Simon Cowell looked fit and showed off his defined goatee on Friday as he stepped out for the first auditions in London amid his search for a new boy band.
The 64-year-old music mogul recently embarked on a search for a group that could rival the success of One Direction, with plans for the search to feature in a Netflix documentary called The Midas Touch.
And as the search for aspiring singers got underway in the capital, Simon looked happier and healthier than ever as he excitedly stepped out of his car ahead of auditions at Shoreditch Exchange.
Dressed appropriately for the sun, the TV star donned a navy blue T-shirt, paired with grey shorts and dark trainers.
The X Factor boss ditched his yellow sunglasses for a trendy pair of aviators, and Simon sported fuller, more defined facial hair.
Simon Cowell looked fit and showed off his defined goatee on Friday as he stepped out for the first auditions in London amid his search for a new boy band.
The 64-year-old music mogul recently embarked on a quest to find a group that could rival the success of One Direction, with plans for the search to feature in a Netflix documentary called The Midas Touch (auditionees pictured on Friday).
Simon beamed as he greeted the hordes of hopefuls who had lined up outside the London venue.
The crowd was in high spirits as they cheered and waved as they awaited their big moment in the sun.
Also present at the auditions was American songwriter and record producer Savan Kotecha, who sits on the judging panel alongside Simon.
Auditions in London will run until Sunday, and Simon insisted in an Instagram post that he and his team will make sure “everyone who auditions is seen.”
Despite the seemingly healthy turnout, it was recently reported that Simon’s quest to find the country’s next big boy band has failed to generate much interest or potential auditions, as the number of followers on the show’s social media accounts has dwindled.
The first round of auditions in Liverpool failed to draw a crowd – onlookers said only 40 people turned up.
And it seems the lack of interest has been felt everywhere, with Instagram pages for the search failing to generate more than 760 followers as of July 19, despite the campaign having launched in early June, though that number has since increased to 1,075 as of August 2.
The figure seems especially disappointing when compared to Simon’s own Instagram account, which boasts 2.3 million followers.
The search for aspiring singers began on Friday in the capital
Crowds of excited fans gathered outside the Shoreditch Exchange amid the auditions.
Simon beamed as he greeted the hordes of auditionees who had lined up outside the London venue.
The crowd was in high spirits as they cheered and waved as they awaited their big moment in the sun.
Also present at the auditions was American songwriter and record producer Savan Kotecha, who sits on the judging panel alongside Simon
Auditions in London will run until Sunday, and Simon insisted in an Instagram post that he and his team will make sure “everyone who auditions is seen.”
While the official accounts for its two biggest talent shows, Britain’s Got Talent and America’s Got Talent, have 1.4 million and 3.3 million followers respectively.
This comes after it was reported that bosses have cast their net wider to find auditionees for Simon’s boy band search, placing an advert on showbiz job site StarNow in a bid to attract more applicants, as well as inviting transgender men to apply.
Simon finally started the audition process last month, but only saw a handful of hopefuls show up in Liverpool.
Despite the seemingly healthy turnout, it was recently reported that Simon’s quest to find the country’s next big boy band failed to generate much interest or potential auditionees.
The music mogul has been on the hunt for the next big boy band with a mission to appear in a Netflix documentary called The Midas Touch.
And it seems the lack of interest has been felt everywhere, with Instagram pages for the search failing to generate more than 760 followers as of July 19, despite the campaign having launched in early June.
One onlooker told The Sun: ‘They started arriving slowly from about 9am on Saturday but the largest number in line never exceeded 40.
‘By early afternoon, the number of people arriving had practically run out, and the same thing happened at the audition on Sunday.
“The number of railings they installed suggested they expected hundreds or thousands of people to arrive and fill the queues, but they had a fraction of that number.”
The figure seems especially disappointing when compared to Simon’s own Instagram account, which boasts 2.3 million followers.
While the official accounts for its two biggest talent shows, Britain’s Got Talent and America’s Got Talent, have 1.4 million and 3.3 million followers respectively.
However, other auditions are believed to have proved more popular and there are plans for further days in London and Dublin in the coming weeks.
It was also reported that in a bid to generate interest, bosses were recruiting TikTok stars and influencers to promote the casting call and were reaching out to several content creators.