Simon Cowell’s old-school Netflix expertise present simply doesn’t work in 2025

It’s been 4 years since The X Factor was lastly put out of its distress and dozen since its halcyon days, a interval wherein pop music, and its star-making strategies, have considerably moved on from the bog-standard TV expertise present. 

Unfortunately, nobody appears to have instructed Simon Cowell.  

Following a prolonged absence from the display screen, the music mogul now returns with The Next Act, a Netflix authentic designed to fill what he believes is a ‘ginormous hole available in the market’.

But are the youth of 2025, a era raised on precision-tooled Okay-Pop collectives like BTS, actually crying out for an old-school boyband within the mildew of Five, Westlife and One Direction (all proven right here in a shamelessly self-aggrandising montage)? 

And are they prepared to speculate their time in six 45-minute episodes, most of that are dominated by a high-trousered 66-year-old, watching their formation? 

Cowell, in fact, constructed his repute on recognising what the general public wished earlier than they did themselves, scoring hits with everybody from Zig and Zag to Robson and Jerome, then revolutionising Saturday evening prime-time TV because the King of Mean.

Yet within the streaming age, the place conventional gatekeepers have been changed by social media democracy, audiences at the moment are capable of form the popcultural zeitgeist themselves. 

However, Cowell initially appears completely oblivious to the very fact his powers have weakened. Inevitably, subsequently, he falls right into a pit of despair when it’s revealed that solely 93 – sure, simply 93 – wannabe pop stars have initially utilized. 

You can by no means be too positive about what’s manufactured and what’s actual in a Cowell manufacturing. In this case, although, his disbelief at such a paltry quantity seems completely real.  

Things don’t get a lot better when the primary Liverpool auditions get underway: the present tries to create a buzz with some nifty camerawork, however it’s clear the turnout is a far cry from the hundreds who’d queue up for The X Factor. 

It’s a damning indictment of a course of which, throughout Cowell’s hiatus, has been made virtually redundant by TikTookay, with wannabes not needing the approval of 4 business consultants sitting in outsized convention rooms to progress their careers.

As the likes of chart-toppers Benson Boone and Alex Warren and Grammy nominee Addison Rae have confirmed, they’ll now accomplish that from the consolation of their very own properties.  

Even for those who ignore the need for such a car, the ethics of propelling not simply younger adults however precise youngsters – the age vary stems from 15-25 – right into a highlight they could be ill-equipped to take care of is questionable to say the least. 

All 5 members of One Direction, the group Cowell explicitly states he’s attempting to emulate, spoke up to now of struggling to take care of the depth of prompt worldwide fame.

As the judging panel, which additionally contains 1D hitmaker Savan Kotecha, begins to see pound indicators in a 15-year-old dangerous boy named Josh, your preliminary intuition is to inform him, ‘Run.’ 

In equity, Cowell has discovered from a few of his previous errors. There is a noticeable lack of sob tales and mockeries of those that don’t essentially match the pop star mould – a apply which definitely wouldn’t move muster in at this time’s extra psychological health-conscious world. 

The solely criticism dished out – and pretty too – is to those that haven’t bothered getting ready: within the final signal of Gen-Alpha laziness, a number of resort to studying lyrics from their telephones.  

Who is aware of whether or not, as claimed in a current New York Times profile, he actually has softened across the edges (final yr’s admission that his solely One Direction remorse was not buying their identify suggests he nonetheless locations extra emphasis on cash than welfare) or he’s merely conscious of the cancel tradition uproar that will observe? 

Whichever, it in the end robs the present’s frontman of his USP. Indeed, whereas it’s undeniably a constructive change, Cowell taking part in Mr. Nice Guy doesn’t make for notably compelling TV.  

Neither does a bunch of identical-looking, cursive-singing youngsters tackling the identical previous cowl variations: take a shot each time you hear Teddy Swims’ Lose Control, and also you’ll quickly be on the ground. 

Although Netflix’s Breaking the Band, which took a particular Love Is Blind-esque method to the expertise present, hasn’t but spawned a profitable act, the format a minimum of works on a televisual degree. Likewise, the long-running, chair-spinning The Voice. 

Although Cowell has tried to modernise his schtick with some shiny behind-the-scenes footage resembling each Netflix actuality TV present, he nonetheless appears caught in a ‘00s time warp.  

‘If it doesn’t work, it will really feel like the tip of my profession,’ Cowell remarks in a uncommon show of self-awareness. The Next Act would subsequently maybe be higher titled The Final Curtain.  

The Next Act is streaming solely on Netflix from December 10. 

Got a narrative?

If you’ve bought a celeb story, video or photos get in contact with the Metro.co.uk leisure staff by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff web page – we’d love to listen to from you.