Simon Says - Idol Reality Game for Contestants; but Cowell Wants to Control the Shots

Remember childhood days of playing "Duck Duck Goose", "Musical Chair's", "Mother May I?" and "Simon says".

Simons says goes something like this, according to Wikipedia, "Simon says is a game for players where one of the people is "it" - i.e., Simon. The others must do what Simon tells them to do when asked with a phrase beginning with "Simon says". If Simon says "Simon says jump", the players must jump (players that do not jump are out). However, if Simon says simply "jump", without first saying "Simon says", players do not jump; those that do jump are out. In general, it is the spirit of the command, not the actions that matters; if Simon says "Simon says touch your toes", players only have to show that they are trying to touch their toes (Wikipedia)

Auditioning for American Idol is no game for the contestants, particularly if they don't like what Simon says.

First off, tonight's American Idol show opened with Ellen DeGeneres on Simon's lap nudging in his ear with her face. Randy Jackson and front man for Zebra , Simon Cowell, Kara DioGuardi and Ryan Seacrest were all giggling as Ellen joked she didn't know that the show had started and got off Simon's lap.

Simon's comments ranged from telling Katie Stevens, "You've gotten a lot of advice, and you've taken it, but you haven't yet worked out the kind of artist you are. The second half of the song didn't go as it should have, it went gloomy and it sucked the life out of the song. But I will give you 10 out of 10 for trying." If Simon said, Katie, Simon says, jump - she would. She's trying so hard to do it all right, but she needs to grow a bit.

To Crystal Bowersox, Simon says, " You are one million-billion percent in the top 10 next week. You have changed; you've got confidence, you are starting to believe it, and I can see that now. You are the one everyone has to beat." If Simon is talking up Crystal on Leno and Letterman, what does that mean? Simon told Crystal she's a star tonight, and I think she is beginning to believe him.

Simon Cowell's getting ready to play a new game, X-Factor In, But Fox Not Out on Idol

The Guardian Co in the UK reports that Simon Cowell "Quits American Idol to bring UK X-Factor to the US Fox will be taking on both Idol and the X-Factor. Simon says, ""I was offered a lot of money to stay on but that wasn't the reason behind it," he said at the Television Critics Association in Pasadena, California.

Although he earns a reported $36m a year for judging American Idol - and is regarded as a linchpin of the show - the franchise is owned not by him but by Simon Fuller, and Cowell been vocal about his desire to cash in on the opportunity of launching The X Factor in the USA. "(Guardian Co).

Fox is planning on airing Idol in the Spring and X-Factor in the fall.

Sources:
Fox Televesion, American Idol 3/9/2010
Quits American Idol to bring UK X-Factor to the US, Guardian Co, UK
Simon says, Wikipedia