 4 June 2011; due to live coverage of the 2011 UEFA Champions League Final on 28 May, the final audition episode of the series was pushed back a day to avoid clashing with it. As Piers Morgan had departed from the programme the previous year, and the schedule of Simon Cowell made him unable to attend auditions, the producers arranged for Amanda Holden to be joined by David Hasselhoff and Michael McIntyre on the judging panel. Due to Hasselhoff's schedule during filming of the auditions, Louis Walsh stepped in as a guest judge for the sessions he could not attend.
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.
Believe is the debut studio album by Scottish singer and Britain's Got Talent winner Jai McDowall. The album was released on 12 December 2011 via Sony Music and Syco Music. A promotional single, "With or Without You" was released and performed on various UK shows such as Daybreak.
I Dreamed a Dream is a jukebox musical with the book co-written by Alan McHugh and Elaine C. Smith and produced by Michael Harrison. It is based on the life of Susan Boyle and her 2010 autobiography, The Woman I Was Born to Be. The score features songs recorded by Boyle, hymns, traditional songs and popular songs, mostly from the 1960s to the 1980s.
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.
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.
Susan Boyle in Concert is the first concert tour by singer Susan Boyle. The tour promoted Boyle's fourth album, Standing Ovation: The Greatest Songs from the Stage.
"Who I Was Born to Be" is the first original song recorded by Susan Boyle, appearing on her multi-platinum debut album I Dreamed a Dream. The song has become a staple in Boyle's repertoire. The songs lyrics describe Boyle's decades long dream of becoming a professional singer. The lyric has become associated with Boyle who titled her autobiography The Woman I Was Born to Be.
Susan Boyle: An Unlikely Superstar is a documentary made in 2011 by filmmaker Osca Humphreys and produced by Firecracker Films for UK network ITV. The documentary was distributed internationally by Zodiak Rights.
