Simon Cowell: Special Award 2010

Simon Cowell, award-winning TV personality, entrepreneur, music mogul and outspoken talent show judge has scooped a special BAFTA.

Cowell was recognised for his outstanding contribution to television entertainment and commitment to finding exciting new talent at our Television Awards on June 6, 2010.

The two shows he created, The X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent, have reinvented Saturday night family TV. Winning 19 million viewers each in 2009.

They’ve won over global audiences too, making him an ambassador for British television. Britain’s Got Talent was the fastest-selling TV format worldwide at the end of the noughties. By 2010 it was shown in over 40 countries while The X Factor airs in 26 so far.

In music, as well as TV, Cowell instinctively understands how to make mass audiences happy. The first acts he signed to his label, SyCo Music, included popular names like Sinitta, Robson & Jerome and Westlife. So far he’s sold more than 150m records worldwide.

Meanwhile, his TV shows have helped discover stars like multiplatinum-selling Alexandra Burke, chart-toppers JLS and last year’s Britain’s Got Talent runner-up Susan Boyle. Boyle might have lost out to Diversity, but she still notched up an impressive 500 million YouTube views and shot to number one with her debut album in 21 countries.

“His shows enable exciting new talent to shine and are the most talked-about programmes on British television. He is quite simply one of the most brilliant entertainment producers of our time.” – BAFTA Television Committee Chair John Willis.

Cowell’s TV breakthrough in front of the cameras came when he appeared as a judge on the first series of Pop Idol in 2001. The show was an instant hit, with audiences drawn to the battle between rival singers Will Young and Gareth Gates.

As a judge he’s infamous for his put-downs. He told one contestant: “If you win this competition, we will have failed.” Another was asked: “Let me throw a mathematical dilemma at you – there are 500 left, how come the odds of you winning are a million to one?”

In March 2010, his appearance on Piers Morgan’s Life Stories brought the chat show its highest-ever ratings. Cowell told Morgan he always wanted, “to be more successful than [the] competition. And the day that stops, you have to stop doing this for a living –you have to have that drive.”

A BAFTA Special Award is one of the academy’s highest honours. It recognises an outstanding contribution to film, games or television. You can see more award winners in our Awards database.

For more inspiring stories from the world of film, games and TV explore our BAFTA Award Stories section.