After months of frenzied speculation over which ludicrously famous artist Simon Cowell would be able to woo into a judging seat on The X Factor, the answer has finally been finalized. Britney Spears will be taking the seat left behind by Nicole Scherzinger… or wait, was it Paula Abdul’s? Both were fired, as was host Steve Jones, after last season. Fellow ex-Disney princess Demi Lovato will sit in whichever seat Brit doesn’t take. Both appointments were announced at Fox’s Upfronts presentation in New York this afternoon (via Billboard), and were also confirmed via Brit’s own Twitter photo. “Britney and Demi” is now trending nationwide on Twitter, because, duh.
E! News reported last week that Spears’ deal was confirmed, albeit by an unnamed “source close to the star,” and that the grimy details were all that were being discussed up until the Upfronts. Brit has reportedly settled for a measly $15 million for the season. Yes, for one season. That’s about two months of broadcasting (last season ran from October 25 to December 22), which equals roughly a $250,000 daily paycheck. For comparison, Abdul and Scherzinger earned a combined $4 million for season one. For that price, Spears could buy a whole new mansion and have some green left over! The actual details of both deals, however, have yet to be confirmed, but most eyes are on Britney here — after failing to do press for her most recent album, Femme Fatale, and giving a series of shaky TV performances to promote it, the pressure will be on for the engaged pop star to deliver on The X Factor.
The two other judge’s positions belong to Cowell and everyone’s favorite Fiona Apple teaser, Epic chair L.A. Reid. Meanwhile, the execs behind American Idol seem to be following suit, as News Corps’ COO Chase Carey told Deadline last week that the Fox show, one of X Factor‘s main competitors for viewership, “didn’t perform to what we’d hoped this year” and needs “some fresh energy.” New judges for everyone!
