On Simon Cowell‘s new Netflix showSimon Cowell: The Next Act, he set out to create the next great boy band. He held auditions in various cities in the U.K., as well as Ireland, and although things got off to a slow start, he eventually had more than 1,000 people audition.
He and his team then whittled the group down to less than 100 people, then to just 16 teenagers who underwent rigorous vocal training and other exercises with some of the best producers in the business.
Throughout the docuseries, more cuts were made until a final group was formed. Scroll down to find out more about Cowell’s new boy band.
Who are the members of Simon Cowell’s new boy band?
Cowell’s new group has seven members. While he initially set out to create a band of five guys, he eventually decided he didn’t want to make any more cuts and capped the number at seven. The band members are: Cruz, 19, Danny, 16, Josh, 16, Seán, 18, Nicolas, 16, John, 17, and Hendrik, 19.
The first three members chosen to be part of the band were Cruz, along with childhood friends Danny and Josh. At that point, there were five other contestants left. Cowell had the singers participate in a photo shoot where Cruz, Danny, and Josh were featured in all the pictures, while the other guys rotated in and out so the team could see who looked best together.
Courtesy of Netflix
During the shoot, Cowell cut Sam. “He kind of looked lost,” the music guru admitted. “Like he didn’t really fit in.”
At that point, there was “no weak link,” Cowell admitted. He invited all of the boys over to his house to get to know them and spend more time with them. After the gathering, he simply couldn’t make any further cuts.
“There’s no way I’m going to lose any of you lot,” he said, adding in a confessional, “I don’t know if anyone’s gonna think I’m nuts or not, but I am gonna own this decision, and I genuinely believe it was the right decision. I really, really do.”
What is Simon Cowell’s new boy band called?
The new band chose the name December 10. “The show drops on December 10,” they explained to Cowell duringThe Next Act finale. Cruz added, “It can be like our birthday, our anniversary. We can do something different [every year]. This year, it’s our Netflix show.”
The group waited with bated breath to hear Cowell’s thoughts, and he kept it simple: “I love it. I love it. I absolutely love it.”
What record label is Simon Cowell’s new boy band signed to?
The boys signed with Universal Music. At their first record label meeting, they “completely clammed up” and blew it. Cowell had to pull them out of the meeting after 20 minutes because it was going so poorly.
Before their next meeting, which was with Universal, the guys bonded by spending time together at Cruz’s house. They came into the second meeting with much more confidence and nailed it.
“We loved hearing the music, and your personalities are just rocket fuel,” an exec told the group. “So we’ve been thinking long and hard about it, and after a lot of thought and consideration, we’d like to make you an offer.”
Simon Cowell: The Next Act, Streaming Now, Netflix
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