TV critics in the US have blasted Simon Cowell's decision to axe Cheryl Cole as a judge from X Factor USA after the first episode was aired. Many American journalists who watched the show's opening programme agreed that Cheryl was a better judge than 33-year-old Nicole Scherzinger who replaced her. The 28-year-old singer is shown in the beginning of the first instalment before it was decided she wasn't right for the job. "Ms Cole showed glimmers of being interesting," said The New York Times. "In two seasons as a judge on The Sing-Off on NBC, Ms Scherzinger was a pretty face but, judicially speaking, not much more than a seat warmer." The Chicago Tribune complained: "Scherzinger doesn't come off as an obvious improvement." Cheryl speaks around six times to deliver verdicts before she disappears and is said to have appeared confident, contrary to Cowell's claims she was "bewildered".