ABC’s version of American Idol is worlds away from what it was like in the beginning, with the trio of current judges never coming anywhere near to the revulsion and other over-the-top reactions from OG mainstay Simon Cowell. Of course, the producer’s frank and unbridled comments were a big part of what made the show such a gobsmacking hit during its early years, even if fellow judges like Paula Abdul thought he was a pain. But despite viewers blaming him at the time for Jennifer Hudson’s shocking elimination, he stands by his innocence, as it were.
Speaking to Rolling Stone about his exciting new show Simon Cowell: The Next Act, which dropped its first trailer recently and became a seeming threat to the likes of other talent-showcasing shows like Idol and The Voice. When asked if Hudson’s infamous vote-off came across as a problem with the process, Cowell said the issue didn’t involve anything behind the scenes, but what was on the screen. He explained:
No, it was a song choice. I said, ‘Don’t sing that song — I just don’t think it’s gonna resonate.’ So when it happened, yeah, there was an uproar because she was so good. In a weird way, it was the best thing that could have ever happened to her because there was such an outcry that she got that part in [Dreamgirls].
That early on in the lifespan of reality TV singing competitions, without social media playing into it, a contestant’s song choice definitely had a bigger potential to impact an outcome. So while we’ll never truly know how far Hudson would have gone in Season 3 had she not made Barry Manilow’s, “Weekend in New England” her song choice, Simon Cowell seems pretty convinced that she would have moved on beyond the Top 7.
I have to think that she still could landed the Dreamgirls role even if she’d been eliminated in successive weeks, or even won out entirely, since it was well over a year later when the casting wasn’t announced. But regardless, no one can argue that both Idol and Dreamgirls were huge milestones in her wildly successful career that led to her become one of the few rarefied EGOT winners.
What was argued, at least around the time of American Idol‘s third season, was that Cowell was somehow to blame for Hudson being voted off, even though the show’s trio didn’t actually do the voting. He continued:
What was so funny was everybody thought I was somehow responsible for her being voted out. I wasn’t the one who was voting! I went to the Oscars party that year, and of course she was nominated, and everyone was staring at me — ‘Oh, you are going to really get it.’ And then of course she won. Everyone kept staring at me and I’m like, ‘I’m happy! What do you think? I’m unhappy? It wasn’t my fault!’
Sure, any of Cowell’s harsh on-screen comments could sway those voting at home at any point, but it’d be patently impossible to prove him culpable for Hudson’s elimination. Unless someone discovered he had a home gymnasium full of sentient monkeys and robots calling in votes for the other contestants. But that seems…unlikely.
Simon Cowell has been lending his skills-seeking expertise to the NBC staple America’s Got Talent, but as mentioned above, will soon debut a brand new series within that subgenre. Check out the trailer below!
Wil Jennifer Hudson pop up on Cowell’s new show the way he appeared on her talk show for their first in-person chat in 18 years? Probably not, but find out when Simon Cowell: The Next Act begins streaming via Netflix subscription on Wednesday, December 10.