Things looked all set for Mariah Carey to be a guest judge on X Factor 2011, but that all changed when Hurricane Irene wrecked havoc on those plans. Simon Cowell was forced to find someone closer to LA and it looks like he came up with an even bigger star: Rihanna.

The latest X Factor rumor is that chart-topper Rihanna will guest judge on the show’s inaugural U.S. season. According to TMZ, the singer enjoyed her U.K. X Factor finale performance so much, that she — and series creator/star Simon Cowell — wants seconds.

Rihanna’s reps won’t confirm a booking.

Seems like her reps could deny the booking if they wanted, but we’ll know before too long with X Factor USA premiering in just a few more days. Lets hope Rihanna makes the cut so she can add some fresh, young energy to the show.

Source: Hollywood Reporter

Our friends in the UK will soon get to watch X Factor USA as well. While the USA version is set to premiere on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2011 the new series for FOX will also be airing internationally starting just one day later.

That’s right, the X Factor USA two-night premiere will air each part one night behind in the UK on ITV2 at 8PM on Thursday and 9PM on Friday. The rest of the US season should follow the same one-day-late schedule.

There will be a lot in common between the two variants but still a few changes. The audition age was lowered, likely to compete with American Idol’s own lowered audition age the other year. But the big difference will be in the prize money. While UK’s X Factor awards 1 million pounds, the USA X Factor will be handing out $5 million, allegedly spread out over 5 years at a million each. Still not too shabby!

Are you ready for the premiere of X Factor?

“Right now, I’ve got my money on a girl winning the show,” said Simon Cowell in an interview with Yahoo! TV covering the advance premiere of his new X Factor show. Simon also goes on to discuss what kept him from being quite as cruel as we grew to expect on American Idol. Give his interview a watch below and see what you think.

X Factor premieres Wednesday, September 21st at 8PM ET/PT on FOX.

The comparisons will be unavoidable: is The X Factor as good as American Idol? Or possibly more important, can it be better? With Simon Cowell at the helm of this new singing competition show the audience will be looking to rekindle what he took with him when he left American Idol more than a year ago.

So what makes X Factor USA different from American Idol? Why can it be as good as the dominating force he formally supported? Well it doesn’t seem to be too easy to put in to words, even more Simon himself:

“I think you’ve just got to discover it for yourself, because it’s very difficult for me to put into words why it is different,” Cowell says. “The audiences will work out for themselves why.

“In a broader sense, it is what I think is true reality. It’s very raw. You’re going to see stuff you haven’t normally been allowed to see before.”

Yikes. Don’t get me wrong. I’m pretty excited for this new series. There’s a lot of hype riding on its back. But when you know the comparisons are inbound, seems like you’d be ready to tell us how it stands apart.

I guess we’ll just have to wait and see when X Factor 2011 premieres this Wednesday for back-to-back nights this coming week.

Source: USA Today via Reality Blurred

X Factor USA is less than two weeks away from its 2011 premiere on September 21st. FOX isn’t wasting anytime hyping the show as we get closer and closer.

Check out the extended, 8+ minute video below and see if you’re ready for the new series from Simon Cowell to get started.

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