He has a few weeks until the new season of American Idol begins.
So you can't blame judge Simon Cowell for enjoying a few moments free of booing crowds and bad singers, can you? Seen here, he's riding around the waves in Barbados.
Soon enough, fans will be riding his loud mouth for various mean-spirited comments. We can't wait.
With NBC's "Grease: You're The One That I Want weeks away from its debut, American Idol producer Simon Cowell has announced he will similarly cast the leads for a West End production of that fifties-friendly musical.
Cowell's production company, Syco TV, will co-produce the show slated to air on ITV. The stage production is scheduled to hit the West End in summer 2007.
Producer David Ian â who will appear as a judge on "Grease: You're The One That I Want" â has also been lined up to appear as the lead judge on the new ITV show. The impresario will also produce the stage show with Paul Nicholas and TalkbackThames.
ITV and Cowell secured the stage rights for Grease for a London West End run. The show will witness auditioners competing for the leads of Sandy and Danny in the forthcoming production.
Who knows, if an American Idol singer from season six doesn't win it all this year, maybe he/she now has a back up plan ...
It's almost that time again.
Our favorite show is getting close to returning, and USA Today has the scheduling scoop for American Idol Season 6. Air dates for the audition rounds start with a pair of two-hour episodes January 16-17, with the ensuing "Hollywood" rounds (or wherever in the L.A. megalopolis the judges actually narrow down the auditiion winners) will be broadcast February 6, 7, 13 and 14.
The newspaper caught up with executive producer Nigel Lythgoe (right), who promises some of the worst singers ever this season, but swears the producers can tell the difference between sincerely deluded bad singers and performers trying to contrive their way onto the show and gain 15 minutes of fame by being deliberately awful.
In other words, don't hold your breath for the second coming of William Hung... but you never can tell.
In any case, Simon Cowell, who hated the auditioners in Seattle and (not surprisingly) has said so in no uncertain terms, is sure to be annoyed beyond comprehension when the show gets underway.
Which is part of the reason we love watching, of course.
On the flip side, Simon Cowell insists he loves Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul and Ryan Seacrest -- although Lythgoe counters that the fearsome foursome "always get on each other's nerves... they never behave well."
That doesn't stop them from delivering on the business end, however. Lythgoe modestly calls the American Idol judge team "the best judging panel of (any) show in the world," and wryly observes about the auditions, "There was a lot of sucking up going on -- which we encourage."
Simon is clearly in mid-season form already.
Leave it to Simon Cowell to mock a guy on anti-anxiety medication.
When commenting on Clay Aiken's admittance that he takes the anti-depressant Paxil to deal with the fame he won on American Idol, the surly one definitely didn't hold back in a recent interview.
"Oh give me a break. Let me have a choice, I'm going to work in a coal mine for 14 hours a day or I'm going to be a runner-up on American Idol. Give me a break, idiot."
While judge Paula Abdul and celebrity guest judge Olivia Newton-John both stuck up for the season two runner-up, Cowell kept the insults rolling.
"They're not working for a living, they're becoming famous... no one's put a gun to their head... Clay, whatever he may have said, would not swap what he's got now for what he had three years ago."
Way to be sympathetic. Simon's attitude clearly provides Idol with a certain spark, but it would be nice if he would show a little sensitivity off-screen. Clay will surely take the high road on this because that's the kind of person he is, but it's still sad he has to put up with it. He is going through enough right now, and has a great new CD out. People should focus on that and let him live his life.
Hey, you don't like hearing from mean Simon Cowell on the air? Turns out he doesn't like sitting on the American Idol panel very much, either.
"I probably enjoy behind the scenes [more] than being on it," Cowell told reporters yesterday. "I never went into this business to be on TV."
That may seem surprising to those that think Cowell craves attention, but think about it: he's the calmest of the three judges, isn't he? You don't see him standing and cheering, like Paula Abdul, or amping up his "dawgs," like Randy Jackson.
These days, Simon is busy producing Idol and another NBC reality hit, American's Got Talent.
The new season of the latter will include a few twists, he said, including adding a "boot camp" to help boost the images of nonsingers during the final rounds of the show.
"I think you're going to see quite a different structure to the show," Cowell said, adding that Regis Philbin will be back as host.
"We're working around Regis' schedule now," he said. "I think we can make it work."
Two of American Idol's best known personalities have made the short list for the inaugural Top 49 Men of 2006 at AskMen.com. We may pretend to hate Simon Cowell, but secretly, a lot of us wish we could be in his shoes. As for the other Idol star to make the list, Clay Aiken? We know never to underestimate any measure of this man.
Out over 15,000 names submitted to the popular site by its readers, the list has been narrowed down to 100. The purpose of the poll is to find out which of these men readers consider to be the best representatives of the gender. Who among them best exemplifies what it means to be a man? Do you want Simon and or Clay to make the final cut? If so, you can vote here.
