‘The X Factor’: Seven Ways It’s Already Different From ‘American Idol’

Last night, Simon Cowell made his much-hyped return to the world of televised talent judging with the U.S. debut of "The X Factor," a competitive singing competition that he created for British TV seven years ago.

Why did he hop off the wildly lucrative "Idol" train for a comparatively risky venture in this increasingly saturated singing competition market? Maybe it was because he missed Paula Abdul, who is once again by his side as his kooky comic foil. Perhaps it's because he created the "X Factor" (Simon Fuller created "Idol") and probably stands to make more money by judging his own series. Or maybe he got fed up drinking Coke and prefers giving himself over to pervasive Pepsi propaganda, which is woven into the DNA of this show.

Whatever the reason, it is good to have the British Grinch back on TV, to see Paula with him, and to have him seated at a table with a judge who is actually as tough on him as he is on hopeful singers—the record executive, songwriter and producer L.A. Reid.

The New Rivalry

Forget Simon vs. Paula: the rivalry to keep an eye on for this panel of judges is Simon vs. L.A. Reid. Reid has tailored the careers of Mariah Carey, Pink, Usher, TLC, OutKast and Justin Bieber, and seems poised to be the perfect counterweight to Cowell.

While others have stood up to Simon in the past, they almost always defer to his domineering personality when it comes to voting. Thankfully, that's not the case with Reid, and his stubborn savvy is what might make this show unique. Although Simon certainly has an ear for traditionally good voices, neither he nor "Idol" have ever really produced a pop talent even close to what Reid has done. Sure, Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood and Leona Lewis are stars, but they're not genre immortals like Mariah, Pink or Usher.
Think of it this way: Reid has given us singers who change the game while Cowell and "Idol" have remained content to add fresh-but-familiar stars to an already crowded firmament. With Reid on board—fighting Simon's disdain for modern sounds and challenging the passing grades Cowell gives to adept but snoozy personas—the "X Factor" just might give us a true American Pop Idol.

Clear-Cut Differences between "X" and "Idol":

1. Singers of Nearly Every Age

While "Idol" currently permits singers between ages 15 and 28 to compete, "X" puts the limit at a tender 12 and has no ceiling for singing seniors. This is probably the most radical change, considering there are a lot of talented "older" singers who merely haven't had that break. For instance, 42-year-old single mother of two Stacy Francis just got around to making a go of her singing career after breaking with a long-time boyfriend who had always discouraged her talent. And when she opened her mouth and heart to pour a lifetime of fragile hope and wounded grace into "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman," it was obvious that certain songs sound better coming from a singer who's had some time to live (unlike the 13-year-olds who boast that they've wanted to be a pop star their entire life).

2. Live Concert Auditions

I've always thought it odd that "Idol" pays to fly people to Hollywood before knowing whether they can hold it together in front of an audience, so making these hopefuls audition in front of 4,300 people is a sensible idea. On the other hand, I have to say I missed some of the intimate banter you only get when the singer is alone in a room with the judges (and camera crew…and bouncer).

3. Groups are Welcome

Although allowing duos and groups to compete as a unit seems like an enormous formula change, it hardly seemed to make any difference during this two-hour audition episode. With the exception of the hipster-y boy band "The Anser," it seemed the more people you audition with, the less screen time you receive on this show. That might change once the competition gets going: after all, during audition rounds, it's much easier to tell one person's story arc than to introduce viewers to four separate personas in 90 seconds.

4. The Pepsi Challenge

Gone are the ubiquitous Coke cups of "Idol." In their place is much-less-iconic Pepsi cup design. On the plus side, the Pepsi sponsorship provided for the evening's best laugh. Referring to the fact that this season's winner will star in a Pepsi commercial to air during next year's Super Bowl, a dead-serious Paula informed us that, "To have a commercial with Pepsi is above and beyond any wild dream that any artist could have." Yeah… shilling soda pop is undoubtedly the creative zenith of any true artist's career.

5. The British Accent Issue

For the first hour, Girls Aloud singer Cheryl Cole was the fourth judge. Then suddenly once the auditions hit Seattle, Pussycat Dolls singer Nicole Scherzinger replaced her. The producers glossed over the fact that they fired Cole four days into auditions, but it probably had less to do with her judging style (she was doing fine) and more to do with her Geordie accent, a distinct Northern British dialect that is simultaneously sexier and less comprehensible than your typical English accent.

I was hardly bothered by Cheryl's speech pattern: I actually found it much more distracting that the host and narrator of the "X Factor" is a Brit. Nothing wrong with Steve Jones, but hearing a foreigner do the voice-overs for an American series is a bit distracting: you expect a British narrator to begin talking about the ring-tailed lemur or the nocturnal hunting habits of the desert fox at any moment.

6. Little Willie Won't Go Home

It would be remiss not to give special mention to Geo Godley, the 42-year-old tie-dyed psychotic who dropped his shiny silver trousers to flop his wiener around onstage whilst singing a self-penned song about being a "stud." Probably because he was a good twenty yards away, Simon let that southern exposure go on at least thirty seconds too long. Clearly not interested in exploring the "X" in "X Factor," a visibly sickened Paula left the theater in protest. Not for the faint of heart:

7. (Breaking!): It got beaten in the ratings by a sitcom.

Yep, "Modern Family" beat it (and so did "Criminal Minds"!) This probably doesn't mean much, but it's still funny.