Simon Cowell
News (Page 4)

Simon Cowell has a gentle side ... it just doesn't come out when judging poor American Idol auditions.

The supposedly mean one has signed with PETA to form a new public service announcement to make the viewers aware of the dangers of leaving dogs in hot vehicles.

"Maybe some people are surprised that I like animals, but there's quite a difference between telling someone who's a useless singer, 'You're a useless singer' and drowning a puppy," said Cowell. "I once had an incident with a guy who auditioned [for American Idol] who actually admitted that he likes killing animals... he didn't go through."

PETA promotes and upholds animal welfare and protection issues, actively opposing animal testing, hunting and other forms of maltreatment.

Cowell's endorsement of animal welfare comes with his own observation of the lack of knowledge of people when it comes to the safety of their pets. In an interview with PETA he said:

"I actually have witnessed a dog in a car on a hot day, and luckily I found its owner… She was in a shop, and I dragged her out the shop and said, 'Your dog is going to die in a second.' And she wasn't aware of it. People just aren't aware of it."

Along with his part in Idol Gives Back, is it possible Simon is actually ... nice?

Thursday night at the 24th Annual Paley Festival at the Directors Guild of America in West Hollywood, Simon Cowell took part in a panel discussion about American Idol at the Museum of Television & Radio.

He didn't exactly hold back his feelings about a pair of former contestants.

Regarding Taylor Hicks, who won season 5's competition:

"They (Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson) loved him. I couldn't stand him. I didn't get it," Cowell snapped, adding that "at the end of the day you have to find a bona fide recording artist. Just because you win the show doesn't mean you will sell a lot of records. Chris (Daughtry) is the one who sold the albums, not Taylor."

The man does speak the truth, as much as it might pain Taylor fans to hear. Meanwhile, Jennifer Hudson was not excused from criticism, either.

Cowell commented on Hudson saying American Idol was a "stepping stone" for her.

"Stepping stone? It was her big opportunity to become noticed and she got noticed and she got Dreamgirls," Simon said, noting that other past contestants "deliberately turn against the show that made them successful. The reason (people) come on the show is because all the doors had been slammed in their face."

What do you guys think of Cowell's comments?

Congratulations, of course, are in order for Jennifer Hudson. She walked away with an Academy Award last night.

But Simon Cowell didn't go home empty handed.

The American Idol judge received a VERY warm welcome from Sir Elton John ... one that included a kiss on the cheek.

We wonder how Cowell's girlfriend, Terri Seymour, feels about this greeting. We also wonder if Idol fans will even think twice about such a picture.

After all, Antonella Barba photos have pretty much dominated their imaginations over the last week.

The judges from American Idol invaded Jay Leno Monday night.

And while they certainly focused on season six of our favorite show, Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Ryan Seacrest first focused on a certain, bald pop singer backstage with Terri Seymour (Simon's girlfriend) from Extra.

“Re-release ‘Hit Me Baby, One More Time,’” Simon suggested to Britney Spears.

“She needs a huge song,” Randy said, before Simon butted in with his two sense: “Big record; forget the shaving of the head!”

As for their own unpredictable co-star Paula Abdul, Simon said the press is making a big deal over nothing.

“She’s always been that way, I’ve never understood a word Paula has said,” Simon said.

But Paula chimed in: “I live a clean life, and the only thing I'm embarrassed about is hanging around you guys.

As far as Idol is concerned, the judges told Extra they just want to hear good singing; and that meant bad news for the 12 guys who performed last night.

“I think they’re lucky that there are groups of boys, groups of girls; otherwise we'd end up all girls in this competition,” Simon admitted.

Speaking of girls, the gang had this special message for their favorite Dreamgirl, Jennifer Hudson.

“We actually think you’re going to walk up there and accept an Oscar, so go get ‘em,” Ryan said.

See, not everyone hates Simon Cowell.

Some actually love the American Idol judge. And we're not just talking about Bucky Covington.

Pictured here with Cowell is his long-time girlfriend, Terri Seymour. Simon cares so much about the lovely woman on his left, he said the following:

"When I respect somebody I say I'm not going to marry you, out of respect. I think it's the decent thing to do. A lot of showbiz marriages don't work out."

