Well, it looks like sitting on Simon Cowell's lap did her absolutely no good. Khloe Kardashian, according to the New York Post, will not be picked up for a follow-up season to her hosting debut for Season 2 of Fox Television's "X Factor."
“They are asking Mario [Lopez] to come back, but not Khloe,” an anonymous inside source revealed Sunday (Feb. 17).
Perhaps that's because Mario Lopez knew what he was doing. Khloe Kardashian did not -- and never picked it up. It was obvious from the first few moments she was in front of the live television crowd that the tallest of the three K's wasn't a natural (although she tried to show off what was natural, wearing a sheer blouse that sparked as much controversy as her stumbling attempts at doing her job). Nor had she ever had any hosting experience before going on the show.
Kardashian was hired for her celebrity in the hopes that she would bring whatever it is that gets people to watch "Keeping Up With The Kardashians" and "Khloe and Lamar" to the show, which Fox execs have admitted publicly has been a bit of a disappointment ratings-wise. That never happened. The "X Factor" saw a 20 percent drop in viewership over its second season.
L.A. hosting expert Marki Costello, whose credits include coaching Cee Lo Green on NBC's "The Voice," told the Post that a shows eventually have to make the decision: Is this person helping or hurting the series.
“It was really hard for me to watch Mario with her,” she observed. “It made me, as a viewer, almost uncomfortable.”
Still, already into the contract, the show worked with the 28-year-old to hone her skills. But her emceeing was often verging on a caricature of self-centered interviewing. She cut off answers to her questions, often pulling the microphone away from the interviewee in mid-sentence. She asked the same questions again and again. She sometimes spoke far to loud. And there were the instances where she attempted to emphasize her words for effect, only to come off sounding amateurish and not unlike someone talking who is out of breath.
And Kardashian's hiring was controversial from the start. Even when her working the show was just rumored, it wasn't difficult to find as many detractors as supporters for the move. But when "X Factor" was renewed for a third season, betting oddsmakers like Bovada.com even placed odds on whether or not she would return for Season 3 (with the probability falling in favor of her not returning).
One cannot say that many didn't see or predict the ax falling. Even Khloe Kardashian herself feared she'd be fired, but she was most afraid it would be over something she said during a live show.
Prior to going on the show, the outspoken Kardashian told "American Idol" host Ryan Seacrest on his Los Angeles radio show that she was afraid she would say something to get herself fired. She then told him that perhaps she could sit on executive producer Simon Cowell's lap and convince him to keep her on. (She also admitted that she didn't actually know Cowell very well.)
Unfortunately for Khloe Kardashian, what she said was commingled with how she said it, how she presented herself, her timing -- all of which were, when taken as a whole, inadequate for the position.
As the weeks went on and her hosting talents did not seem to improve with practice, she made good on her sitting on Cowell's lap, much to his embarrassment.
But it apparently wasn't enough.
If the source's words are true, "X Factor" might be searching for a new co-host, although Cowell just might settle for the one host formula and keep Lopez in that spot by his lonesome. As it stands, the show also needs two judges, L. A. Reid and Britney Spears having left at the end of Season 2.
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