Cowell and ITV unite singers and celebs for new talent show

by Sam Matthews, Brand Republic 02-Dec-05, 08:45

LONDON – 'X Factor' judge Simon Cowell is producing a new reality music show for ITV, this time uniting singing legends with celebrities to sing a duet.

'Star Duets', made by Cowell's production company Syco, works along the lines of 'Strictly Come Dancing' but without the foxtrotting.

It will unite singing stars with celebrities who are well known for anything but singing, to perform live in front of a studio audience.

Each week the double acts will be set a musical theme from which they must learn a new song. Like 'Pop Idol', 'X Factor' and 'Strictly Come Dancing', a group of judges will comment on the performance and the public will vote on who did the best job.

According to Cowell the show has already signed some incredible talent.

"We have already lined up an incredible cast for this new show. There may be a few raised eyebrows when we announce who we've got," he said.

Nigel Pickard, director of programmes at ITV, said: "This is a very exciting new format from Simon and the team at Syco TV. The 'X Factor' has defied the odds to bring in even bigger audiences this year than last. We are delighted to be working with Simon on this new project."

The news comes as Cowell and 19 Entertainment owner Simon Fuller have agreed to settle their £100m copyright case out of court. Fuller claimed that 'X Factor' copied his 'Idol' format, which ran for two series in the UK and is about to enter its fifth series in the US.

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