Produced by Simon Cowell, The X-Factor made its debut 18 years ago in September 2004. The show continues on and since its origins, has created many memorable moments.
In the following, we'll take a look at an emotional moment that caused Simon Cowell to break, something fans are really not accustomed to, given that the host is usual known for giving his harsh opinions on singers. However, this moment in particular caught Simon given that he related to the song and what the singer was going through.
We'll take a closer look at how that all went down, and how Simon felt about the footage making the air. Surprisingly, Simon wasn't against it and embraced the organic moment that saw him get emotional. We'll also reveal what the fans had to say about how it all went down.
Simon Cowell Agreed That It Was The Correct Decision For The X-Factor Producer To Show His Emotional Moment
Simon Cowell breaking down is not something fans are accustomed to seeing on a regular basis. Given his status, Simon could even cut such footage but in this particular moment on The X-Factor, he revealed it was the correct decision to show his emotion.
“They were very cautious about showing the footage to me in the first place for obvious reasons. But then you’ve got to take your personal hat off and put on your producer’s hat, because what happened and it’s not fair on the contestant not to show it."
“You can’t censor stuff like that. In the end I kind of just said to them, ‘I’m OK with it’, but I don’t want to approve anything, I’ll let you make your decision as to what is acceptable and what isn’t."
Simon admitted that watching the footage back was just as difficult. “Then, when I watched it on the show, it was very difficult to watch back, but that’s just what happens when you make one of these shows."
“Of course, it brought it all back. It is a very difficult thing to know what to do. The contestant didn’t know the situation. He wasn’t doing it to make me upset. He sang the song for his own reasons. It was more important that he did a good audition. But it was very raw and it did take me back to the moment, but I think in quite a healthy way. Being upset is a human thing.”
So what exactly happened during the audition? Let's take a closer look.
Josh Daniel's Audition Was A Tribute Towards His Late Best Friend, And The Song Reminded Simon Cowell Of His Later Mother
Josh Daniel sang his own version of Jealous by Labrinth. The moment was especially emotional given that Josh was using the song in his own version as a tribute towards his late best friend. Simon was completely invested into the audition, and got choked up during certain parts. Simon would later reveal that his emotions got the best of him because of his late mother.
"It was quite near when it all happened and I think it was the last audition and I wasn't really expecting what happened."
Cowell also revealed that his late mom was a fan of the show, "She was a huge fan of the show, she loved the show, which sort of made the decision, 'When do you go back to work on something like this?' because it's hard and it really was what I thought she would have said to me which was, 'No 100% you've got to go back to work.'"
It might've been the most emotional audition in the show's history, and a lot of the fans seems to agree.
Fans Praised Both Josh Daniel And Simon Cowell For The Emotional Moment Which Has Over 100 Million Views
The audition has over 104 million views. Similar to Simon, fans felt the audition. One fan in particular credited Cheryl for taking the spotlight away from Cowell during his emotional moment.
"I love what the judge did. Simon was emotional - I read somewhere in the comments that he suffered a personal loss - and she saw that. And decided to protect him by putting the attention on her instead, going on the stage, hugging Josh and giving Simon enough time to collect himself. They have a great working relationship."
Another fan called it one of the most memorable auditions in the history of the show. "This is one of the most masterful auditions of all time! Emotive, brilliant technique and proper stage control. That modulation or key change was epic!!"
Major credit goes to Josh Daniel for putting on such a performance, despite all the emotions involved. It also should be noted that his audition was the last one of the day, just adding to the pressure of his performance. Clearly, he nailed it.
