"Simon Fuller : The Creator of New Idols"

"Simon Fuller : The Creator of New Idols"

Simon Fuller (born 17 May, 1960 in Hastings, East Sussex, England) is an artist manager, television producer and creator of the Idol franchise, first seen as Pop Idol in the UK and over 100 other versions including American Idol, Australian Idol, Canadian Idol, Deutschland sucht den Superstar, Indian Idol, Nouvelle Star, New Zealand Idol and World Idol. Simon Fuller is also the co-creator and executive producer of the Fox TV reality show So You Think You Can Dance and other US and European TV shows. He is an executive producer of Little Britain USA, a TV show that he signed to HBO and BBC TV in 2008. He is the manager of performers and entertainers including David and Victoria Beckham, Claudia Schiffer, Annie Lennox, Andy Murray, Spice Girls, Cathy Dennis, Carrie Underwood, Will Young, David Cook and others. His brother is comedy writer and director Kim Fuller.

Fuller's first venture into TV took place in 1999. He auditioned over 10,000 people to form S Club 7 which became a No.1 pop group and a BBC TV show which was seen in over 100 territories around the world. The group has since split up with former members Rachel Stevens, Jon Lee and Hannah Spearritt going on to enjoy solo success in music and film, although Jo O'Meara attracted controversy during the TV series Celebrity Big Brother in 2007. An offspring of the show 'S Club Juniors' and its spinoff TV drama series 'I Dream' established a blue print for squeaky clean teen TV.

In 1998 Fuller came up with an idea that would prove to be one of the definitive television and music brands of the 2000s when he created the television show formats of Pop Idol, American Idol, World Idol, Australian Idol and Canadian Idol. plus other spin-offs. Pop Idol broke TV records when it was broadcast over two series in the UK, as well as uncovering a major new talent in Will Young. Fuller sold the show to the Fox network in the States, and American Idol quickly became a No.1 rated show. The show has made stars of its presenters Ryan Seacrest, Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell as well as many of its performers. In Australia "Network Ten" purchased the format and to this day Australian Idol is one of the most "original" Idol shows from around the world. In Canada, the show, like in Australia has become an original format.

Now in its eighth series American Idol is claimed to be the most valuable TV format in the world with a value of over $2.5 billion, made up of revenue from sponsors, merchandising, telephone, music sales, broadcast and advertising sources. Over 90 million viewers saw David Cook win the seventh season of American Idol in May 2008 on a night where over 90 million votes were cast. According to the Sunday Times the show has made Simon Fuller the most powerful man in American TV.

In 2005 Simon Fuller, along with co-creator Nigel Lythgoe, launched So You Think You Can Dance on the Fox Channel in the USA. The show has grown over four seasons to become a regular summer hit. In 2007 Fuller has signed a deal to represent comedians Matt Lucas and David Walliams with regard to developing their award winning BBC TV show Little Britain for the United States , called Little Britain USA.

source: wikipedia.org (article and picture) and google image search (pictures).