This year the awards will be part of a gala celebrating 50 years of entertainment television, and in commemoration of the anniversary, the Rose d’Or International Advisory Board and the Festival Committee have created the Rose d’Or Golden Jubilee Award, to honour a programme and a personality for their outstanding contribution to entertainment television. It was unanimously agreed that the programme award should go to Coronation Street, and the personality award to Simon Cowell.
Festival Director Rolf Probala is delighted that Simon Cowell is the recipient of this special anniversary award. He comments: “The enormous success of Mr Cowell’s formats and his on-screen charisma have made him one of the most important figures ever in entertainment television. It is rare for someone to have the combination of talents to succeed at both, and he is a true star in our global business.”
Simon Cowell is an A&R executive, producer and star of the highest rated television shows in the world. His discerning eye for talent and his candid remarks have made him a household name, as viewers tune in to watch him as judge on The X Factor, Britain’s Got Talent and American Idol.
In 2002 he founded his UK-based media and entertainment production company, Syco, which became a joint venture with Sony Music Entertainment in 2010. With Syco, Cowell was responsible for developing two of the biggest hit TV formats in the world, in the Got Talent and X Factor franchises. He is also the first producer to simultaneously have the No. 1 programme in the UK and the US as Britain’s Got Talent and America’s Got Talent topped the television charts in 2008. Got Talent is Europe’s leading entertainment show and is now airing in over 40 countries.
Britain’s Got Talent has reached record viewing figures of over 20 million. Runner up Susan Boyle became a YouTube phenomenon and has since sold over 8 million copies of her album, ‘I Dreamed a Dream’ with Syco Music worldwide, making her the fastest selling female debut artist of all time.
The X Factor was awarded ‘Entertainment Show of the Year’ at the 2009 National Television Awards in London and is now in its seventh season. Cowell’s shows can be seen in more than 70 countries around the world and recently he announced that he would be launching X Factor on Fox in the USA, in the autumn of 2011.
In 2009, Simon Cowell was named No. 1 in Hollywood Reporter’s Top 50 Most Powerful in Reality TV, and one of Entertainment Weekly’s Top Entertainers of the year. With his own record label, Syco Music, he is responsible for some of the biggest acts of the last decade including Leona Lewis, Westlife and Susan Boyle. Over the last 15 years, his acts have achieved sales of more than 150 million albums, and have had more than 100 No.1 Records. Mr Cowell’s first role as talent show judge was on Pop Idol, which won the Rose d’Or in 2002.
Since 1985, the festival has awarded Honorary Roses to recipients including Benny Hill, Jean-Christophe Averty, Quincy Jones, Monty Python, the BBC, CBC, Tiger Aspect, the EBU, Rudi Carrell, Emil Steinberger, French & Saunders, Ricky Gervais and, last year, George Anthony and Sheena McDonald. Further information on the Rose d’Or Festival and events is available at www.rosedor.com