We guess that makes sense. Either way, these two look happy below:

While some American Idol contestants might fear the bite of Simon Cowell, at least one alum is grateful for it.

"Because of him being mean, millions of people watch that show," said Bucky Covington, who finished eighth last season. "So I say 'thank you' for being mean. You turned on a lot of people to this show, and because of that a lot of great things happened to me."

Cowell and fellow judges Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson have been accused of being nastier than usual this year on News Corp.'s Fox network talent show, pouncing on some of the more awful Idol wannabes during auditions.

Covington, 29, says he doesn't agree.

"I didn't see them being really nice to me - no pushovers, you know," the Rockingham, N.C., native said recently. "I never knew Simon to be nice. If you said, 'Hey, Simon is being nice this year,' you would have caught my attention. But being mean is just what I expect. It's what he does. It's his job."

Covington's self-titled debut album on Lyric Street Records will be released April 17. The first single, "A Different World," is rising on the country charts.

Bucky  said he got everything he wanted from his America Idol experience.

"I didn't really think I was gong to win it. I wanted to be heard and get noticed," he said. "The most stressful thing for me was after this show is over, what's next? Is it back to painting cars? Is it playing clubs? Or is it a career starter?"

Having received flak for supposedly being too mean during American Idol auditions, the snarkiest judge of them all is actually hearing praise now.

The Special Olympics has put out a statement commending American Idol for not going soft on one of their own. It especially applauds Simon Cowell for how he reponded to Jonathan Jayne during auditions on the show’s premiere.

The statement reads:

While polite isn’t a word one would normally associate with Cowell and company, a viewing of the episode in question shows that the judges were in fact gracious and very encouraging to Jayne during his rendition of "God Bless America.” At one point, [co-judge Paula] Abdul commented admiringly about Jayne’s spirit and advised him to ‘Always believe in yourself.’” […]

[P]eople with intellectual disabilities don’t want to be pitied. They want to be judged for who they are and appreciated for what they can achieve. American Idol should be commended for providing Jayne with the same opportunity to succeed as any other contestant.

We agree. It's nice to see common sense portrayed in response to Simon and the judges, as opposed to the knee-jerk reaction that honestly is always cruel.

Are American Idol auditions judged too meanly this season? It's been a common source of contention.

TV critic, Dalton Ross, of Entertainment Weekly, however, doesn't blame Simon, Randy or Paula. He actually says they've been nicer than ever on some occasions. Check out what else he recently wrote:

Another season of American Idol auditions means another season filled with incompetent singers cluelessly showcasing their wares for an entire country.

But this year, something seems different. According to everything I've read and everyone I talk to, the judges of American Idol have suddenly gotten a lot meaner, lighting into contestants like never before. Frankly, this is hogwash.

Go back and watch season one - Simon was just as rude and crude as he is now. I don't see any difference there at all. That's not to imply that this season of Idol has not been meaner than past ones; it's just that the judges are not the ones to blame. The producers are.

Remember, it's not Simon, Randy, and Paula weeding out who makes it onto TV from the tens of thousands of applicants. The producers take care of that. They are the ones that pick out the people who make it before the holy trinity. Their job basically seems to consist of sorting stadiums full of auditioners into three groups, which are:

Group 1: The Really, Really Good
These people have genuine talent and are sent in to Simon, Randy, and Paula to see if they are worthy of being addressed as ''dawg'' and sent to Hollywood. We'd count Sundance Head, Sarah Krueger and Kia Thorton in this group.

Group 2: The Really, Really Bad
These people have no talent whatsoever, yet are also sent in to Simon, Randy, and Paula as a form of comic relief. Their badness dominates the first few weeks of the show and enables us, the viewers, to feel better about ourselves through the mocking of others.

Group 3: Everyone else
Most people fall into this category — the mild, the mediocre, the middle-of-the-road. These people are dismissed on the spot since they are neither good enough to stand a chance at winning, nor bad enough to provide any good laughs.

Where this season's Idol differs from previous ones is that the people in Group 2 have gone from ''really, really bad'' to really, really sad. Some of the contestants being brought in front of the judges (and, in turn, a national audience) are clearly in need of help — and I'm not talking about vocal training.

