Simon Cowell
Simon Cowell
Simon Phillip Cowell is an English reality television judge, entrepreneur, philanthropist, film, record, and television producer. He is most recognized as a judge on the British TV talent competition series Pop Idol, The X Factor, and Britain's Got Talent, and the American TV talent competition shows American Idol, The X Factor, and America's Got Talent. Cowell owns the television production and music publishing house Syco...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionEntrepreneur
Date of Birth7 October 1959
CityLondon, England
Most things in music go full circle eventually.
I hate belongings. I hate clutter. It really bothers me because I can't think properly. If you've got distractions in front of you, your mind goes nuts.
The only people with power today are the audience. And that is increasing with Twitter, Facebook, and everything else. We cater to their likes and dislikes, and you ignore that at your peril.
When I think of invention, I always think of America. You're always seeing ads: 'Have you got the next big idea?' There seems to be that spirit in America of inventions and inventors.
I've never liked the idea you have to be a certain age to be a pop star. I like the idea that anybody can enter, anybody can compete.
We have hated the French for years. Now you have just joined the club. It makes you much more likable.
I've learned to deal with stress much better now, things don't bother me in the way that they once used to.
I don't want to tell a 15 or 14 year old what they should be doing. I want them to tell me. And that's what I got when I met Justin Bieber for the first time.
My dad did teach me a very important lesson about people when he explained to me that everybody around you will have an invisible sign on their head, which says, "Make me feel important."
I've had Botox, but then again pretty much everyone I know has. To me, Botox is no more unusual than toothpaste. It works. You do it once a year - who cares?
I can't stand stage mothers. It doesn't work. You definitely feel that with the new generation of pop stars right now they've all managed to work it out for themselves. You have to have confidence in that. When you're young, you know your market better than I will. I love having young people on the show because I can learn from them.
I have very good advice to give to kids this age, which is, you shouldn't listen to your mum or dad and you just have to work it out for yourself. And the reason I've taken the age range down this year, and I never would have done it 10 years ago, is what I've seen with the success of Willow Smith. You don't have to be so cutesy anymore.
My attitude is, if someone's going to criticize me, tell me to my face.
I want people to understand that from the minute Lady Gaga arrived, she created a new set of rules: being different is good; embrace it.