Media mogul Simon Cowell is hoping to duplicate the success of One Direction by holding auditions for the following hit boyband.
The launch of his marketing campaign was marked with the revealing of a military-recruitment-style billboard in London with the phrases: “Simon needs you! Future megastars wanted for new boyband. No time wasters.”
Before you get too excited, the auditions are solely open to UK, EU and US residents — Cowell should not concentrate on the wealth of Canadian pop expertise. He’s additionally on the lookout for teenagers across the ages of 16 to 18, in accordance with the on-line sign-up kind.
“Every generation deserves a megastar boyband and I don’t think there has been one to have the success of One Direction in over 14 years. The industry tends to focus on solo artists — so it usually takes someone from outside to put a group together,” Cowell wrote in an announcement asserting the launch of his boyband venture. “Nothing beats the fun of being in a group, touring the world and performing for thousands.”
Auditions shall be held this summer season in numerous areas: Newcastle on July 4 and 5, Liverpool on July 7 and eight, Dublin on July 28 and 29 and London on August 1, 2 and three. A filming crew will even be following Cowell on his megastar seek for a “potential documentary series.”
As a part of his pitch to potential pop stars, Cowell cheekily predicted the eventual dissolution of the boyband, as was the case with One Direction. Joining his venture shall be a “brilliant launchpad for a solo career,” Cowell stated in an obvious nod to former One Direction member Harry Styles.
One Direction shortly turned a worldwide sensation after its members, Styles, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan, Liam Payne and Louis Tomlinson, had been introduced collectively on The X Factor UK, a present created by Cowell. While Cowell will get a variety of credit score for forming the band, X Factor choose Nicole Scherzinger performed a big position in assembling the group. Beyond One Direction, Cowell additionally helped kind hit UK woman teams Little Mix and Fifth Harmony.
UK pop teams within the 2010s had been a pressure to be reckoned with, however lately that affect has pale.
Cowell acknowledged that there’s a “high degree of risk” concerned in attempting to place collectively a pop band with mass enchantment and shared that he has “no idea what’s going to happen.”
“We might uncover an incredible group; we might not get there,” he stated. “What if no one shows up to auditions? That could be awkward. There is no guaranteed path to success — anything can happen, but that’s what’s exciting for me, and that’s why I’m doing this.”
In an interview with the PA information company, Cowell stated he’s “praying” to kind a band nearly as good as One Direction and decried the “sorry state of affairs” within the present UK pop trade.
“The decline in UK artists breaking internationally right now is shocking,” he stated. “You can’t fake this, even though I’m the one going out to do the auditions, it really depends on the individuals. If you find the right people I’m not someone who says dress like this, say this, do this, it is just not my style and I never once did that with One Direction.”
Cowell stated he’s going “back to basics” with this search and rejecting the X Factor format.
“The only way to do it is do what I used to do, go out and do it and audition and do it face-to-face and don’t have any pre-casting,” he stated. “In other words, don’t have people choose people in advance, it really is first come, first served.”
People taken with signing up for the auditions can accomplish that on Cowell’s web site.
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