DEJA VU BROADCASTING: PAULA ABDUL REJOINS SIMON COWELL AS A JUDGE ON "THE X FACTOR."

Paula Abdul will be back at the judging table with Simon Cowell, this time on Fox's "The X Factor," a person familiar with the negotiations said Saturday.

Though widely expected, confirmation of Abdul's joining the new singing contest was held up as negotiations continued until the eve of the show's first taping, according to the person familiar with the talks. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because Fox and the show's producers had not authorized public comment.

Representatives for Abdul did not respond to requests for comment.

Abdul will be on hand for Sunday's taping in Los Angeles of the first judging session for "The X Factor." This will reunite her with fellow judge Cowell, her former sparring partner on the "American Idol" judging panel. Other previously announced judges include British pop superstar Cheryl Cole and Grammy-winning producer Antonio "L.A." Reid.

"The X Factor," based on Cowell's hit British show, will debut this fall on Fox. More here

SIMON'S LAST DAY ON AMERICAN IDOL AND WHAT HE TOLD RYAN.

Simon Cowell joined Ryan’s radio show earlier yesterday to share his thoughts on his final night of judging on "American Idol."

The always brutally frank Cowell shared that the aspect he won’t miss about “American Idol” is the fact that he “won’t have to do the auditions again." He admitted, "the live shows are fun, it’s the traveling [and] doing auditions [that are] torture.” This, and a short story he recalled about being on a long flight with Ryan who was singing “Party in the U.S.A.,” are part of the reason he’s leaving, he joked.

Cowell revealed that he will miss “the fun” of being part of “American Idol.” He said, “What people don’t know about the show is that there’s absolutely no preparation, and the fact that we’ve gotten away with what we’ve gotten away with, and we can make it up and no one shouts at us.” In true Simon Cowell fashion, he shared that his favorite part was “the fact that [he] got away with [all the craziness].”

Along with pulling fast ones, Cowell said, “the performance I like best is when Fantasia [Barrino] sang ‘Summertime,’ that was my favorite, followed by my worst which was Clay Aiken murdering ‘Grease’ in the red jacket.”

Part of the success of “American Idol” Cowell said he attributes to the fact that “we allowed these shows to be non-politically correct and I think that was the difference, and actually I have to credit Fox with that I don’t think any other network would have allowed what we did on their network.”
When asked about fellow judge Randy Jackson, Cowell said he will always remember “the fact that I’ve never ever understood a single thing [Randy] has said in nine years…I’m not being rude, I don’t know whether he’s complimenting someone or not. I mean all those, ‘Yo dawg, whatever, whatever, whatever,’ I haven’t got a clue.”

Despite Cowell’s departure from “American Idol,” he won’t be taking a break anytime soon. “I don’t have a break, I go straight back to another show [in the U.K.],” he shared. Don’t be too overwhelmed with grief, however, because Cowell will be back to work in the U.S. again in September.

Cowell, as always, left us with a joke. When asked if he’ll ever work with Ryan again he said with a devilish smile, “Never, but I thought about it.”

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CRAZED FAN ATTACKS SIMON COWELL'S EX--TERRI.

The crazed fan who attacked SIMON COWELL's ex-girlfriend on Tuesday night (19May09) has been charged with misdemeanour battery and assault. Janice Thibodeaux attempted to choke TV presenter Terri Seymour after the American Idol finale in Los Angeles. Thibodeaux has claimed the attack was motivated by footage of Cowell pretending to throttle fellow Idol judge Paula Abdul on the show.

She tells RadarOnline.com she approached Seymour to confront her about her former lover's behaviour on a recent episode, during which he placed his hands around Abdul's neck. Thibodeaux was arraigned on Thursday (21May09) and pleaded not guilty. She's due back in court on 4 June (09).

Above is Terri helping Simon's mom on the curb during their dating days.

SIMON COWELL'S GROUP IL DIVO TAKE THE PROMISE TO THE TOP IN THE U.K.

Music mogul SIMON COWELL's operatic group IL DIVO have stormed to the top of the British charts with THE PROMISE. The classical crossover group debuted at number one, ahead of rockers Stereophonics' new hits album. Girls Aloud's Out of Control slipped from the top spot to three on the new album chart.

The Promise is Il Divo's third number one album in the U.K. Other high entries on the new chart included Enya's And Winter Came at six and Christina Aguilera's Keeps Gettin' Better - A Decade of Hits at 10. On the new singles chart, rapper T.I. stormed up the countdown from 39 to two with Rihanna duet Live Your Life, but was no match for the X-Factor version of Mariah Carey's Hero, which stays on top.

The Killers' Human debuted at four. And, in Europe, AC/DC's Black Ice remains the continent's top album for a third week, while the Guru Josh Project's Infinity 2008 stays atop the Eurochart Hot 100 Singles countdown for a second week.

They are HOT! Listen to them sing with our Celine Dion.