The X Factor: Paula Abdul, Nicole Scherzinger and Steve Jones Officially Joins The Show

.. and the cast is complete! Nicole Scherzinger and Steve Jones are hired as hosts and Paula Abdul completes the judging panel.

According to THR:

Steve Jones and Nicole Scherzinger have won the jobs of hosts of Simon Cowell’s US version of The X-Factor, a source close to the show tells The Hollywood Reporter.

A formal announcement is expected shortly. Jones and Scherzinger will join the highly-anticipated singing competition on Sunday, when its judges rounds kick off in Los Angeles. The show will bow in September on Fox.

Now, Deadline also confirms about Paula Abdul:

Paula Abdul just closed her deal to be the fourth judge on Fox's The X Factor and is getting ready for tomorrow's first two auditions tapings at 1 PM and 6 PM. With contract negotiations dragging on until the last possible minute, it is a good thing that the tapings are here in Los Angeles.

My thoughts? I'm just not sure of Simon Cowell's strategy of getting them, but I have nothing against both Steve Jones and Nicole Scherzinger. I mean, I'm not familiar of Steve Jones' work - aside from his acting job in the UK version of American Pie, but I like the idea of bringing some Brits on board. Cat Deeley of So You Think You Can Dance made it over to America and she’s a pretty good host. As for Nicole Scherzinger, I like her. So, whatever.

My real issue, however, is casting Paula Abdul as the fourth judge. First, it's annoyingly predictable. Second, having her on board could make people think that the show is just a clone of American Idol. And third, to many casual viewers this show is already going to look like it’s copying The Voice. I don't know. The only bright side I see to this is that Paula is no doubt going to be Simon's punching bag. Haha.

The X Factor: Cheryl Cole Is Officially A Judge

A couple of weeks ago, I blogged about the possibility of both Paula Abdul and Cheryl Cole being part of the judging panel for the US version of The X Factor. Well, @TheXFactorUSA just confirmed that Cheryl Cole will indeed join LA Reid and Simon Cowell on the show.

BRITISH POP SUPERSTAR CHERYL COLE JOINS ANTONIO “L.A.” REID AND SIMON COWELL ON “THE X FACTOR” JUDGES PANEL #THEXFACTORUSA

I shared my thoughts before and I mentioned that Cheryl Cole - at least, to me - is a good addition to the team. She may not be popular in America - at least, not yet - but I don’t think it matters whether people know her or not. I mean, look at American Idol! They hired superstars to judge this year and all we got were annoying cheerleaders.

I think Cheryl's charming, gorgeous, genuinely nice and, yes, she's not an awful judge. I've been following The X Factor UK for 2 years now and she seemed to be taking the mentorship and judging seriously. So, that's a good thing right?

Any thoughts?

The X Factor: (Almost) Official List of Judges

I had no plans of posting this just because it's NOT YET official, but since everyone is assuming that this is the final set of judges, then might as well blog about it no?

Deadline's Nikki Finke recently had an exclusive interview with Simon Cowell, and apparently he revealed that he WANTS Paula Abdul and Cheryl Cole to sit right next to him and LA Reid as judges in the upcoming US version of The X Factor.

Cowell tells me that in addition to himself and Antonio “L.A.” Reid, the chairman of Island Def Jam Music Group who resigned to join The X Factor panel on Fox (and about whom Simon said “was my No. 1 choice to sit alongside me on the show”), he has made up his mind to bring back Paula Abdul beside him and to add a Brit singer convicted of assault who’s virtually unknown to American audiences, Cheryl Cole.

But according to Finke, the negotiations for Abdul hasn't even started and that Cole's deal isn't quite done yet. So ultimately, he could change his mind and go with, say, Jessica Simpson? Haha.

My thoughts? I covered last year's The X Factor UK and I always thought Cheryl Cole was awesome as a judge and mentor. True, she's not widely popular in the US yet, but I don't think it's that relevant at the moment. Oh, and she's unbelievably gorgeous. Talk about a draw for the young male demographic! Haha.

As for Paula Abdul, I don't think it was the best idea. I mean, for a guy who has clearly tried to distance himself from American Idol, throwing Paula Abdul into the X Factor mix sure isn’t accomplishing that. To me, the show will make it look more like an Idol ripoff, having two of the original judges on the show. There's just too much of an Idol connection here. Plus, Paula isn’t exactly a ratings maker - just look at how her dance show did. Cancelled after one season. This comes off as a lazy and safe choice.

I admit, Simon went with chemistry above anything else - he sure had that with Paula and Cheryl - but this panel isn't very exciting. It's silly to compare, but The Voice panel is stronger hands down. At the very least, all of the panel had name recognition and are shockingly current. I think the show just made The Voice look better. Haha. Still, I’m interested to see how The X Factor in the US will turn out.