Really, why do they consider anyone else? Former Idol producer Nigel Lythgoe confirmed to the Hollywood Reporter that no one is better suited to replace departing judge Simon Cowell than Elton John (”he’s absolutely it“). Though we understand the logic behind such rumored frontrunners as ex-Sony head Tommy Mottola and Madonna manager Guy Oseary, we have to agree with Nigel. Mottola and Oseary may bring industry respect, they’re mostly famous for respectively marrying Mariah Carey and letting Madonna release “American Life.” John is a trash-talking British sweetheart (we like those) who could probably use an excuse to get off the road, and his star power could keep Ellen DeGeneres from being Idol’s Cousin Oliver. Plus he’s pals with the other judges—even Simon, as proven by their goofy photo ops in the gallery below.
Would you like to see Elton take Simon’s seat on Idol? Let us know in our TheFABLife poll.
First British tabloids saw the ring the Simon Cowell gave girlfriend Mezhgan Hussainy, then Simon’s publicist denied they were engaged. But Hussainy soon confirmed the engagement, and now we’ve seen the rock for ourselves as the pair traipsed around Beverly Hills this weekend. If that isn’t an engagement ring, Simon might want to suggest she find a different finger to put that mammoth diamond on—unless he loves how much we’re talking about it.
See Hussainy’ ring and many, many more in the celebrity engagement rings gallery below.
Despite the alleged appearance of a diamond ring on Mezhgan Hussainy—and our desire to see the confirmed bachelor eat his words—it was hard to believe rumors that Simon Cowell proposed to the make-up artist on Valentine’s Day after only six months of dating. After all, ex Terri Seymour tried to tie Simon down for six years before giving up. Now the Idol/X-Factor overlord’s publicist Max Clifford has gone and burst the gossip balloon. “I spoke to Simon in London yesterday afternoon, just before he took his flight back to LA,” Clifford told Us. “I asked him: ‘Look, are you engaged? Is it true?,’ and he said, ‘No! No. I’m not engaged.’”
“Yes, they are they an item,” pal Clifford tells Us. “Yes, they’re happy. But they’re not engaged. That’s straight from Simon’s mouth.” Thankfully, Simon’s mouth said far sweeter things to Piers Morgan on British TV last night. “I think she’s the one…She’s very special. You know when you’ve found somebody very special.” Hopefully, someone will perform “Single Ladies” on Idol this year and give Simon a hint.
Simon Cowell has said he’d be a bachelor for life, but multiple tabloid reports suggest he’s changed his mind. The Sunspotted a diamond on the ring finger of Mezhgan Hussainy, American Idol make up artist and Cowell’s alleged girlfriend of six months, following a Valentine’s Day dinner at Mr. Chow’s in London. Meanwhile the Mirror has an account of the infamous Brit giving the ring to Hussainy that night, with their dining partners hollering and clapping their approval.
“Simon may come across as Mr Nasty on screen but he’s a big softie at heart, says the Mirror’s source. “He wanted to do something unexpected and out of character on Valentine’s Day and decided to splash out on a ring. [Hussainy] was speechless and gave him a huge kiss. He is besotted with her, and she him.” Cowell hasn’t admitted anything yet, so it’s possible this whole affair was just a fraud to get some complimentary champagne. But we can’t wait to watch him blush if it turns out to be true!
See photos of the alleged bride-to-be in the gallery below.
We already heard that Ellen DeGeneres and Simon Cowell argued after the departing judge showed up an hour and a half late for her first day at Hollywood week, and a new report says the pair continue to “lock horns” on stage. But on the eve of her first episode, which airs tonight, Ellen has been quick to frame their disagreements in a positive light. “Everyone’s making such a big deal of the tension, but there’s been a lot of fun on that panel,” she said on Ryan Seacrest’s radio show. “I think he’s a funny guy. I like him on [the show this] Wednesday. I like him on one day, I can’t remember which. He’s going to be a challenge. He’s Simon and I’m me and we’re two different people. We’ll see how it goes.”
Not that the producers aren’t willing to exploit any drama. In an interview on the show’s website she’s even quoted saying Cowell is “actually meaner than I thought. It’s hard to listen to him tell people things and for me not to go, ‘You poor thing!’” Maybe painting him as an ogre will keep fewer fans from fleeing after he bolts for his own show, The X Factor, next year. At the very least, expect to hear more coherent sentences from her chair tonight than you did all of last season from Paula Abdul.
While American Idol’s producers refuse to discuss the possibility of Howard Stern replacing Simon Cowell with reporters, tabs are taking the shock jock’s acknowledgment that he’d consider doing the show as confirmation they’re in talks. “There’s not a better job on the planet than judging a f—–g karaoke contest,” he said on his Sirius radio program Monday, adding that he’d “tase” Ellen DeGeneres if she danced and “smack Randy Jackson’s belly every time he opens his dopey mouth.” Bet they can’t wait, Howie, but what do you think of previous winners? ” I wouldn’t even put through that good looking kid who won, that Kris Allen. He never would have even been through…Carrie Underwood, I would’ve told her to lose weight…Hey Fantasia…little boys are scared that you are going to sit on them. You’re out. Honey, you look like you stepped out of a Haitian earthquake.” Tasteful! While his arrival might make for some must-see TV, we can’t help but wonder if Ellen will be enough of a chuckle factory for everyone involved.
