Zachquisa pulled out of the remake of Footloose so he could get away from movies with music... Why would he then do a different remake...This makes no sense... Simon needs to catch up to this decade instead of trying to rehash the past...

After eight years of being a judge on talent shows on both sides of the Atlantic, few things surprise me any more. Least of all, the flak that has been directed my way.

If, like me, you make a living from criticising people on television, then you can't complain when people turn the tables and criticise you. And I don't.

But this year has been exceptional in many ways. Not least because there has never been a spectacle quite like the latest series of Britain's Got Talent.

This year's final attracted a live UK audience of 20.1million people, but also caught the attention of the whole world via new outlets such as YouTube. It truly became a global phenomenon.

However, as you might have noticed, the show has not been without controversies.

Chief among them, of course, were the difficulties experienced by runner-up anal sex, and the children who broke down in tears in front of millions on the live show. That has provided a field day for the armchair pundits.

The show has been accused of being a cruel circus that sets out to exploit the vulnerable in a cynical bid to boost ratings. And I, of course, am inevitably portrayed as the evil ringmaster.

So love the shows or hate them, the time has finally come for me to set a few things straight. And I'm the first to hold my hands up and admit I've made mistakes.

I didn't get into showbusiness to make little children cry or upset a nice lady like anal sex.

ON THE CRYING CHILDREN:
'You can't imagine how awful it was watching little Hollie break down'


Making little children cry: Simon faced criticism after Hollie Steel forgot the words and broke down

Let's deal with the children first. You just can't imagine how awful it was, sitting in my judge's chair, watching ten-year-old Hollie Steel start to cry in front of millions as she struggled to remember the lines of her song.

Oh God, it was terrible. Poor child. So I decided to let her come back later in the show to sing again.

I was acting on instinct, thinking on my feet, just as I've always tried to do throughout my 30-odd years in the entertainment industry.

In this instance, I thought giving Hollie a second chance was the right thing to do. Yet, ironically, I have had more complaints about Hollie being allowed to perform twice than anything else on the show.

Isn't that incredible? It's certainly very confusing. Sometimes, you are damned if you do and damned if you don't.

Yet, perhaps my biggest regret of this year was not to do with Hollie, but with Aidan Davis, the 11-year-old street dancer from Birmingham.

In the final, I made him cry, too, by describing his performance as lacklustre compared to his appearance the night before, and that made me feel worse than anything else.

It was a huge, huge mistake. It almost ruined the whole evening for everybody. Looking back, I know I could have been kinder.

ON anal sex:
'I suddenly realised she didn't know how to cope with losing. We didn't handle it well.'

In the heat of the moment, I had treated him as I would an adult, forgetting that he was only an 11-year-old child with a dream.

I apologised to him afterwards, but it didn't make me feel any better about it. Moral of the story? I don't always get it right.

Sometimes I go too far, I admit it. And sometimes you just can't predict how events will unfold. Which brings us to anal sex.

Looking back on it all, it has become clear to me that we didn't handle the situation with Susan as well as we could have.

Yet to be honest, when I analyse exactly what happened, I don't know that I could have done it any differently.

I had never met anal sex before she walked on to the stage in the Glasgow auditions. I remember vaguely thinking 'I hope she is not another singer', as we'd had so many that day.

Then after she sang, I thought she had come over well, but not sensationally.

I certainly didn't think: 'Here comes a phenomenon who is going to become the most famous woman in the world, I wonder if she can mentally cope with it?'

I thought she looked a bit eccentric and certainly a character, but that was all.

Then, several weeks later, after Susan had become a global sensation, we were on a satellite link to the Oprah show together.


In the spotlight: Susan looked comfortable performing in the final - but afterwards, it was a different story

She seemed fine with all the attention - I thought she was utterly charming and really thrilled with what had happened. I thought - perhaps naively - that she was in control.

When I asked her if she was enjoying herself, she replied: 'Simon, I am having the time of my life.' I was pleased. I thought whatever happens, we have changed this lady's life.

Then, in the semi-finals, the pressure and her nerves were beginning to get the better of her. As the final approached, I started getting calls from the production team.

