Simon cowell

The cruelty of reality TV was part of the appeal

28 May 2022 9:00 am

Jade Goody appeared on Big Brother in 2002. She was a short, loud, blonde-haired woman who broadcast her every thought…

The X Factor made all the right people cross

1 August 2021 5:30 am

On hearing that the X Factor is no more after our 17 years together, I reflected on what a journey…

What makes a cad (and why this was such a good year for them)

12 December 2015 9:00 am

From Lord Sewel to – let’s not be sexist – Sally Bercow, there’s life in the old rogue yet

Is television at its best when it mimics radio?

21 November 2015 9:00 am

Not that long ago the BBC trumpeted a new Stakhanovite project to big up the arts in its many and…

Jazz soloist Charlie Parker with his saxophone c. 1946

From ragtime to the X Factor: the epic story of popular music

22 August 2015 9:00 am

As pop music drifts away from many people’s lives, so its literature grows ever more serious and weighty, as though…

Those ancient Greeks were bores — but things are looking up

31 January 2015 9:00 am

Thick snow is falling hard and heavy, muffling sounds and turning the picturesque village postcard beautiful. I am lying in…

We need something less evil than Britain's Got Talent. How about public executions?

14 June 2014 8:00 am

You know what the world needs most right now? What it needs is five good-looking-ish, talented-ish blokes dressed in a…

An upmarket panto with top-quality jokes and strong tunes: Jordy, Simon and Louis

Simon Cowell’s latest attempt at global domination

5 April 2014 9:00 am

I Can’t Sing! is a parody of The X Factor, which already parodies itself at every turn. Quite a tough…