L.A. Reid Shares Something In Common With Mariah Carey — Both Hate Judging Music Competitions!
L.A. Reid is not holding back when it comes to sharing his experience about judging on The X Factor USA. It turns out that his experience wasn’t all that grand. In fact, it was the worst thing that the record producer has ever done in his 30 plus years experience with the music industry.
During his interview with the Hollywood Reporter on Saturday, Reid explained his experience on the now-cancelled show.
“It’s the worst thing I’ve ever done. The first season, yes, I had a great time. It was a little bit of a vacation. But the second season I was fully engaged trying to run a label, and it wasn’t fun anymore. And more importantly, it really affected my taste – it almost destroyed it.
It completely threw me off. What works for television isn’t necessarily the thing that works in the traditional journey of music, so I adjusted my taste for television.
But the truth is, I lowered my bar — my bar was quite high, if I’m being honest, and as a result, I didn’t have the same level of success. The bar is quite high again now, but it was damaging. I worked with Simon Cowell, who I love and have great respect for and he has great taste, but being around him for that long, I started to take on his taste, and I’m an amateur at having his taste — I’m good at my kind of taste.”
L.A. Reid said that further details of his experience on The X Factor will be revealed in his new book. He also admitted that he did enjoy working with fellow judge Simon Cowell.
“But being around him for that long, I started to take on his taste, and I’m an amateur at having his taste – I’m good at my kind of taste.”
Ouch! Was that a diss? L.A. Reid quickly took to Twitter to explain that he didn’t diss Cowell in his quotes.
My comments at Midem were about me personally and were not meant to reflect on Simon Cowell, the X Factor, or its successes.
— LA Reid (@LA_Reid) June 7, 2015
@SimonCowell and I are lifelong friends and I have immense respect for his many talents and all that he has achieved.
— LA Reid (@LA_Reid) June 7, 2015
Whew! That settles that then. It appears that Reid and Cowell have nothing but respect for each other, despite their opinionated personalities.
Does this Reid’s interview sound familiar? Mariah Carey recently explained her experience on American Idol. She also said that it was the “worst experience” of her life. Mariah also went on to claim that the reality show was scripted, especially when it came to her feud with rapper Nicki Minaj.
“I’m not going to get into what it was, but let’s just say I don’t think they had any [intentions] for us to have a good experience doing that show. Pitting two females against each other wasn’t cool.”
It sounds like L.A. Reid and Mariah Carey have something in common. Both are vocal about their experiences on music competitions. Reid has also been credited for bring Carey’s career back on track with her platinum selling album, The Emancipation of Mimi. Reports are saying that Carey is going back to Reid’s Sony Music record label, where he worked as chairman since 2011.
Do you think L.A. Reid could revive Mariah Carey’s faltering music career? Share your thoughts below in the comments section.
[Image: David Livingston / Getty Images]