Nicholas Zitzman went beyond merely socially awkward, and there was something vaguely non-human about Darwin ''Mischa'' Reedy and her practically identical mother. But the show sunk to a new low with another debatably dynamic duo: Jonathan Jayne and Kenneth Briggs.

Kenneth was the guy Simon compared to a monkey, calling the bug-eyed contestant a ''bush baby.'' Some saw that as unnecessarily harsh, but Simon has never pulled any punches in his commentary on contestants' looks. This is nothing new, and he has actually uttered comments much worse than that.

What made this situation different was the fact that Kenneth was even in the room to begin with, seeing as how he didn't — and I'm trying to be gentle here — appear to possess the highest IQ.

Which brings us to Jonathan Jayne. Jayne is a perfect example as to exactly why the judges are not to blame. For those who don't remember, Jonathan was the large guy who crooned ''God Bless America.'' Turns out he is a former Special Olympics participant.

Paula was typically kind after his somewhat excruciating performance, but it should be noted that Simon was as well, even saying ''You're a nice guy. I like you, but this is not the career path for you.'' Randy then thanked him for showing up. So why again are the judges under fire? Heck, even Special Olympics International praised them for being ''gracious and very encouraging.''

Yet the judges are still catching the heat, when it was the field producers who put Jayne in the room to begin with. If it was to see him mocked, then they are evil. If it was to chalk up an easy and compassionate story line, then they are merely shamelessly exploitative. Either way, it's pretty classless.

Now, let's move on before I emotionally shut down over the realization that I just wasted almost 700 words defending Paula freakin' Abdul.

The Fox TV network chief on Saturday dismissed talk of unusual cruelty by the judges on American Idol this year, saying he's heard from people who think the show has actually been toned down.

"The judges and their scrutiny, I think, are a big part of what makes American Idol American Idol,'" Peter Liguori, Fox entertainment president, told reporters after coming under scrutiny.

The talent show and cultural phenomenon returned with a vengeance this past week, with episodes on Tuesday and Wednesday attracting around 37 million viewers. The episodes featured auditions by the good, the bad and the awful from Minneapolis and Seattle.

But some questioned whether the judges have been over the top this season in their sometimes harsh critiques of prospective Idols.

Simon Cowell, whose reputation for blunt, nasty put-downs was established at the series' beginning, was in peak form, telling one contestant that his singing was horrendous and he looked like a "bush baby."

Cowell's counterpart, Randy Jackson, told one contestant his audition was awful and perhaps ruined his business.

"You shouldn't be a vocal teacher. I wouldn't take vocal lessons from you, I wouldn't tell anybody to take vocal lessons from you," Jackson said.

On ABC's The View this past week, Rosie O'Donnell - always looking to stir things up, be it with Donald Trump or pretty much anyone else - lashed out at the way contestants were treated by the judges, who she termed "three millionaires, one probably intoxicated."

"If you keep serving people crap and telling them it's a meal, they're eventually going to think it is a meal," O'Donnell jabbed.

Fox's Liguori said the judges know what makes American Idol and that this is just the continuation of a successful formula.

"Let's face it, the show has been on the air six years, the judges have been critical for six years," he said.

The judges' harsh assessments also were defended by Geffen Records chairman Ron Fair, who is about to take on a Simon Cowell-like role on an upcoming Pussycat Dolls reality show for the CW network, "Pussycat Dolls Present: The Search for the Next Doll."

"In order to have a reputation and continue in a healthy manner in this business, you have to tell people 'no' all day long," he said.

"I'm telling people 'I'm not going to sign you, that song is not a hit' ... And there's no gracious or wonderful way to tell somebody, whose hopes and dreams are on the line: 'no.'"

With all the talk swirling that American Idol judges are being too mean this season, here's a way to wax that problem:

Make them into wax statues.

Indeed, Simon Cowell and Ryan Seacrest were the latest celebrities to be included in Madame Tussauds museum. Check out their likeness here:

We assume there's no Paula Abdul figure because the sculpters couldn't capture her odd gyrations and possibly drunken antics.