words: belcher

Simon Cowell - infamous for his countless attempts to single-handedly subjugate the arts industry through conquests that include Pop Idol, the X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent - has decided to further expand his empire by launching a new campaign on the dance music industry. Read on for the latest scoop…

PRESS RELEASE: DJ IDOL - Carl Cox and Annie Mac will join Simon Cowell on the judging panel to find the worlds next DJ superstar. Up for grabs - 1 million prize money, record deal, remix work and Ibiza… 2013. 

Cowell, “Miami is the perfect location for the final and we’ll be taking over Space, Ibiza for the opening of the dance music season. The winner will mix back to back with Carl. People usually associate me with pop music. I’ve known Carl for years ever since my early days dancing on the white Isle the first time around… it’s like my second home. Rest assured I know what I’m talking about… Jeff (Mills) used to show me new tricks whenever I was through in Chicago - I’m really excited to work on this new project”

Yes, you read that correctly, Carl Cox and Annie Mac are stepping up to the plate as judges - no doubt with Cowell at the helm, drawing from his wealth of experience of “dancing on the white isle”.  When in a previous statement regarding his new venture, he justified the show on the premise that “DJ’s are the new rockstars”.I fear he may have been speaking about the ‘one cd wonder’ variety who drop the bass at the LA parties he frequents. Perhaps he is missing the point a bit when he infers a distinction between DJing and pop music…

In an enlightening facebook note, deadmau5 (a DJ for whom I have the utmost respect) makes a very good point - this is by no means the end of the world. Purists may feel that DJ Idol marks the end of any dignity left for DJs, however it is fairly blatant that the industry has already changed a great deal (with the likes of Guetta leading the way) bringing dance music out of the raves and into the mainstream. It has happened countless times before. You don’t need to look further than the DMC championships, and the uproar when the rules were modified to allow people to cut their own acetates rather than using original records, then furthermore allowing serato (their current sponsor), and now even allowing controllers to bring more creativity to their routines. Change is the way of the world, and we can either embrace it, or spend our lives commenting on youtube videos of traktor users telling them they should be using vinyl.

Despite the cynicism, this show does seem very intriguing. In particular, I am very interested to see the extent to which the term ‘DJ’ is defined. There could be scratch turntablists, midi-fighters, producers - all manner of electronic musicians.  Nevertheless, it almost certainly wont harm real electronic music - embarrass a few misguided DJ’s perhaps - but like all his other previous skirmishes on music, perhaps one or two superstars might even be etched out of the woodwork, we’ll have to wait and see. Let’s hope that it is received in a positive light - it is after all, entertainment. We will definitely keep you informed on this one…