The beginning of this week saw news of Simon Cowell's plan to dominate even more of the charts. The pop mogul is joining forces with Jada Pinkett Smith and her production company Overbrook in the search for the next superstar DJ through a new X Factor style elimination show.

The juggernaut that is X Factor has not only produced successful acts such as Olly Murs, JLS and One Direction but already established artists are now clamouring for a four minute slot on the programme. If you'd have asked Coldplay if they fancied performing on the X Factor five years ago they probably would have politely refused. Last year however, they played during the final in an attempt to flog their new album to as many people as possible.

For better or worse, the Simon Cowell empire has a huge influence on the industry and it's no surprise he wants to expand his control even further. “DJs are the new rock stars” he says, which loosely translated means “I can make an awful lot of money off of this.”

It's clearly a cynical reaction the success of prominent DJs in the charts last year. Calvin Harris produced Rihanna's smash hit 'We Found Love', Skrillex has been nominated for five Grammys and David Guetta barely goes a week without a hit single. 

It's as if SYCO big wigs were locked into a room over the new year and tasked with reclaiming their position at the top of the industry. You can imagine words like 'dubstep' and 'electro' were written onto whiteboards with notes such as 'global market share' scribbled next to them. They obviously did their sums and a new TV talent show was the answer.

But how will a DJ based show fare when it comes to the drama and excitement millions flocked to the X Factor to see? I've been to a few DJ sets over the years and from my experience it mainly involves being quite drunk and shouting “ohhh” loudly like an idiot with your friends whenever a good track is dropped. I'm not sure how well that will translate to Saturday night television when you're sitting next to your nan.

X Factor viewing figures dropped slightly for series 8 but an average of 12 million still tuned in each week to see performances that involved singing – or in the case of Frankie Cocozza 'singing' – dancing and the stage presence of potential future pop stars. Other than some frantic hand movements - DJs tend to be pretty static.

So the question is: how will Simon and co make the show visually exciting enough to capture an audience for a whole series?

Feeling the need to evolve, Daft Punk and DJ Shadow have transformed their art into a visual experience using huge stage constructions and entertaining light and projection shows. We're hardly likely to see anything on that scale for your average wedding party DJ during the early elimination rounds. Maybe they'll turn the contestants' sob stories into a collection of cinematic trailers complete with sex scenes and explosions in order to distract from the mundanity.

The technical aspects of DJing requires a professional presence on the judging panel and, if he is to take a place there, I'm not sure Simon's analytical prowess will quite cut it. If the show is to take itself seriously they will need to encourage a whole host of genres SYCOtv have tended to avoid with a ten foot pole over the years. Otherwise we'll be hearing hour upon hour of David Guetta style euro pop.

If as Simon says, “DJs are the new rock stars” who will next year's new DJs be? It won't be long before we're hearing tag lines like 'classical singers are the new DJs' then 'rappers are the new classical singers' and before we know it 'babershop quartets are the new rappers.' What a show that would be.