Where do we sign?
X and lots of Oh's! Beyoncé reportedly offered $100 million to join The X Factor
Look out Oprah. Beyoncé Knowles could be the richest woman on television if she accepts a $100 million offer to be a full-time judge on The X Factor.
The New York Post reports that Simon Cowell has offered the singer TV's highest salary to join the show, which hasn't been the hit he had hoped it would be. When the show premiered last fall, Cowell said he would be disappointed if it didn't attract 20 million weekly viewers, but the first episode attracted only 12 million and generated little buzz. (Can anyone name the first season's winner?)
Luring Beyoncé to weekly TV may not be as far-fetched as it once seemed since the singer has recently given birth to a baby girl and may want to stay closer to home during the infant's first years.
Now Cowell is hoping to jump start the show by dumping judges Paula Abdul and Nicole Sherzinger along with host Steve Jones and aiming for much higher star power.
Luring Beyoncé to weekly TV seems unlikely, although it may not be as far-fetched as it once seemed since the singer has recently given birth to a baby girl and may want to stay closer to home during the infant's first years. A weekly TV job would get her off the road but keep her in the public eye, the New York Post report surmises.
Mariah Carey, who was rumored as Cowell's first choice before the Beyoncé rumors cropped up, is no longer considered as likely to attract the kind of ratings Cowell desires.
“He wants a big-name female star on the panel,” a source told MediaTakeOut.com, which first reported the Beyoncé rumors. “Mariah is good, but she’s not that hot today. He wants Beyoncé because that would immediately give him the bounce needed to beat American Idol.”
Also giving some credence to the rumors: Beyoncé appeared on the British version of the show in 2008 and coached eventual winner Alexandra Burke.
And $100 million would be hard to turn down — even for someone of the singer's stature.
