Simon Cowell’s Netflix show suffers setback with minimal turnout for auditions

Simon Cowell had originally planned to kick off the search in Newcastle on Thursday.

Simon Cowell's attempt to form the next One Direction seemed unsuccessful as very few aspiring pop singers showed up for auditions.

The music mogul's quest to assemble a new boyband, slated to star in Netflix's series "The Midas Touch," started in Liverpool on Saturday and continued into the following day.

Despite expectations of large crowds at the Albert Dock venue, organizers were met with only a small number of participants, contrasting sharply with the bustling queues seen during The X Factor's peak.

One observer said: “They started arriving slowly from about 9am on Saturday but the biggest number in the queue never amounted to more than about 40.

“By early afternoon, the number arriving had virtually dried up and it was the same story on the Sunday audition.

“The amount of railings they put up suggested they were expecting hundreds or thousands of people to arrive and pack out the queues but they had a fraction of those kinds of numbers.”

Simon, aged 64, had originally planned to kick off the search in Newcastle on Thursday.

However, it was disclosed last week that the two scheduled dates in Newcastle were canceled, citing logistical issues with the travel schedule.

Additional audition days are planned in Dublin later this month, followed by three sessions in London at the beginning of August.