Simon Cowell: Five Things About American Idol 8

The new season of American Idol kicks off in less than a month; January 13th to be exact.  Here are five things to look out for, care of Simon Cowell:

1. More diverse contestants: “We’ve got an interesting bunch. We got stuck last year with a battle of the blondes — they all looked that same and we couldn’t differentiate one versus the other. We tried to be as broad and as open-minded as possible so we don’t wind up with 12 people from the Stepford Wives.”  Yeah there were a whopping TWO blondes in the top 12.

2. Paula and Kara gang up on him: “What guy would like that, come on? You’ve got two girls ganging up on you. One is hard enough — two is terrible. At least I’ve got Randy by my side.”

3. One of the guys: “We filmed Hollywood Week about a month ago. My memory of that is that the guys, overall, were stronger. Five or six of them stood out more than the girls.”  Yeeesssssss.

4. Clothing-optional: “One [contestant] came in in a bikini. Of course she got a yes from us, the guys, and a no from the girls. Luckily, we got our way. I love [being the tiebreaker]. They hate it. There’s been a few arguments along the way, particularly from the girls when they don’t get their way.”  And then she was cut right away in Hollywood.

5. Star power: “We try every year to get Paul McCartney on, and for whatever reason, he won’t come on. Lionel Richie and Quentin Tarantino, they were brilliant fun, and we’d like those type of people to come back. We just recently had Beyonce on the British version of the show, and she was absolutely incredible, and Britney  was great fun. Britney would literally be first on the list [to appear on 'Idol.'] I would love to see her mentor the contestants. There was more excitement and interest in her [on 'X Factor'] than I’d seen in many, many years. She would be very, very welcome.”

Diverse contestants? Awesome, the more diverse casts always make for a more interesting season (see S5 and compare that to S3 or S6).  Standout male singers? Perfect, the girls are always boring anyways. Britney?? Heck YES, I’ve been wanting them to do a Britney theme for several years now.  I’m still really peeved about the top 36 semi finals format but everything else seems to be shaping up nicely.  And just like usual, we’ll be covering everything….spoilers, song suggestions, show recaps, media and more.  It’s gonna be fun (hopefully!).

And this weekend, season 8 contestant spoilers, for sure.  Be sure to check back!