He is a Danish producer, songwriter and judge on X Factor.

What kind of name is Cutfather?
That’s his ‘stage’ name, but his real name is Mich Hedin Hansen.

Where might I have seen him?
If you watch Danish TV, you might have seen him on X Factor where he is returning as a judge alongside Pernille Rosendahl and Thomas Blachman for the second year in a row

But I never watch TV.
Then it’s just as well that he’s mostly known for his music. You might know some of his international hits like ‘Return of the Mack’ by Mark Morrison from 1996, or ‘Superstar’ by Jamelia from 2003. The song even won him an Ivor Novello Awards in 2004 in the category of ‘Most Performed Work’.

I know that song, but wasn’t there some lawsuit involved?
Yeah. The song was originally written for the Danish version of ‘Popstars’ – yet another TV talent show – and sung by a Dane, Christine Milton, but later that year Cutfather and Joe Belmaati released Jamelia’s version, which led to Metronome, the production company behind ‘Popstars’, launching legal action, and in 2011, Cutfather lost the rights to the song.

Too bad. So what does he really know about music then?
Not much. He started as a DJ in the late ‘80s and won both Danish and international mixing competitions, but he doesn’t even play an instrument.

So what’s so special about him?
Nothing really, but he must have some sort of talent since he has worked with artists like Kylie Minogue, Christina Aguilera and the Pussycat Dolls.

How would I recognise him?
He has a very unique way of laughing. Actually it is so characteristic that he got his own ringtone when he was on X Factor the first time, and after only two weeks on the show more than 40,000 Danes had downloaded it

How did this ringtone come about?
The ringtone was actually Australian pop icon Kylie Minogue’s idea. She joked about it while making a quick appearance on one of the first X Factor shows with Cutfather as a judge.