Iconography of the U.S.

1. The icon I chose that appeals to multiple cultures and parts of the world is the ‘X’ from the hit TV show, “The X Factor”.
2. “The X Factor” is a competition television series that is in search to find new singing talent. There are 4 judges that each mentor one of four categories: boys, girls, over-25-year-olds and groups. The judges cut their categories down to three acts each, and then each week compete in the show with a new theme to the music every week. One person is eliminated each week determined by the countries votes until there is one winner who wins a recording contract with Syno Music. The X Factor started in the US as an their own version of “The X Factor UK”, where the show originated. Simon Cowell created this musical competition show in his home country, the UK, and it had so much success that he thought he would bring it to the US, since he has already helped create and produce other hit American TV shows such as “American Idol”. Cowell partnered up with Sony Music Entertainment and FOX to create the show in the US. The US version of the show aired on September 21, 2011. Currently, the judges consist of Simon Cowell, Demi Lovato, Kelly Rowland, and Paulina Rubio, but have included stars such as Brittany Spears, L.A. Reid, Paula Abdul, and more in the past as well. The famous ‘X’ symbol is in the introduction segment of the show and is shown every time the show leaves for and comes back from a commercial break in all countries where the TV show is aired, so it has become somewhat of a symbol for the show.
3. The show is also shown in countries such as Australia, Armenia, Bulgaria, Chile, China, Denmark, India, Italy, the Philippines, Russia, and Turkey…just to name a few. In other countries the show has been renditioned as “The X Factor: Essence of Success”, “The X Factor: China’s Strongest Voice”, “The X Factor: Battle of the Stars”, or just “The X Factor” with whichever countries name after it. This show has become a worldwide phenomenon and is widely recognized by this symbol.
4. The cultural response to this show is very positive. The reason the worldwide network for this show is so big is because when other countries see the success it has in other countries it makes them want to create their own versions. This show has been a sort of chain reaction because within only a few years the show has spread to over 43 countries and had so much success. The world these days moves at a very quick pace and is always looking for “the next big thing”, and this show not only enables that, but makes peoples dreams come true. The concept altogether is very positive for all involved all over the world.
5. To be honest, I really don’t think you could get more relative that the icon already. The icon is giant ‘X’, which is even in the title of the show, so I can’t think of anything that would be more representative of the show itself. If you wanted to do something that would be widely relevant within each country, an good icon could be the four judges in each country, such as the photo below of the 4 current US judges, but as far as a universal symbol, this is about as relevant as you can get.