Simon Cowell Admits American Idol Is Better Without Him

It’s a huge compliment coming from a man like Simon Cowell: the former American Idol judge has just admitted in a recent interview with CNN’s Piers Morgan that the new season of the show is better without him.

Cowell is gearing up for the big announcement regarding the US version of X Factor, which he’s overseeing: he must reveal the names of the judges on the panel and of the host.

As such, he’s already doing media rounds to promote the upcoming show, which will, of course, go against American Idol in the ratings and target demographic.

Still, Cowell is being a gentleman about competition, saying that the current season, which has Randy Jackson, Jennifer Lopez and Steve Tyler as judges, is better than the last one, which also included Simon.

The chemistry was never right after Paula Abdul left the judges’ panel, Simon admits, which is why the previous season – his last – was not as good as he would have wanted it to be.

“Personally think it is a better show than last year. It feels to me they’ve got their energy back, they’re confident, they’re competitive,” Cowell says of the new and improved AI, of which many skeptics said it would last a season – and which has turned out to be a smashing hit.

“It’s not the show I would make myself, because that’s why I moved from the show in the first place,” Cowell adds, referring to his departure from AI to bring X Factor to the US, a show he calls something more like himself.

“I always think of Idol really as me, Paula [Abdul] and Randy [Jackson],” Cowell adds when asked about his last season on AI, when producers brought in Ellen DeGeneres as a replacement for Paula, who is believed to have left because of money disagreements.

Simon Cowell’s X Factor doesn’t premiere in the US until this fall – until then, though, keep an eye on this space for updates on the judges’ panel and check out part of the interview with Piers Morgan below.