For every One Direction, there has been a Chico — now Simon Cowell will be hoping his search for new DJing talent will turn up the new Calvin Harris, rather than the voice of hospital radio in Lincolnshire.
The impresario’s new TV talent show, Ultimate DJ, will launch in spring 2016, Music Week reports. Cowell’s business partner in the project, Patrick Moxey, confirmed the news during an event in Ibiza.
Moxey said Ultimate DJ would “give a massive global platform for new and emerging artists” and claimed the show would be “the next step in the evolution of this phenomenon”.
Moxey has extensive experience in this world, as the founder of the EDM label Ultra, which — like Cowell’s Syco imprint — is part of the Sony group. Ultra’s roster includes some of the world’s biggest DJs, including Steve Aoki, Avicii, Calvin Harris, Axwell, Tiesto and David Guetta. Ultra also has experience in marketing its clients visually — its YouTube channel is the 11th most viewed on the site.
Ultimate DJ is to be directed by Hamish Hamilton, who has previously worked on the Oscars and Beyonce’s 2013 Super Bowl half time show, suggesting it will be anything but frumpy, and won’t be concerned with close-ups of DJs toggling faders. It will be produced by Syco Entertainment, Ultra and Yahoo.
Moxey dismissed fears that Cowell’s involvement might be offputting to fans of EDM, insisting he “is an incredibly creative man. When it comes to the show, he wants it to be respectful of the space and he wants us to have the most edgy and the best artists. It’s the same way you would approach trying to have great singers, we’re going to have great electronic artists involved in the show.”
