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THE EX FACTOR
Aug 16 2005
Scots will never be stars, Michelle McManus's career is over and Darius should start a religious cult.. yes TV's Mr Nasty, Simon Cowell, is back for another bruising series
By John Dingwall
SIMON COWELL has laid into Scots stars Michelle McManus and Darius Danesh, claiming their pop careers are all but dead and buried.
Cowell, who championed Michelle as she went on to win Pop Idol II, now claims she has no place in the music business and her pop career is over.
And in one of his most insulting jibes yet, he says Darius should start his own cult instead of trying to sell records.
Cowell turned Mr Nasty on the Scots pair as he launched the second series of X Factor in London yesterday.
Despite backing Michelle all through the second Pop Idol series, he wasted no time in slagging her off.
He said: "Michelle doesn't have a future as a recording artist. Nothing. It's as simple as that because the public decided they didn't want to buy her records.
"I never worked with her, but I supported her in the competition because there was nobody else to support.
"I liked her as a person, but I don't look at Pop Idol II as a talent competition.That was Pop Idol I. Pop Idol II was a popularity contest."
He made no apology for turning on Michelle and says she under-performed, despite scoring a No.1 with All This Time.
Cowell said: "I've done eight of these shows across England and America now.They are as unpredictable as the charts.
"Sometimes you get a stand-out winner who sells millions of records, like Will Young or Kelly Clarkson. However, some years the winner under-performs. It's unpredictable."
Cowell, who will judge the new X Factor series with Westlife and Girls Aloud manager Louis Walsh and Ozzy Osbourne's wife Sharon, has also written off Darius' chances of continued success as a pop star.
Darius first squared up to Cowell as a goatee-bearded wannabe on the first series of Popstars before returning for a second bite at the cherry on Pop Idol.
He finished third on the show, behind Gareth Gates and Will Young, despite being ridiculed in the earlier rounds.
Following the show's conclusion, he bagged a record deal with the Mercury label. He went on to sell over 500,000 copies of his debut album Dive In and release a string of chart hits including the No.1 debut single Colourblind.
But Simon believes Darius has always been too big for his own boots.
Simon said: "His ambition outweighs his talent. I'll be open with Darius, he is one of the most charismatic people I've ever met, but he should be running a cult.
"It's a compliment because he's that sort of person. He gets people around him and they listen... I wouldn't join the cult of Darius, but I'm sure quite a few people would." Simon's comments come in the wake of Michelle's tenure with music mogul Simon Fuller's 19 Management coming to an end. It leaves a massive question mark over her future as a pop star.
Cowell admits his reputation as the pantomime villain on X Factor has generated criticism of his confrontational judging style, but he says he isn't hypocritical and can see when he has got it wrong in the past.
He admitted: "My critics are normally right. A friend can tell me I was a complete idiot last night on TV and when I watch it back they are right. It's never pleasant, but it's normally correct.You just shake yourself down and try not to be the same again.
"A lot of people I know make a name projecting themselves as nice family guys, but they're really cheating behind their girlfriend's backs. I loathe that. At least everything I do is out there.
"I'm not perfect. I have a slight distrust of people who go out of their way to be nice - I wonder what they are hiding."
The new series of X Factor kicks off on Saturday, but there has been a disappointing showing from the Scottish audition held in Edinburgh earlier this year.
Louis Walsh said: "Scotland let us down.There should be another Lulu out there, a Marti Pellow or anybody. But we didn't find anything like that."
Simon also admitted X Factor protŽgŽ Steve Brookstein had not lived up to his expectations and failed to match runners-up G4 in terms of record sales.
He said: "You've got to put it into perspective.Ten months ago Steve was singing in a wine bar then he gets a No.1 single, then a No.1 album. He's not doing too badly.
"It was annoying that G4 sold more records than Steve, but that's the record industry."
The new series of X Factor will again be presented by Kate Thornton, while Ben Shephard will host an Xtra Factor programme on ITV2, and the judges hope to find a truly international star from those who make it to the final 12.
Simon said: "I'm cautiously optimistic.There's got to be a reason for doing the show and that comes down to the talent.
"In the young category, the 16 to 24s, it's the best I've seen of any talent show I've been on, including America.
"We won't find a Franz Ferdinand though.These shows extract a certain type of artist.
"This year, I would probably have offered two of the finalists recording contracts without the show.That's the best endorsement I can give them." #X Factor returns on ITV this Saturday at 6.50pm
Daily Record
