Simon Cowell Reveals the Worst Idol Performance He's Ever Seen
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Simon Cowell has seen a lot of bad performances in his day.
What stands out after all these years? Clay Aiken's rendition of Grease.
"It was abysmal!" he said Wednesday on Ryan Seacrest's KIIS-FM radio show. "I remember saying on the night, 'You sound terrible, you look awful!' Two years later, he came into my dressing room with a puppy still really, really upset. But I think, and I've said this before in an interview, the performance I liked best was when Fantasia sang 'Summertime.'"
VIDEO: Watch American Idol's worst auditions ever
Tonight, Cowell, 50, will end his eight-year stint as the tart-tongued judge.
"It never occurred to me until Crystal [Bowersox] mentioned it at the end [Tuesday's program]," he said. "Then I suddenly remembered, 'Gosh, this is my last night.'"
PHOTOS: See Simon and the gang before they were Idol judges
How does he want to go out?
With some music, of course.
He said he wants to hear "Hero" by Enrique Iglesias or "Hero" by Mariah Carey. Jokes Cowell, "There are two choices."
PHOTOS: Look back on this year's top 12 contestants
Cowell -- who will serve as judge and producer on Fox's The X Factor in 2011 -- said he'll miss fellow judge Randy Jackson the most.
"What I love about Randy is he's always in a good mood, genuinely," he said. "If it wasn't for him, I think we would've gone nuts three or four years ago."
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25Sure, Simon. Clay Aiken, the guy with the incredibly superior voice, and super personality, had the worst performance. Will you EVER get off his back???? Grease was just great. Where are your eyes and ears? There were hundreds of worst performances, and Clay NEVER had a bad one. For some reason, he has been your whipping boy for years. You WILL be missed, but mostly by those who enjoy seeing you bring people down.I do appreciate your quick wit, but you are downright mean.
I agree with Jenn..Simon is the best judger ever..
Love you Simon! You are the one that made the show what it was. I can't wait for the new show. You can bet I will be watching. Good luck to you and yours!
I LOVE YOU SIMON
Simon won't be back on Idol. He is starting X-Factor in the US, which is by far a hundred times better than Idol.
Farewell Simon, and good luck with Pretty Records, I'm sure it will be the world's greatest and biggest record label! As you never do things by halves!
He'll be back I'm certain!
There seems to be alot of big names that have stakes in that new Pretty Records venture, including Lady Gaga and Beyonce, makes you wonder what's cooking!
I hear he will be concentrating more on his new record label Pretty Records together with Simon Fuller ( they both run Idol etc ) anyhow, so all the talent he will still spot, and sign them to his new label anyways! He's only leaving the limelight, but not the show as such!
I'll miss you Simon...you were my favourite judge!!!!
will miss simon and he is so right the howdy doody guy oh please Fantasia and summertime cool but so am I when chortling it good song Never hear ms clarkson now will miss simon
i gaurantee you will not hear much of lee, but mark my words !!! here comes crystal...
I think Simon never forgave Clay for getting out of any contractual agreements with Idol, so Simon didn't get his pound of flesh off Clay. Why pick on that performance? I loved it. Because Clay did a little wiggle and wore that cute red jacket. The singing was great as usual. If that's the worst Simon heard, he hasn't been listening all these years! I kind of liked Simon, but not after that final last diss of Clay.
What I had said was that Harry Connick Jr should be the replacement, get rid of Kara;she's useless and as much as I love Ellen, I don't need pie and soup comments;I want professionals. How about Alannis Morrisette? She's amazing.
AI without Simon is like losing half of the ratings. Half tune in to watch singing competition. Half is to watch Simon's comments to the contestants. He is straight forward and honest. Cruel but that's how people get better. You can see all the contestants really just care about Simon's comments. All 3 judges can say how bad and wasn't good enough, but once you hear Simon says something positive, the contestant would look relieved and happy! Simon rules!!
Not Hayy, Harry. I can't believe I did that!!
I think the one way that AI could survivie is to get Hayy Connick Jr as one of the judges. GREAT since of humor, personality, and not hard to look at either. Also, Kara has to go. She's useless. I love Ellen, but I want to hear professionals, not comments about soup, pie etc.
Simon is really losing his hearing if he thinks Clay's sing Grease was the worst performance in AI history.Does he actually listen to the contestance or does he just blabber like Kara? I think Simon is jealous of Clay because Clay copped a feel of his girlfriends breasts. By the way, why hasn't Clay been on AI sense the season 5 finale?
i will miss simon so much. he was so honest and cruel sometimes but again, honest! and he was hilarious with his comments. i wish he'd stay! :(
Tonight was my last Idol show, too. I refuse to watch it anymore without Simon. It is pure delusion to think it can go on without him (when he said it would tonight, he was just being gracious). And if they think Madonna, Elton John, or any of the other PITIFUL names they have been kicking around is going to come even remotely close to being a suitable replacement, they are absolutely beyond clueless. Simon IS American Idol, and if they have any sense left, they will do everything in their power to get him to reconsider.