KELLY ROWLAND: $5M WASN’T TOO MUCH FOR ‘X FACTOR’ WINNERS

Kelly Rowland attends the 2013 Television Critics Association’s Summer Press Tour – FOX All-Star Party at the Soho House in West Hollywood

*The grand prize drops from $5 million to $1 million this season on “The X Factor,” a sum Simon Cowell says is a more “reasonable” figure.

“We got to a point where I think the idea was to raise attention, but it almost – this is going to sound crazy coming from me – it was almost too much,” he told TV critics earlier this month. “You know, we want artists who really want to be artists. The prize will be a million dollars, which is still a lot of money. They still get a recording contract with Sony. They become a number one priority. And we think that’s a more reasonable figure now. But, like I said, I don’t very often offer out $1 million recording contracts.”

Kelly Rowland – a new judge this season with singer Paulina Rubio and returning judges Cowell and Demi Lovato – says $5 million isn’t really all that much when you consider the amount of expenses needed to launch an artist from scratch.

“If you start doing the addition in your head as an executive and you think about how much it costs to put together an album, you think about how much the producers cost, you think about studio costs, you think about touring. You think about how much publicity costs, marketing costs, and you are thinking as an executive, it’s about $5 million to actually break them to where you feel like they will actually be successful. So between what, 3 and $5 million, you can break an act and feel like you get radio air play, video play. Honey, it costs to play.”

“The X Factor” returns for its third season on Sept. 11. Below, Rowland tells EURweb about the competition that already exists on the judging panel.