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‘The X Factor’ judge Simon Cowell, contestant Carly Rose Sonenclar, and judge Britney Spears attend the season finale news conference on Dec. 17. Cowell wanted "crazy Britney, but he got boring Britney," one source reportedly said.
Oops, he did it again.
“The X Factor” co-creator Simon Cowell is on the verge of firing Britney Spears after just one season in the judge’s chair, US Weekly reported.
"Britney will get the boot," an insider told the magazine. "Producers wanted her for the long haul, but it isn't working."
Spears, who was signed along with Demi Lovato amid much fanfare for the Fox singing competition show’s second season, earned $15 million for her brief critically panned run.
Fellow judge L.A. Reid - a long-term veteran by the show’s standards - already announced his departure to focus on his record label responsibilities.
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It’s been musical chairs on the “The X Factor” - a huge hit in Cowell’s native Britain - since it debuted on this side of the Atlantic in the fall of 2011.
Cowell cleaned house after the first season of the Americanized “The X Factor,” firing judges Paula Abdul and Nicole Scherzinger and host Steve Jones in January.
Sara Jaye Weiss/for New York Daily News
X Factor Judges L.A. Reid, Demi Lovato, Simon Cowell, Britney Spears. ‘The X Factor has been picked up for a third season.
The 53-year-old reality mogul then opened up the purse strings to sign some big, bold names to join him and compete with his former show, “American Idol,” and NBC’s upstart “The Voice,” each of which boasts celebrity singers in the judging seats.
Hiring Spears was considered a particular coup because of the 31-year-old pop star’s troubled history of meltdowns and eccentricities.
Cowell had defended his judge early in the season on a conference call with reporters. She’s been “a lot better than everybody thought,” he said at the time.
But the Dec. 20 second season finale was watched by only 9.6 million viewers, down 18 percent from the first season finale.
Britney Spears/via Facebook
Spears’ bland delivery - her repeated use of the word “amazing” became a running gag for online recappers - didn’t help the “Toxic” numbers.
"He wanted crazy Britney, but he got boring Britney," another source told US Weekly.