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Mel B confirmed as X Factor judge

Seven today confirmed one of the worst kept secrets in town, that a former Spice Girl will sit alongside Guy Sebastian and Ronan Keating.

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It’s official. Former Spice Girl Mel B is joining The X Factor judging panel.

Seven today confirmed one of the worst kept secrets in town, that the singer once known as “Scary Spice” will sit alongside Guy Sebastian and Ronan Keating for the 2011 season -the third time the brand has aired in Australia.

There is still no confirmation of a fourth judge, rumoured to be Natalie Bassingthwaighte.

Both Kyle Sandilands and Natalie Imbruglia are out of the mix this season.

Mel B, who appeared as a guest mentor in the series last year with much success, is also heavily pregnant and due to give birth in August with a production break planned between auditions and live shows.

“I’m thrilled to be a part of The X Factor Australia,” she said today. “I love Australia and can’t wait to see all the amazing talent the country has to offer.”

Since ending with the Spice Girls, Mel B has pursued a solo recording career with three albums, an appearance on the US Dancing With The Stars, and her own reality show, Mel B: It’s A Scary World.

A first round of auditions wrapped earlier this month.

22 Responses

  1. Lets just hope The Xtra Factor is back and that they get The Garonz to host it, and if Nat Bass is eventually confirmed that she is just the fourth judge. The Xtra Factor just wouldn’t be the same without Garzoni, I tuned in only to see her last time.

  2. David, I’m not knocking the accents or the fact that they’re from overseas. I was responding to the comment about it being time we had some ‘world stars’ gracing our screens when we obviously always have had that and suggestions that very few Aussies were up for it when so many have had success overseas.
    More importantly, I wouldn’t consider Mel B a qualified singing mentor anyway. She was part of a very successful girl band but since then her solo efforts have been quite poor. She is known more for being a celebrity who stays in the news for her antics in her personal life rather than her singing abilities.

  6. J Bar: A lot of those names were already living and working here in other capacities before TV wooed them, including Matt Preston, Gary Mehigan and Dicko. Let’s not drag out the tired old “no Aussie accent = import.” I think Mel B will prove a good choice.

  7. i would like to take some credit for this. can i direct everyone to my comment from March 16, 2011 at 5:21 pm\. in this thread:

    http://tvtonight.com.au/2011/03/x-factor-is-judges-choice.html

    that was just after kyle said he wasn’t returning, and no word on Mel yet.
    just rewatched some of the vids of her on last years show, her performance of Stop Right Now with Altiyan was hilarious, i think the behind the scenes banter between Altiyan and Mel, which was aired during the show played a role in scoring him so many fans and ultimately winning.

    Jbar: short answer; No.

  9. @Steve
    I would pick someone like Kasey Chambers who is a big fan of these types of shows and has a great sense of humour. There’s many more big name Aussies that would be good but I doubt they would do it: Kylie Minogue, Olivia Newton John, Chrissy Amphlett, Missy Higgins, Vanessa Amorossi, Tina Arena, Delta Goodrem.
    @Matt
    I’d say we’ve had more than our fair share of the world stars gracing our screens over the years. All we ever do is import overseas people for Aussie shows, from the days of Bob Dyer, Tommy Hanlon Jr and Don Lane to more recent times with Dicko, Matt Preston, Gary Mehigan and Ronan Keating.

  10. Jeez, I missed that bit about Ms Imbruglia being out of the mix this time. That’s a shame because she added a certain style and elegance to the show. No worries. I’d still pay to see a scrag fight between Mel B and Natalie Bassingthwaighte. 😛

  11. This is awesome like i said when it came out. The best news is no Kyle. He was shocking for this show. He just didn’t fit in imo.

    This is really going to help X Factor too. She is a great asset to this. She was the highlight of last season. I wonder who the 4th judge is. Who’s to say Natalie Bass is going to judge. Maybe she will do Xtra Factor? Don’t get me wrong i love Nat G but its possible isn’t it? It didn’t state exactly what she would be doing and it is a rumour too. Maybe someone completely out of the blue will be announced as the 4th judge, completely unexpected. I am already excited for this season so bring it on.

  14. @JBar- Its about time we have some quality world stars gracing our screens. We should be happy that someone of Mel’s stature would be bothered to even come here. And there are very few Aussies that would have experienced the sort of success that Mel has.

  15. J Bar, of course not. I bet you’d love to see a hack like Molly Meldrum on this show. The network is in touch with what the audience wants, that’s why they’re #1.

  19. I now can believe that this upcoming season will be better then the last will watch thats for sure. Enjoyed Mel B last year and i think she really embraces the concept quite well unlike Kyle who didn’t do anything and seemed bored half of the time glad he is not their even though his opinions were ok during live shows it was the fact that he didn’t participate enough post and pre live shows which was poor.

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