Simon Cowell

Credit: Fox

He's baaaack! Having ditched "American Idol" to spearhead the U.S. version of "X Factor" on Fox (series debut Sept. 21 at 8 p.m.), Simon Cowell (as usual) pulled no punches in a conference call with reporters. In comparing his "American Idol" partner in crime Paula Abdul to new judge Nicole Scherzinger, Cowell was merrily blunt, saying, "What was interesting was that Paula can be a bit wacky at times, but Nicole wasn't far behind in a fantastically self-centered way, which she wasn't aware of."

How wacky and self-centered? "Every city we went to, she changed her accent," Cowell continued. "In New York she had a Brooklyn thing, in Dallas she became a Southern belle. With Paula, within five minutes she has no awareness the camera is still on and she'll fight with you." Not that he minds. "That's what I like about her. It was like getting an old dog back from the rescue pound, grateful to see you and you're glad to have them back."

As to his other judge-mate, of L.A. Reid he said, "[He's] been a revelation. He's one of the most competitive people I've ever met." And while he "misses" Randy Jackson, he doesn't see a time when he'll lure him away from "American Idol." "He really is a good friend," Cowell said, noting that he hangs out with Jackson "all the time." "Maybe we'll get him a few front row seats and he can do his dog barking thing every week. But he's happy on 'Idol.'" 

Surprisingly, Cowell didn't mind the preponderance of "American Idol" questions, even addressing how he'd feel if the show finally wins an Emmy after his exit. "Well, I find it very amusing if the year I'm not on it it would win the Emmy," he said. "That would make me laugh. So it will. I don't see it as threathing, I think it would be more ironic. But if it wins, it would be because of all the years before, so I would take the win."

Cowell, who laughed easily during the interview, also admitted to having a less than wonderful day while filming "X Factor." "We showed me having a sort of childish meltdown, because I hated what everyone was doing on that day," he admitted. "It's not always happy, sunny days when you make these shows... You've got to show the good, the bad and the ugly." In this case, the ugly happened when the contestants had to reconfigure hit songs in an overnight challenge but botched the job. "They sounded absolutely dreadful and everyone sounded rubbish; we had a live audience and they knew it was rubbish. The whole thing was filmed... and when I watched it back, it was embarrassing but I agreed, we should keep it in."

One item Cowell was tight lipped about was the hiring and apparent firing of judge Cheryl Cole. About her brief tenure on the show, he would only say, "She's in episode one, in the first hour. In terms of how we address [her exit], we pretty much tell it like it was. She was on the show, then she got replaced by Nicole. First half [of the season debut] it's Cheryl, second half it's Nicole." 

Liane Bonin Starr
Sr. Editor

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Liane Bonin Starr is an author, screenwriter and former writer for EW.com. Her byline has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Variety and a lot of other places. Her last book was called "a scandalously catty, guilty pleasure" by Jane magazine. Expect the same from Starr Raving.