Cowell develops new music show for ITV

Hot on the heels of runaway success for the latest series of The X Factor Simon Cowell has announced details of a new music-based reality format he has developed for ITV.

Star Duets, expected to air early in 2006, will unite singing legends with celebrities who are known for anything but their singing to perform duets in front of a live studio audience.

Each week the duo will be set a musical theme from which they must learn a new song for the live show. A panel of judges and the viewers at home will then vote on who did the best job.

The series is from Cowell's production company Syco TV, although it is not yet known whether Cowell himself will serve as a judge on the programme.

"We have already lined up an incredible cast for this new show," said Cowell. "There may be a few raised eyebrows when we announce who we've got. We are all excited at Syco to be working with ITV on this series."

More soon.