14 DAY TRIAL // If Beyonce is ready to come back to work, Simon Cowell will gladly have her – for a price. Reports online claim that the media mogul has reached out to the singer with an offer to be a judge on the show: $500 million (€380.4 million) for a 5-year contract on X Factor USA.
With two seats to fill on the judges panel and one open spot for the host, after Nicole Scherzinger, Paula Abdul and Steve Jones were all fired, Cowell has a lot of scouting to do.
Moreover, he's believed to be interested in bringing only heavyweights on board, names that could convince audiences they should come back to the show for a second season.
One of them is Beyonce, MediaTakeOut claims, citing inside sources familiar with negotiations.
Admittedly, Cowell is determined to get the singer on the show and he's willing to pay an insanely high amount to get her signed on a 5-year contract: $100 million (€75.9 million) for each year.
“He wants a big name female star on the panel. Mariah [Carey] is good, but she's not that hot today. He wants Beyonce because that would immediately give him the bounce needed to beat American Idol,” the insider says for MTO.
Not only will Cowell manage to beat American Idol with Beyonce on board, but he'd make fans forget some of the most disappointing moments in the debut season, which drove audiences away.
As for whether Beyonce is interested in the offer, no word yet.
“So we know what you're wondering - is Beyonce interested. Our snitch in the Beyonce camp is tight lipped, but told us to expect a very 'MAJOR' career announcement from Beyonce in the next month or so,” MTO says, adding that, while a judging position on a singing competition is usually a downgrade, for this kind of money, it would be worth it.
In other X Factor USA-related rumors, Mariah Carey was also believed to be a likely candidate for the judges panel, together with Rihanna, Katy Perry, Nicki Minaj and even Cheryl Cole.
Carey's husband Nick Cannon shot down such reports the other day, when he said the diva was simply too “legendary” to take up such a job offer.