Cowell bought a $25 million dream home in L.A. and has since done some major renovations and put forth some big changes to make it perfect. His home measures out to an impressive 12, 000 square feet. It features a cinema with leather seats and a beautiful pool equipped with a sound system, palm trees and turrets of fire along the sides.

He’s also gotten a staff of workers to look after the place and to serve guests when they arrive. Simon predictably calls the place “Chateau Cowell.” A place fit for a king, I guess! He told his Britain’s Got Talent co-host, Piers Morgan, "Nice, isn’t it? I’m so happy. It’s the first time I’ve felt properly happy since I came to Los Angeles."

Are you guys jealous yet? Because I certainly am! It’s great to hear that Simon seems to be really enjoying himself with this new home. It’s important to have a place where he can just relax with the busy schedule that he has.

Image: Bauer-Griffin

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What a difference a couple years can make!  Simon wants her to perform on the X Factor finale and Beyonce is willing to put the past behind her and oblige the request.  The believe that the mega-star can really improve the ratings when the show ends for the season on December 13, 2008. 

Image © 2007 FOX BROADCASTING CR: FOX

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If anyone thought American Idol judge, Simon Cowell, would be at home wallowing in self-pity following his split from Terri Seymour, they were sorely mistaken. The outspoken Brit recently told News of the World the following: “You know the best thing about being single? Those late night calls I don’t have to make anymore, like: ‘Darling, I’ll be late home again.’ I don’t mean to sound horrible to Terri but I’m having a great time being single. It’s really good fun.”

Wow!  I guess he can stay out however late he wants now but I personally enjoy having someone to come home to.  Don’t you?

It wasn’t all bad.  He said that he and Terri still talk (and “always will”): “It was sad when Terri and I finished but now I get to do what I want, which is brilliant. I don’t want to settle and get married and don’t think I ever will. I work hard and enjoy life as it is.”

In related news, ex-girlfriend, Sinitta, with whom Simon has recently become closer with described him as being “over 11 out of 10 in bed.” 

The man sure knows how to make an impression…

image: Newscom

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Earlier this fall, Nigel Lythgoe announced that he would no longer be serving as the executive producer for American Idol. 

Now, it seems he has issued a public warning for Idol judge, Simon Cowell, in light of some of the changes that are taking place on the show.  Recently, it was revealed that Idol would be adding a fourth judge, Kara DioGuardi.  Lythgoe doesn’t agree with this decision: "I don’t like fourth judges," Lythgoe said. "I think once you’ve been told ‘You suck,’ you don’t need to be told another three times…. I think she’s a lovely lady, and I think she’s relevant and up to date, but, personally, I would never have done it."

Ummm… my first thought was that I see fourth judges all the time on Lythgoe’s other show, So You Think You Can Dance.  He appeared to realize that people would think of that too since he added: "We’ve had lots of fourth judges, as guests, which was OK for me because they would be in one show and then you get rid of them the next."

I have to say that there are four judges on both Australian Idol and Canadian Idol (maybe even more of the spinoffs around the world?) and it has worked just fine. 

Lythgoe also had some words of warning for Simon regarding his role on the show (since Nigel has left, he’s become more active in the behind-the-scenes work).  Here’s what was said: "Simon has got a very good sense and awareness about him but he’s never produced anything on television.  As an executive producer, he can be an adviser and I think that’s fair enough because he knows what he’s doing. But at the end of the day, you have to leave it for the producers to produce, because if you’re in it, you’re seeing it from a completely different perspective and he’s going to need to realize that.  Sometimes you can’t see the woods through the trees and you tend to lose the most important thing, which is so often forgotten: common sense."

Ouch!  What do you think?  Will the show suffer if Simon takes a more active role in the production?

image © 2008 Fox Broadcasting Co. Cr: FOX

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American Idol judge, Simon Cowell, has been having some problems with a co-worker on his British talent show, The X Factor.  Apparently, he and Dannii Minogue (the sister of Australian singer, Kylie Minogue) have been feuding for some time which has caused her to worry about her place on the popular show.  Fortunately, it looks like her fears were unfounded since Simon has assured her that she will be returning next season.  That didn’t stop Dannii from voicing her opinions:  “this year has been very emotional and I admit I’ve struggled to deal with it all, especially with Simon, who is the biggest diva on the show.  I guess Simon and I don’t talk much any more, definitely nothing like last year, when I was next to him on the panel and was also the new girl. He moved me away from him… It is a snub but I’m fine.” 

Sometimes we are paranoid and maybe read into things too much but, in this situation, even Sharon Osbourne (also a judge) said that she believed Simon only hired Dannii because “he fancied her.”  Ouch!

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“The secret of my success is that I make other people money,” he said. “And, never ever, ever, ever be ashamed about trying to earn as much as possible for yourself, if the person you’re working with is also making money. That’s life! The more they’re making, the more money I want.”

For his American Inventor winner, who will take home $1 million, Simon has certain expectations – they must make a product that he thinks is worthwhile. “You’ve got to relate to the product,” he said. “Something where you go: ‘God! I wish I’d invented that.’”

