Is Whitney Houston Heading to The X Factor? Seattle Post-Intelligencer Copyright 2012 Seattle Post-Intelligencer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Published 07:35 a.m., Saturday, February 11, 2012 Simon Cowell sounds off on X Factor shakeup Houston could take one of the places vacated by Nicole Scherzinger and Paula Abdul, who were fired last week along with host Steve Jones. L.A. Reid signs contract for Season 2 of The X Factor Cowell has already shot down reports that Beyoncé, Elton John and Mariah Carey are on the short list of candidates, but he has not mentioned Houston, who performed on the U.K. version of X Factor in 2009. Related Articles on TVGuide.com Simon Cowell sounds ...