Neil Tennant Blasts Simon Cowell | The Quietus

Neil Tennant Blasts Simon Cowell

He attacks "narrow" palette of reality telly shows

Pet Shop Boy and all round good egg Neil Tennant has launched a swingeing attack on Simon Cowell and his sinister kecks.

Revealing that he’d only tuned into X Factor because Cheryl Cole was a judge, Tennant complained that the show was "basically people singing Whitney, Mariah and maybe Elton. Why don’t they have, say, a new-wave week? Or 80s electro week? If it’s not power ballads then it was a narrower version of disco. What bugs me is that Simon Cowell’s idea of pop music is so narrow."

He added that Pop Idol was no better, and pointed out that even Basildon’s pop leviathans Depeche Mode were not considered fit to cut the mustard: "I remember on Pop Idol, Pete Waterman told someone, very sympathetically, ‘The thing is, you’re more of a Depeche Mode kind of artist.’ In other words, ‘What are you doing here, pet?’

Don’t Miss The Quietus Digest

Start each weekend with our free email newsletter.

Help Support The Quietus in 2025

If you’ve read something you love on our site today, please consider becoming a tQ subscriber – our journalism is mostly funded this way. We’ve got some bonus perks waiting for you too.

Subscribe Now