Is Britney Spears Worth $15m a Year?

News broke this morning that Britney Spears is ready to sign on to the X Factor as a judge and sitting next to Simon Cowell.  She will reportedly be paid $15 million for her services:

Britney Spears appears close to bumping knees with Simon Cowell as a judge on Fox’ “The X Factor” — and getting $15 million to do it.

Speculation swirled Wednesday that Spears was “thisclose” or closer to a deal to join the Fox program, which would be a major step in her ongoing career rehabilitation.

If a deal is done, she’d fill one of the two seats left open after Cowell cut loose judges Paula Abdul and Nicole Scherzinger after the first season.

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Simon Cowell and the Snooki Factor

Simon Cowell’s X Factor is a major flop of talent and expectation and now, thanks to an interview he did with MTV, we know Simon wasn’t interested in creating anything new or unique or special on his new show — he just wants to find Snooki, Part II:

Simon Cowell knows a star when he sees one. But fans might be surprised to learn that when the reality TV judge took his X Factor” auditions on the road this year, he was eager to hit the state of New Jersey. It turns out Simon hoped to find contestants with the same indefinable qualities as the castmembers of MTV’s hit “Jersey Shore.” …

Asked to pick his favorite castmember, Cowell singled out Snooki, saying the pint-size 23-year-old had that “X” factor. “In fact,” Cowell revealed, “She recently came in to meet some people from my company. I would say they were more starstruck by Snooki than anyone they’ve ever met in their lives,” he said. “I mean, they were genuinely thrilled. They were taking pictures with her.

“Yeah, so that was the reason why I came to New Jersey: I wanted to find the next Snooki.”

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Cheryl Cole was Simon Cowell's Waterloo

I’ve suffered through the debut week of the X Factor and I can confidently say the show is a dud.  We’ve seen it all before.  The show is formulaic and treacly and I now understand why Cheryl Cole was fired.

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Why Paula Abdul on X-Factor is a Terrible Idea

The addition of Paula Abdul to the judging panel of American Factor X — Oops! I mean the “American X-Factor” — indicates a massive error in judgment.  Paula Abdul was intolerable on American Idol and her recent dance show was a mighty flop and the romanticized “chemistry” between Simon Cowell and Paula on Idol is made of nothing but string, sealing wax and Little Jackie Paper.

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American Idol 10 is a Disappointing Dudfest

American Idol, Season 10, debuted last night.  What a dudfest.  Jennifer Lopez didn’t want to send anyone home or make any sort of interesting criticism or correction.  Steven Tyler leered at the women and made inappropriate comments to an — admittedly annoying and cloying — 16-year-old female contestant.  Randy Jackson was as dull as ever.  This is how American Idol begins its end.

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