Pop Icon Britney Spears, Singer Demi Lovato Join Fox's 'X Factor'

After months of speculation, FOX confirmed that Grammy Award winning pop icon Britney Spears and singer Demi Lovato will be joining the second season of The X Factor. They’ll join the returning L.A. Reid and Simon Cowell as judges on the singing competition series.

Just in case you’ve been living under a rock for the last thirteen years, Britney Spears has sold over 100 million albums (six of which went platinum+ in the US) won countless awards from all sides of the music industry, and was named Billboard’s Best-Selling Female Artist of the Decade for 1998-2008. She is one of the greatest pop icons of the millennium and single-handedly changed the face of pop music a new generation of women. Spears has made noteworthy press for her personal life as well, none of which has any place when it comes to her abilities as a judge. As a pop singer, dancer, and all around tour-de-force, Britney knows what it takes to make it in this industry. She has it – the X Factor – no pun intended.

At the Fox upfronts Britney said, “I am so excited about this whole experience. It’s gonna be so much fun and so different from anything I’ve ever done. I’m ready to find the true star.”

Fellow judge, Demi Lovato, has had a successful career both in music and on television. She got her big break in Disney’s Camp Rock costarring with the Jonas Brothers and later in her Disney series Sonny with a Chance. Like Spears, she has made headlines for her personal life, but has worked hard to triumph over that side of her image. She will definitely garner viewers from a younger demographic, which is probably what Simon Cowell wants.

Lovato was as excited as Britney about the gig, saying, “I am totally stoked to be here because of not only the opportunity to be a judge here but the presence of you guys is just an honor to be standing next to you.”

Cowell is incredibly enthusiastic about the women joining the show and said, “Britney remains one of the biggest stars in the world, she’s talented, fascinating – and I believe she knows exactly how to spot The X Factor. Demi’s had an amazing career in music, TV and film for someone her age. She’s young, confident, and enthusiastic. I think it’s really important that she speaks to our younger audience. The new panel will be dynamic and will work really well with the changes we are making to the show.”

Next season, The X Factor will go up against NBC’s singing competition show The Voice. While it did steady in ratings, it came in second to other competition shows like The Voice and Cowell’s former home, American Idol. So if attention and ratings is what Cowell desires, I think it’s quite clever of him to bring on Britney. Not only is her fan base is huge and loyal, but viewers will also be interested to see how well Britney does as a judge.