14 DAY TRIAL // Simon Cowell announced that, after the ninth season of American Idol, he would no longer act as judge on the panel guiding and helping aspiring singers, because he’d be focusing exclusively on a US version of the X Factor. As TMZ informs, a very strong rumor now making the rounds has it that a replacement has already been found in the person of Elton John.
Amidst very strong speculation that Idol will be starting to go downhill in the ratings and eventually disappear altogether without Simon, it’s become clear that producers need to find a replacement that can fill his (very large) shoes. After all, for many fans and television people, it was Cowell who made Idol what it is today, so it’s very hard to imagine the show existing without him. Sir Elton John, for one, would perhaps fit the bill.
TMZ says the rumor may originate from TMZ itself. “So TMZ may have led the way in the search for Simon Cowell’s replacement on American Idol. On TMZ TV – the day Simon announced he was leaving – we floated Elton John as the guy who should take Simon’s seat. After all, he knows music, he’s certainly got the [expletive]-y attitude, and he’s British,” the paparazzi agency and celebrity gossip website puts it.
Today, perhaps unrelated to the above, a rumor is starting to pick up in certain circles in the industry, namely that producers on AI are really looking at Elton John as a potential replacement for Simon Cowell. “Now an American Idol spy tells us the talk on the set is... Elton John! Elton was a guest judge in season three of Idol. We contacted Elton’s rep to see if he was interested. She said tersely, ‘He’s on holiday’,” TMZ goes on to write.
We also informed you these past days that Cowell’s announcement caused quite a wave of concern, with many people believing that it has literally sealed the fate of the show, which can only be going downwards in ratings from now on. While that happens, hype for another show is starting to build: Cowell’s US version of X Factor, for which he reportedly already got Paula Abdul on board as a judge, for a salary of $4.5 million.