From Us Weekly:
Looks like Britney Spears’ X Factor gig will be a one-and-done kind of deal.
As the new issue of Us Weekly reveals, the “Hold It Against Me” singer is on her way out as a judge for Fox’s hit reality competition, which wrapped its second season on Dec. 20.
“Britney will get the boot,” an insider tells Hot Stuff of the pop star, who joined the show in May, along with fellow newcomer Demi Lovato. “Producers wanted her for the long haul, but it isn’t working.”
One reason? Spears’ $15 million contract, which sources say the low-energy mentor hasn’t earned. “They paid all that for her to say ‘amazing’ and offer half-claps,” a second insider tells Us.
Adds a third source of show co-creator Simon Cowell, who is leading the charge to axe the performer: “He wanted crazy Britney, but he got boring Britney.”
Spears’ firing would be the latest in a long line of departures over the show’s short lifespan. In the space of just two seasons, the series has lost or let go of Paula Abdul, Nicole Scherzinger, Cheryl Cole and — most recently — L.A. Reid, who announced his decision to leave earlier this month.
Spears is likely next on the chopping block, but Cowell, 53, hasn’t always had it out for her. During a conference call in October, he told reporters that she had been “a lot better than everybody thought…She’s very engaged…She has been, I think, a very, very good judge.”
I didn’t watch the show this season, or any season, but I didn’t hear about Britney having a meltdown and setting the judges’ table on fire, so I’m guessing she was a little more subdued than they imagined she would be. And her $15 million contract does sound a little high when you consider that she didn’t deliver that good old fashioned crazy face. But I don’t know, the firing sounds a little extreme. Poor Britney.
Did any of you guys actually see her on the show?
So Britney was fired to make room for Leann.
That would be brilliant and I don’t even watch the show. I would start watching to see those code red level breakdowns. LeAnn might even learn to sing again.
It’s like a reverse “Carrie” moment.
(I mean the horror flick at the school dance.)
Although the public is now more convinced that Brit is a bit nuts- the show is disappointed that she isn’t more insane. They just chew people up and spit them out in Hollywood! Like a piece of gum on a Hollywood star!
Britney has done her time. She needs to cut the leeches loose, grab a man she likes, take her money, and retire.
Agree with Grace….Britney needs to retire and lead a private life. I think it’s horrible that Simon would hire Britney and actually want the ‘crazy’ side. However, Britney barely showed any emotion at all and I had to laugh at the ‘half-clap’ comment. I always called them ‘golf claps’. She never made more than a few word comments about the singers and I noticed that she didn’t interact with them very much either. What I think Simon got was the ‘glazed over’ Britney.
Did I call it or what?
From Taste of Country(one of Leann’s mouthpieces, so this story came directly from Leann herself):
“Country songbird LeAnn Rimes is reportedly back in the running as a possible judge on the reality competition ‘The X Factor.’
According to Examiner.com, the ‘Borrowed’ singer is under consideration to replace Britney Spears, whom insiders are speculating will be released from the show after a generally lackluster performance. The news comes almost a year after Rimes first sought to appear on the show. She met with Freemantle North America, the company that produces the show, last February, hoping to replace either Nicole Scherzinger or Paula Abdul. Spears and Demi Lovato got hired instead, but their presence on the show not only failed to grow its audience, it actually coincided with a 25 percent drop in ratings.”