L.A. Reid on The X Factor: "I'm Having a Great Time — Learning a Lot, and I Just Hope Whoever Wins Comes Out of My Category"

L.A. Reid said it plainly: "I'm having a great time. I'm really enjoying the contestants, the judges, the time I've spent with Simon — learning a lo…" — and Premier Guide Miami was in the room when it happened.

On October 20, 2011, FBC Publicity hosted a press call with The X Factor judge L.A. Reid ahead of the show's first live episode, airing Tuesday, October 25th on FOX from 8 to 10:30 p.m. Premier Guide Media's Miller Wallace was on the call and asked the final two questions.

I'm having a great time. I'm really enjoying the contestants, the judges, the time I've spent with Simon — learning a lot. It's everything I hoped it would be. I just hope that whoever wins comes out of my category.

Miller Wallace: As far as the show and how everything is going — is it going as well as you thought it would be?

L.A. Reid: It's going amazingly well. I'm having a great time. I'm really enjoying the contestants. I'm really enjoying the judges. I'm really enjoying the time I've spent with Simon — learning a lot, having a great time — and yes, it's everything I hoped that it would be.

Miller Wallace: I know you don't want to tell who you want to win, but I'm still curious to know.

L.A. Reid: I don't know who's going to win. I wish I knew who's going to win. I have no idea. We have 17 contestants — 17 — and we are a long ways from knowing who's going to win. Seventeen may sound like a small number, but that's a lot of people and a lot of opportunities and a lot of performances and a lot of decisions, and it's going to be really tough. I just hope that it comes out of my category, whoever wins.

His four contestants — and the one he couldn't keep

Reid's category was the Young Males (16–28). His four: Chris Rene ("arguably the most popular contestant in the competition — just really special, a really lovable guy with an interesting voice and an interesting story, and he entered with original material"); Astro ("a 15-year-old rapper who entered doing original material — as far as I know, that may be a first"); Marcus Canty ("just a great singer — I'm moved by talent and I really love his talent"); and Phillip Lomax ("22 years old and so influenced by the era of Frank Sinatra and others — I find that pretty fascinating"). On having to cut to four: "What would have been simple is if I could have had five. If I was Simon and I could have five, it would have been a little simpler. But I can only have four and that's what made it tough — because there were actually five that I really liked." On whether he would have made different choices with Simon's eight women: "I have a very different taste than Simon, so I may have made some very different choices. But Simon is the most experienced guy at doing what we're doing here and I'm actually here to learn and watch and see exactly what he does."

Song selection — 30,000 songs and no karaoke

On how songs are chosen for his contestants: "We spend a considerable amount of time going through material and trying to find things that are sometimes a fit for the contestant, and sometimes a stretch — because in the traditional world of records, there are times when we've forced artists to stretch and they've had their biggest successes. What we try not to do is simply do karaoke. I love music and I love song, so the most difficult thing is I have about 30,000 songs that I go through to try to find — it's insane. I make myself crazy." He confirmed he has final say on all songs performed by his category.

Reality TV versus traditional A&R — and the $5 million prize

On whether talent competitions will replace A&R departments: "The answer is that it's an enhancement because it doesn't replace A&R. If we look at the charts today, the most popular songs in the world are largely made up of artists found through traditional sources. Between X Factor and other talent competitions and things like YouTube, we now have more resources for talent — and as a record executive, what we're looking for are more opportunities to discover talent. So for us, it's only an enhancement, but clearly not a replacement." On the $5 million prize: "First and foremost, it's the talent — the uniqueness of the talent, their reach and their appeal and their ability to deliver material. Yes, we talk about the prize because it's a lot of money — probably the most money anybody has ever won on a talent competition such as this — but for me, the most important emphasis is actually the talent itself." On turning contestants into stars: "Every time we sign a talent in the traditional world, it's a roll of the dice. If there were a crystal ball, this would be a very simple job. We will make every effort to turn some of these contestants into global stars, but no differently than our traditional world of records, it's going to be a crap shoot. I do see talent that I think has the ability to go the distance, but it's going to ultimately be up to the public as it always is." The X Factor live shows began Tuesday, October 25, 2011, on FOX.

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