Simon Cowell's quest to discover the next big boyband, aiming to replicate One Direction's success, is off to a sluggish start.
The music mogul's latest venture is being chronicled in a new Netflix series, The Midas Touch, inspired by the Greek myth where King Midas turns everything to gold.
The Britain's Got Talent judge has even plastered billboards with his face and the message: “Simon Needs You. Future megastars wanted for a new boy band. No timewasters.”
Cowell was the king of the talent shows from his days as boss on The X Factor, which aired from 2004 to 2018. He would routinely attract massive crowds eager to impress him.
But despite the large billboards, the turnout for the weekend auditions in Liverpool was underwhelming.
At the Albert Dock venue, photos obtained by The Sun showed sparse queues with numerous railings set up in anticipation of a larger crowd.
“They started arriving slowly from about 9am on Saturday, but the queue never had more than around 40 people,” a source told the publication.
“By early afternoon, the numbers dwindled, and it was the same on Sunday. The amount of railings suggested they expected hundreds, if not thousands, but the turnout was much smaller.”
However, the show must go on and auditions are set to continue in Dublin later this month and three in London in August.
Additionally, a team has been scouting potential stars and inviting them to participate.
Cowell said that since One Direction, there “hasn’t been a successful boy band,” a statement that some contest, pointing to the success of Korean groups like BTS and Seventeen.
“Right now, record labels aren’t signing enough new talent,” Cowell told the Daily Mail.
“The number of UK artists breaking worldwide has significantly decreased due to the high competition online. People don’t come to you with a new band; you have to go out and find them yourself. So that’s what we are doing.”
Meanwhile, former X Factor co-star Nicole Scherzinger, who helped form One Direction, is reportedly involved in a competing boyband search show.