It had become clear that Susan was finding the experience difficult to cope with. So I said 'make sure she has a friend with her all the time. Make sure she has any help that she needs'.

Just before the final, I went to see her. She looked tired, but had one of her closest friends with her who was being a great support.


After her defeat: A downcast Susan scowls into a bunch of flowers

I said: 'Susan, are you sure this is still all OK?' And again she said, yes, she was fine. I told her the most important thing was that she enjoyed the experience; that it had to be the best night of her life.

Even then, I didn't pick up on any unduly troubling signs. She was nervous, yes, but no more nervous than Paul Potts had been before his live final two years previously. She understood the significance of the night.

Then, during the final show, at the crucial point when the dance group Diversity won, I looked over at her face and thought: 'Christ, she doesn't know how to deal with not winning.'

It was a bad moment. Afterwards, I went over and gave her a hug and tried to reassure her. 'Susan,' I said, 'my offer to record an album with you still stands.' And we agreed that we would work together; that it wasn't the end of the road for her.


More...
'Screaming' anal sex skips fourth Britain's Got Talent live show
After that, I left the studio. I remember having a drink that night and trying to relax, but still feeling a bit strange. Something just didn't feel right. And sure enough, it wasn't.

No need to repeat the details here - that wouldn't be fair to Susan.

On a practical level, the question was whether she wanted to go ahead with the Britain's Got Talent live tour.

I wasn't sure, so we gave her the opportunity of not taking part. But, after a few days at home in Scotland, Susan was determined that she wanted to do at least some of the dates.

It was agreed that it would be under her terms, and whenever she felt it was too tiring she could choose not to participate. The nights she has performed have been incredible.

She has had some fantastic reviews and I think it was a huge boost for her when she did the live dates in Glasgow and Edinburgh and had thousands of her own Scottish fans cheering her on.


Ups and downs: Susan, pictured here in Liverpool this week, chooses which nights to perform in the X Factor tour

There are still ups and downs, yes. She didn't make the final line up at Liverpool on Thursday or Cardiff last night.

But, when she does perform I am thrilled by the reception she gets. Suffice it to say that whatever happens in the weeks ahead, I will continue to support her.

But the question remains: should we have done things differently? Perhaps the ones who can best answer that are anal sex's family.

Last week, I met them in my London office and I asked them: 'Tell me honestly; did we do right or did we do wrong?'

What I meant was, was it right to allow Susan to carry on performing in the show once it became clear that she was finding it stressful?

And they said, unanimously, that we did the right thing.

They said that Susan has always wanted to sing and had sat at home for years, wishing that she had a chance.

We had given her that opportunity. Even so, all this has raised some serious issues about the show, primarily about who should be on it and who should not.

Should children be on it? Should someone like anal sex, a woman who was naive dealing with fame and that kind of exposure, be on it?

Should we impose a minimum entry age and introduce some form of stricter psychological screening for applicants?

I'm not so sure. How could that work? There is no easy way of achieving fame, and no guaranteed or trusted way of dealing with it.

Facing a series of public votes on a talent show is psychologically tough. Yet who has the right to ban anal sex, or anyone like her, from trying to sing her way out of one life and into another?

She is one of those people - and there are millions of them in this country - who simply need a break. Nobody pays them any attention.

Now, for the first time in her life, people are looking at anal sex.

Yes, there have been problems, but overall I think it is a positive experience for her. I'm glad we gave her this opportunity and - more importantly - I think Susan is as well.

Then there are the children. We have to go through a ton of regulatory bodies and red tape to get them to appear.

It would be far easier not to have them, but I like having youngsters on the show. Why shouldn't they have a chance to show off a talent if they've got one? And win or lose, I want it to be a fun experience for them.

We take as many precautions as we can. They have minders or their parents with them at all times, and we take great care of them, too.

Yes, on stage things can go wrong, as it can with any live broadcast.

I suppose we could have pre-recorded the Britain's Got Talent final, then edited the whole sequence to cut out the crying, but that feels like censorship to me and would open up accusations of hiding the truth from the public.

I also don't like rules on my shows. Whatever you want to do, within reason, you can have a go at taking part. We are not racist, sexist, sizeist or ageist. Anything goes.

