Simon Fuller
The Svengali of pop
When BRITISH MUSIC ENTREPRENEUR SIMON FULLER pitched his Idol television idea to Los Angles in early 2002, he was hoping for a chance to crack the tough U.S. market. His concept of a talent show where viewers control the voting was a smash his in England, and he saw no reason why it wouldn’t work in other countries. Idol judge Simon Cowell came over with Fuller, thinking pessimistically that a U.S. version of the show might only last a few weeks. “We’ll have a nice holiday and go back to England,” he said at the time.
Well, Cowell was wrong. American Idol has been a runaway success. More than 500 million people cast votes in the fourth season of American Idol in 2005, and 40 million viewers tuned in to the final. The program the New York Times describes as “Starsearch meets Gladiator” now has thirty-five different versions, including Indian Idol.