- published: 13 Sep 2010
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Simon Fuller (born 17 May 1960) is an English entrepreneur, artist manager and television producer. He is best known for being the creator of the Idol franchise, which was first seen in the UK under the name Pop Idol, and includes American Idol in the U.S. Fuller is the executive producer of many other hit shows including the Fox TV reality shows So You Think You Can Dance and Q'Viva.
Fuller came to significance through managing pop group the Spice Girls. He has managed a wide range of talent that includes David and Victoria Beckham, Annie Lennox, Sir Bradley Wiggins, Steven Tyler, Lewis Hamilton, Andy Murray, Amy Winehouse, Carrie Underwood, Kelly Clarkson, Will Young, Emma Bunton, Lisa Marie Presley, Gary Barlow, Cathy Dennis, Aloe Blacc, Steve McManaman and others. He is in partnership with the duo Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony.
In 2007, Time magazine named Fuller one of the 100 most influential people in the world. In 2008, Fuller was certified as the most successful British music manager of all time by Billboard magazine. Fuller received the 2,441st star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on 23 May 2011. The 2014 Sunday Times Rich List values Fuller at £375m; the sixth richest music millionaire in Britain. In the Daily Mail music promoter Harvey Goldsmith ranked Fuller at No.1 in a list of the greatest British entrepreneurs, commenting "he is a man of real vision".
Simon Phillip Cowell (/ˈkaʊəl/; born 7 October 1959) is an English television talent judge and mentor, music and television producer, music talent scout (aka A&R executive) and entrepreneur. He is most recognized as a judge on the British TV talent competition series Pop Idol, The X Factor, and Britain's Got Talent, and the American TV talent competition shows American Idol, The X Factor, and America's Got Talent. Cowell owns the television production and music publishing house Syco.
As a judge, Cowell often makes blunt and controversial comments, including insults and wisecracks about contestants and their abilities. He combines activities in both the television and music industries. Cowell has produced and promoted singles and albums for various artists, including television personalities. He was most recently featured on the ninth series of Britain's Got Talent and the eleventh series of UK's The X Factor.
In 2004 and 2010, Time named Cowell one of the 100 most influential people in the world.New Statesman listed Cowell at number 41 in a list of "50 People who Matter [in] 2010".TV Guide named him at number 10 in their 2013 list of The 60 Nastiest Villains of All Time. According to The Sunday Times Rich List of the wealthiest people in the UK, Cowell was worth £325 million in 2015.
Victoria Caroline Beckham (née Adams; born 17 April 1974) is an English businesswoman, fashion designer, model and singer. In the late 1990s, Beckham rose to fame with the all-female pop group Spice Girls and was dubbed Posh Spice by the July 1996 issue of the British music magazine Top of the Pops. After the Spice Girls split, she was signed to Virgin Records and Telstar Records and had four UK Top 10 singles. Her first release, "Out of Your Mind", reached Number 2 in the UK Singles Chart.
Beckham has participated in five official documentaries and reality shows about her, including Being Victoria Beckham, The Real Beckhams, and Victoria Beckham: Coming to America. She has since made a cameo appearance in an episode of Ugly Betty, and been a guest judge on Project Runway, Germany's Next Topmodel, and American Idol. She is married to David Beckham and they have four children. As of September 2015, the couple's joint wealth is estimated at £508 million.
In the past decade, Beckham has become an internationally recognised style icon and fashion designer. Following high-profile collaborations with other brands, she launched an eponymous label in 2008 and a lower-priced (diffusion) label in 2011. The Victoria Beckham label was named designer brand of the year in the UK in 2011; in 2012 the brand was assessed as the star performer in the Beckham family's business interests. Writing in the Daily Telegraph in 2011, Belinda White noted that the transition from WAG to fashion designer had been more successful than most had predicted, saying: "She has gathered a significant celebrity following and won over the scathing fashion pack who now clamour for a ticket to her bi-annual show at New York Fashion Week."
Jennifer Lynn Lopez (born July 24, 1969), also known as J. Lo, is an American actress, author, fashion designer, dancer, producer, and singer. She became interested in pursuing a career in the entertainment industry following a minor role in the 1986 film My Little Girl, to the dismay of her Puerto Rican parents, who believed that it was an unrealistic career route for a Hispanic. Lopez gained her first regular high-profile job as a Fly Girl dancer on In Living Color in 1991, where she remained a regular until she decided to pursue an acting career in 1993. She received her first leading role in the Selena biopic of the same name in 1997. Lopez became the first Latina actress to earn over US$1 million for a role the following year, with the film Out of Sight. She ventured into the music industry in 1999 with her debut studio album, On the 6.
With the simultaneous release of her second studio album J.Lo and her film The Wedding Planner in 2001, Lopez became the first person to have a number one album and film in the same week. Her 2002 remix album, J to tha L–O! The Remixes, became the first in history to debut at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200, while her fifth studio album, Como Ama una Mujer (2007), received the highest first-week sales for a Spanish album in the United States. With past record sales of over 60 million and a cumulative film gross of over US$2 billion, Lopez is regarded as the most influential Hispanic performer in the United States, as well as its highest paid Latin entertainer. Along with Pitbull and Claudia Leitte, she recorded "We Are One (Ole Ola)", which served as the official song of the 2014 FIFA World Cup.