Simon votes NO on Stern

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Simon wouldn’t choose Stern to succeed him on Idol
by: Tom Jicha February 18th, 2010 | 7:54 PM

Simon Cowell all but ruled out Howard Stern as his replacement, said his supposed early feud with Ellen DeGeneres was a creation of the media and that he sincerely misses Paula Abdul.

Simon’s comments came during a lightning round conference call with TV writers Thursday night.

As for Stern replacing him, Simon said, “I’m fairly certain there hasn’t been an approach at any time.”

He repeatedly ducked naming who his choice would be but clearly indicated that if he were making the decision–which he isn’t–it would not be Stern. The fact that the shock jock is even being discussed–mainly by Stern himself–is indicative of a problem with how shows like Idol are being cast, in Simon’s opinion.

“Judges have been replaced by personalities.” Simon noted that the original “Idol” panel–himself, Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul–all had deep roots in music. He thinks whoever replaces him should have similar qualifications.

“It’s like judging figure skating in the Olympics. You have to know what you’re talking about. You can’t be guessing,” Simon said.

“Howard Stern doesn’t seem to fit these qualifications, other than that he played music,” Simon said. ”He was a disc jockey.”

Simon quickly realized that this also could be interpreted as a shot at DeGeneres, a comedian. He said this wasn’t his intention. “As soon as I said that, I realized people were going to misinterpret it.”

He explained that he was thinking about a replacement for him, someone who has run a major recording studio. DeGeneres replaced Abdul, who was a recording artist and dancer.

“Ellen is very responsible. She loves music and she’s an artist.”

The supposed brouhaha between him and Ellen never happened he said. Initial reports were Ellen became livid when Simon was an hour late for her first day on “Idol.”

“The truth is, I turned up 15 or 20 minutes late because I was doing a press conference,” Simon said. ”That wasn’t a problem.”

He misses Paula greatly, Simon said. “Paula’s somebody I got very close to. We hung out after the show. She always made me laugh. It’s like no longer having a good friend on the show.”

This would seem to give credence to stories that Paula will be a part of his new show “The X-Factor.” Alas, that question wasn’t asked during the approximately 20-minute call, whose brevity left many who wanted to ask something shut out.

Even though he’s leaving, Simon said it’s not like he’s going to have his eye on the door this season. “I want to go out on a high. I want this year to be successful. I’ll do everything I can to make that happen.”

“Idol” won’t be hurt by his absence, at least next season, Simon feels. “I think it will help because they’ll be a lot of interest in who’s replacing me. The good news for them is there is no shortage of candidates.”


True Fans of Stern discuss here