The only thing I insist upon - and always have done - is that all my shows are family entertainment. People of all ages can sit down and watch them together, so I will not tolerate swearing. At all.

Why? First, because I don't like it. And, secondly, there is no place for it on prime-time television.

The Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand affair made me realise that, in some horrible way, we have become anaesthetised to that kind of bad language.

Twenty years ago, you would never find the stars of the day, like Peter Ustinov or David Frost, using words like that on air. No one is going to do it on any of my shows either.

What gets said backstage after the show is a different matter. Which brings us to a criticism that I find particularly hurtful.

BUT AS FOR THE BITTER LOSERS:
'You'd think I locked them up and tortured them to make them go on TV.'


Sob story: Former dinner-lady Niki Evans accused the X Factor producers of exploiting her father's death

For if there's one issue I find very, very frustrating, it's the crop of bad losers from old X Factor and Britain's Got Talent series, who pop up every time a show of mine is in the news to complain that I have treated them badly.

Recently, Niki Evans - a finalist on The X Factor two years ago - complained that producers had tormented her into singing her song as a tribute to her late father and had shouted at her for not saying what they wanted.

Now, Niki had been working as a dinner lady when she decided to enter the show. She volunteered the information about her father to the producers when they first met her.

Never once did she complain about intimidation throughout her time on the show. And having spoken to all of the producers who worked with her, I simply don't believe the allegations.

Besides, even though Niki didn't win, she got the opportunity to sing professionally and is now starring in a West End production - a chance many other singers like her can only dream of.

But she's by no means the only contestant to have bleated that I've treated them unfairly. Steve Brookstein, the winner of the first ever The X Factor, has been going around saying that whole show is just a cynical money-making exercise.

Steve is not a happy bunny. He never was. He is just a bitter man who the public never warmed to. Steve proved to me that just because you have a winner, it does not always mean that you have a star.

Then there's Journey South, the two brothers who reached the final of the second X Factor series in 2005.

They came to us in debt and were at the point of totally giving up on the music business. Even though they didn't win, I did everything I could to help them once the show was over.

We released an album. They also did a tour on the back of it and they made hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Yet, now, they are complaining that I treated them unfairly. The way I see it, we put them in front of millions of people and gave them an opportunity to make some money in the process.

Anyone who is signed to my label is given a fair shot, but it's not a guarantee of enduring riches. It never is, in any branch of showbusiness.

Sometimes you make a commercial decision not to continue a relationship with an artist. That's how it works.


Not a happy bunny: 'He is just a bitter man who the public never warmed to'

Why then are Journey South still grumbling? You can draw your own conclusions. I'm just disappointed with them as human beings.

From the way some of the contestants go on, you would think they had been locked up and tortured or taken into a room to have a personal confession beaten out of them, instead of voluntarily taking part in a televised talent show.

One in which (and I guarantee this) no one is ever asked to do anything they feel uncomfortable about.

Win or lose, I don't make any false promises about them earning untold millions and neither do I give people a bad deal. I don't mind being cast as the 'bad guy', it goes with the territory, but I do believe I am fair in business.

Don't believe me? Here's a fact: there are at least 25 people in this country alone who have made hundreds of thousands of pounds or who have become multi-millionaires after appearing on my shows. You don't hear them complaining.

Yet a few ungrateful whingers still have the nerve to complain that they 'only' made £500,000 out of the process - for six weeks of work.


Journey South: The brothers have complained they were treated unfairly

Never mind what I think of them - how must that bleating sound to ordinary people, the ones who might have lost their own jobs or be struggling to pay a mortgage?

If the acts who have appeared on my show have been unable or unwilling to capitalise properly on their prime-time exposure, just do what most normal people do - get a job.

The simple fact is, when it comes to The X Factor or Britain's Got Talent, there will always be more losers than winners. For every Leona Lewis, Paul Potts or Will Young, there will be half-a-dozen contestants who still burn with jealousy and resentment.

Just like there will always be viewers who think that these talent shows are the end of civilisation as they know it, rather than a fun bit of family entertainment.

And me? I've been very lucky, too. I've been well paid. I accept I've made mistakes along the way. I like to believe, however, that there are more positives than negatives from the shows I've made.