So who will take Simon’s seat if not Fartman? Unless Simon Fuller is truly determined to replace seasoned music veterans with professional comedians, it’s more like to wind up an exec like former Sony Music honcho Tommy Mottola or Madonna manager Guy Oseary, whom a New York Daily News source puts as the front-runner. “His competition just can’t live up to his level of experience, and the people behind the show are slowly starting to realize it…People really only know [Mottola] as Mariah Carey’s big bad ex.” Hey, at least that’s something, though! The only music CEOs with name recognition tend to be rappers, and we haven’t heard Diddy’s name tossed around for a while.
You could be forgiven for assuming Simon Cowell’s upcoming American version of his hit British talent show, The X Factor, won’t be any different than the show he’s leaving, American Idol. But “Under Pressure (Ice Ice Baby),” the debut video from Jedward, twin brothers who made it to week 7 on the UK series’ 2009 season, makes painfully clear Simon’s program will offer more than just wanna-be Kelly Clarksons and Kris Allens. Along with the young solo dreamers we’re used to, The X Factor lets a number of older singers and groups compete as well. Imagine, on American Idol, these guys would have never been allowed to sing together, denying us the sight of two massive pompadours bouncing to a mash-up of Queen and Vanilla Ice (who raps in the video as well). Who knows what freaks Simon will find in America once he doesn’t have to play by Idol’s rules? You’ve been warned.
Get a better look at the magic that is Jedward in the gallery below.
Fans of the fight between Kara DioGuardiand guest judge Katy Perry onAmerican Idol earlier this week, take hope. The “I Kissed A Girl” singer says she’d love a permanent place at the show’s desk. “If I was offered that job as a permanent host, I would ditch my career and take on that career,” she toldMTV News. “American Idol was great fun. It was so easy. I didn’t really make anybody cry, but I did tell the truth to some kids that might have needed to hear it.” Hmmm, while producers are allegedly shopping for more of an old-record-company-dude type like departing judgeSimon Cowell, we’re sure Randy Jackson wouldn’t mind being the only dude on set. And hey, you could always replace Kara, right?
Not that you have to worry about any bad blood between the ladies. “People actually think that I was upset by this, like there was tension,” DioGuardi told Idol host Ryan Seacrest’s radio show this morning. “I think that it’s really good that she disagreed with me.” Though the songwriter does have back-up if she needs it. “My Italian cousins back home wrote me texts like, ‘Does she need a smack down?’ I was like, ‘No. You’ve got to chill out.’” Here’s hoping Perry gets another chance to risk their wrath.
With the Idol-popularized “Pants On The Ground” making its way into locker room speeches and political debates, it’s not a big surprise that someone has come forward to accuse the song’s creator, “General” Larry Platt, of plagiarism. A Detroit duo by the name of The Green Brothers told MyFox Detroit that Platt’s anthem is a “takeoff” of their 1996 recording “Pockets On The Floor.” As it says on their YouTube clip, “the General’s song [has] the same intent, idea and in part the same message. YOU BE THE JUDGE AMERICA!!” Having watched the video clip above, we’ve come up with two possibilities.
Platt, a 62-year-old civil rights hero and community activist, somehow came across this obscure, awkward jingle and, over a decade later, performed a poorly remembered variation at an American Idol audition as part of his Machiavellian plan to achieve fame and wealth.
More than one middle-aged man has been struck with the brilliant idea of rapping about slovenly youth fashion over the last decade and a half.
Thankfully, The Green Brothers merely want some attention and have yet to file any kind of suit. Besides, it’s not like Platt has seen any cash from the cultural saturation “Pants On The Ground” has achieved. Maybe he can hire the Green Brothers as back-up dancers when he finally takes the song on tour. [via HuffPo]
Poor Ellen DeGeneres! Well not poor, per se, as she’s getting quite a bit of cash to replace Paula Abdul this season on American Idol. But she might have reconsidered things if she knew departing judge Simon Cowell would spend this year battling Idol exec Simon Fuller as he plans his rival program, The X Factor. According to Deadline Hollywood, Cowell showed up an hour and a half late for Ellen’s first day of filming yesterday, inspiring her to call her deskmate a “prima donna” and ask that Fox “hurry up and pick” Cowell’s replacement. Can’t wait to see the love between them on screen!
While Ellen has every right to be pissed—she’s shooting her morning talk show earlier to make time for Idol—potential successors of Simon’s are also fielding offers from another talent show: Simon’s. Both Idol and X Factor have reportedly put former Sony head Tommy Mottola, most famous for finding—and marrying—Mariah Carey, at the top of their wish list. “Mottola is in the middle of all that and beneficiary of it. Mottola has remarkable leverage because of this tug of war and will get a big payday from somebody,” says their source. If Simon signs Mottola and old banter-buddy Abdul, Ellen could wind up Idol’s cousin Oliver.
