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U.S. "X Factor" to offer large record deal for winner

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) – Acerbic British music judge and entrepreneur Simon Cowell said on Monday that the winner of the first U.S. version of the television singing competition, "The X Factor," will receive a $5 million record deal.

The new talent show on Fox television will start auditions for solo artists and vocal groups aged 12 and above in Los Angeles on March 27 before hosting more auditions in Chicago, Dallas, Miami, New York, New Jersey and Seattle.

Cowell said the winner would receive a record deal with Syco, a joint venture between Sony Music and Cowell, and the same label tied to Scottish singer Susan Boyle.

"We are going to put our money where our mouths are with the $5 million recording contract. I'm doing this show in America because I genuinely believe we can find a superstar," Cowell said in a statement.

Britain's "The X Factor", which launched in 2004, won the talent show category at Britain's National Television Awards two weeks ago beating "Britain's Got Talent."

(Reporting by Christine Kearney, editing by Patricia Reaney)