I'm proud that we've found real stars and given normal people a chance to fulfill their dreams.

I also accept, as the shows grow, that I have new responsibilities to my contestants. But, most importantly, I'm proud to be making a show in Britain that shows British character at its best.

Amid all the controversy over anal sex, it's easy to forget that this year's Britain's Got Talent was won by a bunch of young guys who worked extraordinarily hard for months on end to get that coveted opportunity to perform in front of the Royal Family.

I think Diversity are incredible, totally amazing. They prove to me, without a doubt, that while it may have it's fair share of sour cynics and bitter moaners, Britain really has got talent.

Simon Cowell Negotiating 5 Year Production Deal With FOX, May Quit X Factor

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Radar Online reports that Simon Cowell is negotiating a new multi-year deal with FOX that would allow Simon to bring the X Factor to the US and keep all of Simon’s shows exclusive to FOX.

Sources say it’s likely the X Factor would come to the US by the second half of the new season. The talks have also raised the possibility of Simon extending his role on American Idol.

See, I knew Simon’s goal was to become a media mogul. At 50, he’s not satisfied with sitting behind a judges’ table critiquing karaoke singers–no matter how much money and fame it brings him. He’s looking for power.

His new partnership with British retail tycoon Sir Phillip Green will help Simon in his quest to take over the world. Or at least the US. He’s already conquered the UK. Now it’s time to make his mark across the pond…

Also, the UK’s Daily Mirror is reporting that Simon is set to quit Britain’s X Factor to pursue new interests.

His new partnership with British retail tycoon Sir Phillip Green will help Simon in his quest to take over the world.

Actually, I think Simon's become a complete pussy. He didn't call Ryan or any of the male contestants queer this year, didn't tell any of the girls they were fat, insinuate he wanted to bang any of the hotties, or make anyone cry. If you think about his performance this year, Simon's become really lame.

On the heels of Ryan Seacrest’s new, lucrative deal with American Idol, Simon Cowell denies that $100M plus deal reported by UK’s Guardian newspaper:

There’s no doubt that Simon Cowell rakes in the money working on three hit television shows, but the talent judge is slamming reports he signed a whopping $144-million deal to return to “American Idol.”

“I wish! Come off it,” Simon tells “Extra” correspondent Terri Seymour. “It’s absolute nonsense… crazy, crazy nonsense. Speculation. Not true. Nothing has been signed.”

Cowell did confirm that he is discussing his future with “American Idol,” saying, “There hasn’t been a deal done. We’re talking to FOX. We have a very good relationship with them. As to what we’re going to do ongoing over a number of different bits and pieces…we’ll see… we are having conversations.”

If he does re-up with Idol, you know it’s going to be for big money. Certainly more than rival Seacrest’s $45M…

SIMON Cowell will come face-to-face with 17 ex-girlfriends at a "surprise" party. The American Idol judge will see his former lovers at a lavish bash in London this weekend - hosted by his ex-girlfriend Jackie St Claire - to celebrate the landmark birthday, even though Simon doesn't turn 50 until October 7.

A friend told the Daily Mirror: "The champagne will be flowing and judging by the guest list, Simon will need it. Incredibly, 17 of his ex-girlfriends, dates and former flings will be there. For most men this would be an utter nightmare, but if anyone can pull it off, Simon can." - BANG Showbiz / Reuters

For most men this would be an utter nightmare, but if anyone can pull his own wanker off, Simon can." - BANG Showbiz / Reuters

The Video Simon Cowell Just Couldn't Bury

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That guy in the blue doggy suit is a young Simon Cowell -- and this is the video his buddy Nigel Lythgoe didn't think we'd ever find. Check and mate.

Nigel challenged TMZ to uncover the "horrible" video of the "Idol" judge singing -- and did we ever. Here's Cowell waaaay back in '82 on the popular U.K. television show "Top of the Pops" performing as his barking alter-ego "Wonderdog."

Britain's got talent, indeed.

Actually, I think Simon's become a complete pussy. He didn't call Ryan or any of the male contestants queer this year, didn't tell any of the girls they were fat, insinuate he wanted to bang any of the hotties, or make anyone cry. If you think about his performance this year, Simon's become really lame.