American Idol has become one of the biggest shows in Television history, launching people from obscurity to international fame in just a few short months. It could easily be argued that many of these people may never have been able to pursue their dreams if it hadn’t been for the show. Stars like Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Daughtry, Kris Allen and Jennifer Hudson may have never seen their dreams become reality. The biggest star of the show, however, has to be Simon Cowell.

The music mogul, who was previously best known for launching Westlife’s career, was first seen as the nasty judge on the British version of the show, “Pop Idol.” When Fox decided to bring the show to America, they knew that Cowell was a key factor in the show’s success. When Idol launched on American television, Cowell become a house hold name, the judge people loved to hate.

This week, Cowell officially announced that he would be leaving American Idol after his ninth season with the show. He will be launching his own talent show, X Factor, in America. The show has already proved popular in Britain, with Leona Lewis being its biggest success story to date.

The big question on everybody’s mind is what will happen to the show now that its star is leaving. The show has yet to see what effect the bubbly Paula Abdul’s loss will have, never mind its leading man. Although Paula was a big loss to the show, her replacement, Ellen Degenerous, is someone many people are looking forward to seeing. But with Simon Cowell gone, can the cash cow hold its already diminished audience?

I tend to think that if the X Factor import is a success, American Idol may be brought to a close. Fox, realising that the two shows can’t compete, has cleverly pushed their dates as far apart as possible. But how many talent shows does America need, or more correctly how many does it want? Only time will tell.

Marc Williams