New ‘X Factor’ Ranking System ‘Pisses’ Simon Cowell Off

The X Factor‘s producer and judge Simon Cowell recently voiced his bewilderment about Thursday nights results show in post-show interview with journalists.

According to TODAY, The X Factor‘s results show on Thursday night certainly had its share of surprises, in particular, finding out that country singer Tate Stevens leads the pack of remaining talent in the top 12.

Cowell stated his confusion by saying, “I thought my acts were doing much better than what was revealed tonight, so we do have to change a few things up.”

Cowell also revealed that it was his decision to return booted contestant Diamond White to the stage. This decision was favorable for Britney Spears.

Cowell, however, was not surprised by the last-place finish of Jason Brock. Britney Spears commented on Brock’s last place finish by saying:

“I never believed he had a cat in hell’s chance of winning, he is what he is — a nice guy, a cabaret singer — but he does not have the X factor.”

Simon’s biggest surprise came when he found out that Emblem 3 was not on top of the leader board. After hearing the results, Cowell said:

“My acts are going to need a big confidence boost. Sometimes when you have a record out, you think you’re going to go in at No. 1 but you go in at No. 8. So your second record has to be better. That’s how I treat it.”

Below is Simon’s Q&A session where he discusses the new ranking system for The X Factor and his impression on hearing One Direction for the first time since appearing on the British version ofThe X Factor.

Tell us about the ranking decision. Was that a huge thing to do?

I suggested this about three or four weeks ago. I said what might be interesting is the one thing everyone wants to know — including me — every week, is who won. So I said, “What if we just tell everyone, then see what happens?”

As creator and one of the executive producers of the show, it’s hard to believe you didn’t know the order already.

You know, even last year I had no idea.

Last year we had that great Rachel Crow moment that came out of nowhere. Do you think showing the results will take away from that, the surprise moment?

I don’t know, I think we should try for a couple of weeks, and we can always bring it back in. Certainly it’s the right thing to do this week because now we know where we stand. Particularly for someone like Beatrice Miller, and perhaps Arin Ray, who may have been thinking they were doing much better than they were. They have to change their game plan now.

What was the biggest surprise for you out of that?

I would say Emblem3 not doing better. I thought they would have been top three. But I said this about the U.K. show. When the U.K. show finished, we published the vote results and I thought One Direction was winning every week. We never won a single week. If I had known earlier on, I would have made a change.

They said this was the first time they had performed in front of you since ‘The X Factor.’

It was a blast. Just to see how far they have come and remembering how they were formed in the first place. It could easily been that we said goodbye to them as individuals, but we took a risk with them and they took the opportunity and … now look where they are. I think it was a good example for the other contestants on the show that if you do well on the shows, you can have a massive career when the show ends if you’re smart.

Who do you think has changed the most since the first time you watched them perform?

Zayn Malik. He definitely has more confidence and was the shy one in the group. In fact, he nearly didn’t make it on one of the boot camp days. I had to drag him from the back of the auditorium and say, “You are going to do this.” He was about to walk out. He was just so shy. So to see him, it’s a big difference.

Are there more surprises in store besides the ranking?

I don’t think we can bring anyone else back. But the ranking thing is something we will consider week on week, if we do it or not. It was the right thing to do tonight. And it has pissed me off.

How do you like the new ranking system? Should the show stick with it?