Simon Cowell Picks His Favorites to Win "Idol"

"American Idol" judge Simon Cowell made an appearance on the Oprah Winfrey show on Monday and finally did what he always does early in the competition - pick four people one of whom he thinks will go on to win this year's reality contest.

In a February "Regis & Kelly" interview Cowell also said he wished he could simply tell the 20 semi-finalists he thought would never win the competition, they could immediately go home.

Yesterday, he went a step further choosing David Archuleta, David Cook, Jason Castro and Brooke White as the possible winners this year. Simon did underline that David Archuleta remains the front runner.

This is
TELEVISIONISTA.Net
Entertainment Exposed

Simon Cowell on Britney Spears: "She Could Have Killed Her Career"

"American Idol" judge Simon Cowell, who is currently doing a new season of Idol-like show "X Factor" in the UK, has spoken about the infamous live performance of Britney Spears at the VMAs on Sunday. Check out what Simon said after the jump.


Cowell joined the chorus of critics who panned the comeback effort by saying:



"It would have been worth pulling her off the bill - no matter what the cost - to save any chance she had of resurrecting her career."



"She wasn't ready for that show in every possible way. The song wasn't right, the image wasn't right and she just wasn't rehearsed."



"If she had turned up and given that performance at the X Factor auditions then I wouldn't have put her through to the next round."



"The problem she has now is that she could have killed her career. It's difficult to come back from that performance, for a while at least."



I personally love the new song, but I think most of us can agree the performance was simply a disaster.

This is
TELEVISIONISTA.Net
Entertainment Exposed

Howard Vs. Simon: The Battle Is On!

Dogfight, dogfight! Controversial radio host and self-proclaimed "King of All Media" Howard Stern, 53, has taken on FOX's blockbuster "American Idol" and decided that the vocally challenged contestant Sanjaya Malakar, 17, should win the ratings powerhouse talent competition.

Stern has urged his Sirius Satellite Radio listeners to vote for Sanjaya no matter how he performs, just to mess with "American Idol" which he claims is not picking real talent at this point.

Simon Cowell, 47, has said he will "quit" and that he "won't be back" if Sanjaya wins Idol, and watches as superior contestants like Stephanie Edwards, 19, get voted off, and Chris Richardson, 22, end in the bottom ranks.

The "Stern Nation" has joined ranks with a website called "votefortheworst.com" which has been encouraging visitors to give their support to the worst singers since 2004, including Scott Savol and Kevin Covais.

Can Sanjaya, who did not even finish in the bottom 3 last week, eclipse his predecessors and go all the way to the top?

This is TELEVISIONISTA

Simon Cowell's Brutally Honest 60 Minutes Interview With Anderson Cooper

Controversial "American Idol" judge and music producer Simon Cowell appeared on last night's "60 Minutes" on CBS in an exclusive and truly amusing interview with Anderson Cooper and said in his trademark brutally honest manner he loves every second of his fame. Cowell also said he regrets rejecting a couple's offer to judge their sex act for $100,000 and called Madonna fading.

One of the most successful producers and executives in the music business today, Cowell explained that the last five years of his life have been the best ever and added he could not see any downside to his fame whatsoever.

Cowell said he never knows which Paula will come to work, whether the normal one or a wacky one, but he finds her interesting and he is not concerned for her health due to rumors of prescription medication abuse.

Responding to allegations of contestant abuse, Cowell said he thought he was doing the most horrible American Idol wannabes a favor, as a kind of a doctor, who helps them realize they are awful and not waste 10 years of their lives.

Simon called Ryan Seacrest a genius and said the host of "American Idol" was very goof at what he was doing and their frequent on-screen conflicts are just battles for attention. He attributed that to his own inflated ego.

Cowell also said he loves, loves, LOVES money, as does everybody, and argued that if Anderson Cooper could stand under a money shower for an hour he would do so.

When Cooper confronted Cowell with allegations that he may have gone too far when he called a season 6 autistic wannabe a "Bush Baby", the judge did admit what he said may not have been the most professional, but on the other hand he was not sure if the producers should have edited the piece out as he does not support censorship and believes in honesty, however insensitive or painful it may come across.

Finally, Anderson Cooper asked Cowell to give "American Idol"-style critique about some of the legends of the music industry:

MICHAEL JACKSON - Jackson from 20 years ago was THE greatest artist of all time and no one will ever be as good as him. Jackson today however is gone and if he were offered to produce him, he would reject the offer because of "too much baggage" that made this former superstar too weird.

MADONNA - Madonna of today is fading. She is not as good as she used to be 10 or 20 years ago. Some of the stuff she does today is still good, but the glory days are over.

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN - He is a genius, but he may have the same problem as Madonna. Cowell doubts the music legend could ever return with a new album and matter as much as he did in the past.

Clips of the interview are available at 60minutes.yahoo.com

VIDEO: Diana Ross on "Idol"
Is Ryan Seacrest Gay?
New "Idol" Sex Scandal

...and more about AMERICAN IDOL

This is TELEVISIONISTA