American Inventor Simon Cowell

American Idol fans throughout the country know him as the ruthless judge on the hugely popular televised nation-wide singing competition. But, there is more to this Sony/BMG music producer than meets the eye. From American Idol to American Inventor, Simon Cowell has demonstrated his knack for producing hit shows and has confirmed his declaration of being “a serial entrepreneur.”

First launched on ABC in March 2006, this show is the latest in a string of reality television series and is based exactly on what its title says – finding the best inventor in America. Whereas American Idol was focused on finding the best singer in the country, the producers of this show wanted to focus more on product creation.

The show is comprised of twelve contestants who are broken down into groups of three, each of which produces one semi-finalist. The semi-finalists then receive $50,000 to improve their invention and bring it to the live final. Here, home viewers watch a 30-second commercial for each product and vote by phone for the winner. The grand prize is $1 million worth of business support, resources and money. Unlike American Idol, here, Cowell does not act as one of the four judges. Instead, his role is an off-screen one, serving as one of the show’s producer.

In the first season of American Inventor, Simon Cowell and his partners awarded the $1 million prize to Janusz Liberkowski, a native of Poland who won for his invention of the Anecia Safety Capsule. A mechanical engineer who now lives in San Jose, California, Liberkowski created a unique safety seat for children following the death of his own daughter, Anecia. In addition to the $1 million, Evenflo gave Liberkowski an offer to manufacture and distribute his product. Liberkowski has eight other patents for previous inventions.

Despite receiving high ratings and being renewed by the television networks for a second season, producers came under much criticism after launching the series. The show and its creator were accused of taking the idea from a previous show called Million Dollar Idea. However, nothing would ever come of the accusations.

Following the success of his second television series, Simon Cowell decided to find out if the third time was also a charm. He created America’s Got Talent, a search for the next best amateur talent act in the U.S. Whereas his two previous shows were talent-specific – singing or inventing – this show is open to a broader base of contestants. Anybody who thinks they have any talent whatsoever, be it singing, dancing, magic, or comedy, can audition for the $1 million prize.

Many viewers of the show argue that with America Inventor, Simon Cowell has done little more than clone the success of his previous venture. It is perhaps the shows biggest irony that in searching for a great invention, it has done little more than copy a formula for success that has worked in the past. Nevertheless, imitator or not, original or not, the show brought in the ratings, proving that this serial entrepreneur’s keen eye for what television audiences want is not far off.



American Inventor Simon Cowell

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