Last year’s winner invented a baby car seat which spins in a crash, lowering the impact on an infant.

“Its gonna take a long time to get it manufactured because you’ve got to go through obviously, tons of safety checks, and the government gets involved, but it will go on the market,” Cowell said. “And I believe when it goes on the market it will save thousands and thousands of lives. So, it’s fantastic!”

He is not as enthusiastic about some of the other submissions he has seen. “We even had a guy who had to be escorted out by security this year, who came in with the best invention in the world and when we asked him what it was: it was the wheel,” he said.

One of the show’s four judges is boxing legend George Foreman, who didn’t invent the famous grill that bears his name. But his heavyweight endorsement earned him a reported $150 million.

If Simon were a contestant on this show, he knows what he’d bring in as his invention. “I’ve invented good shows, and I think that when you invent TV shows, it’s a very similar process,” he said. “You’ve got to get it financed, then you’ve got to get it made. Then you’ve got to make it popular. They’re all inventions, aren’t they?”

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In an interview with Goof Morning America on Thursday, Simon tells Britney to “go home to your family.” I’d say that some good sound advice. He also says that Brit-Brit is still able to say her career because she is “still one of the most talked about pop stars on the planet. She has the X-factor because people want to write about her. She’s not conventional, she’s not normal.” He adds, though, that Britney “can’t handle the tension and the pressure.” His advice? “Lock the door, don’t go out with your stupid friends, have some home-cooked food, get a sense of reality, go lie in the garden, okay? And then say to yourself, ‘There’s more good in my life than bad. I’m still a rich, talented girl – now I want to get my career back on track.’ End of story.”

HERE’S WHAT HE THINKS ABOUT WHO SHOULD HAVE WON…

Simon went on to say that “Jordin was the most improved over the whole season. She didn’t start the best but midway through, this was the girl who suddenly got momentum.”

But…

“Melinda should have won,” he says. “She tried the hardest, was consistently the best and had the best voice. I think about it now – whether I should have endorsed her as much as [I did],” he says. “I think it was the right thing to do.”

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I was happy to read this interview with American Idol judge Simon Cowell because it pretty much sums up how I have been feeling. I have no idea who will win this and neither does he! He told People magazine that he thinks “they both have different strengths. One’s a better entertainer and one’s a better singer, so I think it will be down to what they do on the night.”

On Finale Predictions
“I think they will both chose their favorite song from what they’ve done over the past 11 weeks – and I’m hoping Blake will do the Bon Jovi song because I thought it was his best performance. And I don’t know what Jordin will do.”

On Fighting with Ryan
“It’s rather like having a silly little dog who wants to jump up on your lap and you just swat the dog off. Occasionally in a very stern voice you have to say ‘no.’ And that’s how I deal with Ryan.”

On Melinda’s Next Stop
“I don’t think she should try and compete with too many of the R&B artists out there at the moment. I think she’s more of a throwback to people like Gladys Knight and Tina Turner. And I think she should play to her strengths.”

On Contestants Talking Back
“I encourage it. I don’t think they do it enough because I think they all think they’re going to be voted off if they’re rude to me. I think it’s the opposite. I think the more rude they are to me, the more votes they’ll get. I think off camera they’re going completely nuts complaining about me. Then on camera they’re just smiling and I don’t understand that. I think it should be two-way. If I’m rude to them, they’re more than entitled to be rude to me back.”

On Sanjaya Fever
“I would never want to be in a situation where we cast the 12 as just normal people because I think it would be boring. The panel is wacky enough and therefore I think the contestants should be a bit strange as well. And I thought the whole Sanjaya thing was hysterical. I’m happy now because he’s out. I don’t think I’d be happy if he was in the finals, so I can now be quite smug about it.”

On Kelly Clarkson’s New Record
Kelly Clarkson is not an artist who’s in it for the money. She has a lot of integrity and this is a record she wanted to make. And I admire her for that. … It’s not as commercial as her last record, but any Kelly Clarkson record at the moment is a pretty good record compared to the competition because she’s an incredible artist.

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Kelly Clarkson is getting a little support from the man who helped her get her start. Simon Cowell, in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, weighed in on the controversy surrounding Kelly’s new album, My December. Here’s part of what he had to say:

”Kelly is not a puppet; she does not like to be told what to do. She could have gone the easy route, which is, you go with ['Since U Been Gone' producer] Max Martin — it’s a guaranteed success. She made it absolutely clear that she wanted to steer the musical direction on this record. You just gotta say, ‘You know what? This girl has given us millions and millions of sales.’ You’ve got to give her that opportunity. If it works out, fantastic. If she then decides she wants to do a pop album, every good writer and producer wants to work with her. Because Kelly will be here for 30 years. She has one of the best pop voices in the world right now. What she sold in the U.K., Europe, Asia had nothing to do with American Idol. It had everything to do with the fact that she made a great record and she’s got an incredible voice. She’s not a girl who got lucky in a talent competition; we got lucky to find her.”

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