Hit TV shows seldom make for hit video games. American Idol has already been translated into the medium, and the game flopped.
Yet another video game company, Konami, thinks it can succeed with its own version of TV's top reality show. Why? The interaction. The judges. The songs. How can you go wrong, right? "Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol" for PlayStation 2, due out this winter, will allow gamers to sing into a microphone and get their crooning rated by the show's judges.
Two of them, anyway. Konami announced that its game will include digital versions of Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson. The much-maligned Paula Abdul will not be appearing, and no one has said why. AIW can only begin to imagine.
"For anyone who wants to know what it's like to audition in front of me, now you're going to find out," Cowell said, according to press release issued recently by Konami.
While Paula won't appear in cyber form to be amazed and inspired by your efforts, she'll be there in spirit, VH1 reports -- a cover of her song "Straight Up" will be among the 40 tracks players can sing to in the game.
Also included will be Kelly Clarkson's "Breakaway," Taylor Hicks' "Do I Make You Proud," Ruben Studdard's "Flying Without Wings," Bo Bice's "The Real Thing" and the Clay Aiken staple "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me."
Rounding out the track list are covers of songs such as Duran Duran's "Hungry Like the Wolf" and the William Hung / Ricky Martin classic, "She Bangs."
The "Karaoke Revolution" game requires players to sing along to versions of popular songs. The games typically depict a lone singer performing onstage. The crowd cheers, and lights and pyro flash when the player's singing is at the right pitch. The effects stop and the boos rain down upon you when the singing clangs.
Konami's "Idol" game will bring wannabe players through each of the show's signature stages, from audition venues to the finals. They can rise through the ranks of a solo-singing campaign or play with friends in sing-offs and duets. According to the company, the game will also include video footage of performances from the past five seasons' winners.
Surly, yet somehow charming American Idol judge Simon Cowell will be a presenter at this Sunday's 58th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards. The brash Brit will also lead the telecast's special tribute to Dick Clark.
Clark, 76, is one of TV's longest-running and best-known personality. He has long been known for his continued youthful appearance, earning the moniker "America's Oldest Teenager," and also for his good health until he suffered a stroke in 2004.
Though known primarily for his blunt, sarcastic American Idol judging, the 46-year old Cowell achieved celebrity status on Pop Idol, the UK version of American Idol that spawned the U.S. version.
His production company, SYCO, also produces the award-winning X Factor, the No. 1 entertainment show in the U.K. While his non-compete clause prevents him from appearing on other shows, Cowell created and served as executive producer on America's Got Talent and the forthcoming Celebrity Duets.
We've seen ordinary kids rise to the top of the American Idol heap. Now the likes of Lucy Lawless, Alfonso Ribeiro, Cheech Marin, Lea Thompson, WWE champ Chris Jericho, Olympian Carly Patterson and other celebs will put their singing to the test on Celebrity Duets, which premieres August 29 on Fox.
They'll be paired with singers such as Clint Black, Peter Frampton, Macy Gray, Patti LaBelle, Aaron Neville, Smokey Robinson and Dionne Warwick. Should be quite the spectacle. And who better to give fans the scoop on this latest experiment than Simon Cowell, who talked to TV Guide in an exclusive interview this week.
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TV Guide: You have to be over the moon about the talent you've gotten together for this show.
Simon Cowell: Yes, we are. I've got to be honest with you, I truthfully did not think we were ever going to make the show, and I'll tell you why. We basically said to the producers, "If you can find us 10 legendary names for this show, we're going to make it, and if you don't, we can't." I gave them a 10 percent chance of proceeding.
TV Guide: Because this doesn't work if the pros are chumps.
Cowell: Absolutely. We had to have literally the best singers in the world, we felt, and I think they've pretty much done that.
TV Guide: Will each week's performance night be taped, or broadcast live?
Cowell: That's a very good question. I think it's going to be shot as all live.
With Season 6 coming up before you know it, song selection is paramount to any contender's chances. This year's American Idol hopefuls should start boning up on the classics, if judge Simon Cowell's favorite songs are any indication.
The sometimes surly Brit shared his playlist of all-time favorites on BBC Radio 4's "Desert Island Discs," revealing eight tracks that he couldn't live without if he were stranded in a remote area (which some fans undoubtedly wish here a reality). Only one, Daniel Bedingfield's "If You're Not the One," was released in the past 30 years.
Tops on Cowell's list is Bobby Darin's "Mack the Knife," which he called "the best song ever made, ever produced, ever sung."
Herb Alpert's "This Guy's in Love With You" is his pick for "sexiest song ever," while he named Charles Aznavour's "She" among "the most beautiful songs of all time." Cowell also said, according to MTV, that if given the choice of one item to bring to a deserted island, he'd choose a mirror.
Why? "Because I'd miss me."
