Pop Idol Judges

Simon Cowell

Pop Idol has made Simon Cowell one of the most famous men in Britain. His fame even extends arcoss the Atlantic were his cutting remarks and abrasive style has had viewers of American Idol transfixed!

In the last 10 years he has sold more than 60 million records and had 25 number ones with acts such as Christina Aguilera, Westlife and of course, Will Young and Gareth Gates.

Simon Cowell alongside former Spice Girls manager Simon Fuller, conceived and developed Pop Idol as a TV format and have gone on to sell it throughout the world. Simon is also head of A & R at RCA records and also has his own record label S Records.

Pop Idol Judges

Pete Waterman

Pete has been working in the music business since the mid-fifties when he began DJ'ing at friends parties. His reputation flourished and pretty soon, bands like The Beatles and Fleetwood Mac were asking him for advice.

He became a huge name in the 1980s when he collaborated with Mike Stock and Matt Aitken. Between them, they revolutionised pop music and discovered artists like Kylie Minogue, Jason Donavan and Rick Astley.

He now heads his own company, PWL which has recently produced hits for artists like Steps and Westlife. In addition to Pop Idol, he appeared on ITV1's Popstars -The Rivals and managed one of the bands to emerge from the show One True Voice.

Pop Idol Judges

Nicki Chapman

Nikki made her TV debut with Popstars, the show which launched Hear Say and later Liberty X. She has since appeared on Pop Idol and Popstars-the rivals and has become known as one of the more sensitive judges on the panel.

Nicki started her career in the music industry as a publicist, promoting acts like Take That, Kylie Minogue and most famously The Spice Girls.

For the past eight years she's worked with Simon Fuller, the Spice Girls former manager, and is now Creative Director at his company 19 Management. 19 Management not only promotes and manages music acts but also produces TV shows, such as Pop Idol.

Pop Idol Judges

Neil Fox

Neil Fox, or Doctor Fox as he¹s known, began his broadcasting career in 1986 working for Radio Wyvern before moving on to 208 Luxembourg and then finally on to Capital Radio where he still works today.

It was while at Capital Radio that Neil really started to make a name for himself and eventually he moved into TV presenting.

It was while fronting the Pepsi Chart show, on Channel 5, that his face became familiar to millions of viewers and as well as appearing on this year's Pop Idol judging panel he also presents his own drive time radio show.