Simon Cowell’s right-hand man has revealed the secrets behind the music mogul’s brand new talent show, which aims to find the next big boy band.
American songwriter and music producer Savan Kotecha, 45, who has worked with the music mogul for the past 26 years, told MailOnline that Simon had reunited his trusted team of experts to help him throughout the process. Hundreds of young hopefuls turned out for the first day of auditions in London on Friday.
Savan, the songwriter behind One Direction’s smash hit What Makes You Beautiful and Ariana Grande’s chart-topper One Last Time, said Simon will no longer have a celebrity judging panel like in the days of The X Factor. He stressed that the show will be nothing like the former ITV series.
The Britain’s Got Talent boss isn’t looking for the next Harry Styles or someone with millions of TikTok followers, but an undiscovered star with exceptional singing talent and unparalleled charisma.
After heading to the UK, Savan joined Simon at auditions in Liverpool and Manchester, as well as the event on Friday, and he believes they may have already met the next big star.
Simon Cowell’s right-hand man has revealed the secrets behind the music mogul’s brand new talent show, which aims to find the next big boy band
American songwriter and music producer Savan Kotecha (pictured) told MailOnline that Simon has reunited his trusted team of experts to help him through the audition process
Speaking at London’s Shoreditch Exchange, where the first day of auditions took place, Savan said: ‘Simon called and said we were going to work with the old crew again and it was like a high school reunion, so it was fun.
‘He said, I’d like some help, I’m going to start a new boy band, he didn’t really say much until I came to the UK. He was a bit vague, but it’s always when we need each other. He told me about it, and I thought, sure, I’ll join, let’s do it again.
“First of all, we’re looking for someone with a lot of charisma and singing talent. If they can also write, that’s great, but we’re mainly looking for a vibe.
“It’s good to have followers, but I still believe that if you show the world someone who is very talented, they will get followers. I want to know if they are talented, so they can grow when we introduce them to the world.
“It’s about personality, if I’m honest. Rather than what someone looks like, it’s more about what charisma, personality, energy they have, that’s the biggest change. It’s an energy-shifting presence. With some of the biggest stars I’ve worked with, even if you’re standing with your back to the door and they walk in, you feel a change.
“Harry Styles is a one-of-one, so we’re not looking for that. We’re looking for the best talent, charismatic kids, whatever that is, that’s what it is.”
Simon, who arrived on Friday afternoon wearing a gray T-shirt, shorts and sunglasses, greeted the line of attendees and petted a dog before entering the venue.
He was surrounded by camera crews as his search for the next boy band was filmed for a new Netflix series called The Midas Touch.
Savan, who joins Simon on his panel of music specialists, wrote the One Direction hit What Makes You Beautiful about his wife
He’s also the man behind Ariana Grande’s hits Bang, Bang, Problems and One Last Time, which he says is his favorite song he’s ever worked on.
The response from aspiring boyband singers aged 16 to 18 has prompted Simon to add an extra day to the audition process in East London.
Savan, who hails from Texas, says working with Simon on the project so far has created a closer bond between the music duo and them, thanks to their years of collaboration.
Indeed, it was Simon who gave Savan his big break in the music industry, when he worked with Westlife. After that, his experience led to collaborations with some of the most successful pop artists.
He said: ‘My relationship with Simon has changed over the years. He used to be a big record executive and I was a new songwriter, but we have a lot of history so there are a lot of stories and jokes.
‘Simon was my first record company meeting when I was 19 years old and a new songwriter and I’m 45 now. He gave me my first big break with Westlife, it was a bonus track called Bad Girls, it’s so bad now but after that I did more like Obvious and Us Against the World.
‘Since then I’ve done What Makes You Beautiful by One Direction, which is about my wife, Can’t Feel My Face, The Weeknd, Love Me Like You Do, Ellie Goulding, a bunch of big Ariana Grande hits, Bang, Bang, Problems, One Last Time and How Do You Sleep? Sam Smith.’
Savan says Simon realizes that the popularity of boy bands has been declining since One Direction broke up in 2015.
But the former X Factor judge hopes his new talent show will reignite the younger generation’s interest in boy bands and spark the same hysteria as The Beatles and 80s group New Kids on the Block.
Hundreds of aspiring singers attended auditions in London on Friday in the hope of impressing music boss Simon with their singing talent
Savan said, “People don’t take the time to form boy bands.
“It’s great that there are auditions where people have to be present. It’s so easy for kids to want to make music, get an instrument and promote themselves online, but this kind of community building is unparalleled.
“I love pop music and boy bands. My sister was a fan of New Kids on the Block. She was very introverted, but I remember when there were bands, all her friends would be there and it was a community.
‘Bands do that, not only with each other but also with the audience. We need that in the world, there are a lot of people who feel isolated, there is a lot of division everywhere and we need to reunite.
‘That’s why Simon is great, he takes a chance, he doesn’t do the easy thing because it’s not easy. A lot of people in the British record industry draw things on data rather than gut feeling and if it doesn’t work they move on to something else, but Simon is historically one of those people who puts something together and makes it great.’
