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News Articles and Interviews

Recent Appearances:   Simon on Regis and Kelly:   Regis: How are you getting along with Paula Abdul? Tell us the truth Simon: Famously Regis: You're a single guy...is Paula married? S: Uh, funny enough no...what a surprise of the world Regis: There seems to be, you detect the same thing (talking towards Kelly), there seems to be the more than usual chemistry between the two of you Simon: She is in love with me Regis: Now, now wait a minute. That could be, that could be. Sure Simon: Yes Regis: I can understand that Simon: She looks at me like a dog looks at a can of dog food when the dog's hungry and you're opening the tin can of dog food and the dog's like 'give it to me.' Kelly: Really? Regis: How do you handle that? Do you encourage that? Simon: Uh, not really no. She just accepts it. I accept it Kelly: But what about your girlfriend? Does Terri get jealous? Simon: No Kelly: C'mon Simon: A little bit Kelly A little bit? Simon: No, she's cool. She wasn't too happy about the kissing sequence we did on the final. I must admit, I looked at it back and it was like whoa! Regis: You and Paula kissed Simon: Yes Regis: It almost got as muct attention as the Britney/Madonna kissing Simon: Yeah Another recent excerpt from a Simon interview from the Today Show:   Interviewer: I forgot to ask you about Paula Abdul. Do you guys get along? Is it unrequited love? You know it reminds me sometimes like two kids on a playground...she has a crush on you, you have a crush on her. What gives? Simon: Um, if I don't like somebody I'm very polite. So then I think you can draw from that, um, 'you must like Paula.' I'm so comfortable with her that I feel we can kind of criticize each other. Listen, there are times when I hate her guts. Interviewer: (laughs) Simon: Trust me, she hates me a lot more. Interviewer: It's not that you hate her, right? It's just sort of her style. She has a different approach than do you about telling these kids if they're going to be a success or not. Simon: No, it's her. Interviewer: (laughs) Simon: It's just one of those relationships. I mean, deep down I love her too death. I honestly, honestly do and I say in the book at the end, I suddenly realized how integral she was to the show. But the first couple of years when we began to work with each other, that was tough. I mean for her and for me.     Simon Cowell: You Ask the Questions 11 December 2003 Simon Cowell was born in London in 1959. He went to school in Hertfordshire and achieved local infamy at the age of 11 when he held up the school bus with a pea- gun. His involvement with pop music began in 1979 at EMI publishing, where he worked his way up from making the tea, and then left to establish his own company, Fanfare. By 1989, he was an A&R consultant for BMG, and signed, among others, Curiosity Killed The Cat, 5ive and Robson & Jerome. His greatest success came with the Irish boy band Westlife, who have had seven consecutive No 1 singles (and 11 in total), breaking a record previously held by The Beatles. Cowell is notorious now for his high waistband and withering put-downs on ITV's Pop Idol, and is set to guest star in an episode of The Simpsons next season as a nursery-school admissions officer. He and his girlfriend Terri Seymour divide their time between London and LA. What is the worst Christmas record of all time? Alison Cavendish, London "The Millennium Prayer" [by Cliff Richard]. I found the whole thing revolting. I couldn't listen to the record. It wound me up. It was so premeditated. Could Tony Blair have made it as a pop star? Toby Wilson, Exeter Yes, because he's one of the most ambitious people in the world. His ambition would outweigh his talent, but he would be able to reason away the fact that he couldn't sing.  [ROFL!] Would you accept an honour for services to pop music? Mia Hutchins, Surbiton Yes, I would accept anything, but I don't think I'm likely to get one. The Queen once described me as "that dreadful man". At 17, Gareth Gates was a huge star because of you. What were you doing when you were 17? Dominic Wright, Henley I was working as a runner on a TV series called The Return of the Saint at Elstree Studios, earning £15 a week. I loved it. I just wanted to get into the film business or music industry at that age, so I didn't really care what I was doing. Do you listen to music by any of your acts at home? Is Westlife always on the stereo? Do you sing 5ive songs in the bath? Pamela Hayton, Colchester No. If I've just finished a track, I play it in the car, just to listen to the mix. I don't listen to an awful lot of music at home. It's a bit like working in a fish and chip shop: you don't eat fish and chips for dinner. Do you script all your Pop Idol put-downs? Judith Burrows, Beaconsfield No. The only way you can judge the singers is to go in there each time with a blank mind. That's why I don't go to rehearsals, or I'd be tempted to think of something to say in advance. There are occasions when you watch the auditions on TV, and they say that their dog died that morning and that they hope, in memory of their dog, to get through. Then they sing, I tear them to pieces, and they walk out and burst into tears. That's not particularly pleasant, but there's nothing you can do about that. I've never felt guilty. I'd feel guilty about giving people false hope. Which young solo singer around at the moment do you predict will go on to be as famous as Madonna or Michael Jackson? Antonia Harris, Shrewsbury Probably Daniel Bedingfield. He's a very, very good songwriter. He's naturally gifted and a very smart and talented guy. He's a rarity. He can just keep producing these brilliant songs. This year, he wrote one of the best pop songs I've ever heard - "If You're Not The One". I think he could be the next Elton John. How would you describe your own singing voice? Paul Archer, Guildford Absolutely appalling. The last time I sang in public was New Year's Eve, on holiday in Mauritius, and I was thrown off the stage. It was karaoke, I was singing Frank Sinatra's "Something Stupid", and one of the guests complained. Is there a God? Chester Tuckey, London I'm not sure, but I do hope so. I do occasionally pray. Who is your pop idol? Peter Dempsey, by e-mail Frank Sinatra. I love his voice and I love his songs. He, to me, was just the coolest of the lot. The Pop Idol judges, especially Foxy, are very preoccupied with the contestants' physical appearance as well as their talent. Can a true pop idol be overweight? Antonia Cripps, Inverness Yes, providing that they've got charisma, they can be huge. Look at Pavarotti or Meat Loaf - you don't even think about their size. It's just them, great personalities, great voices, great aura. There is a difference, however, between being big and being out of shape. If you're a big person naturally, you're a big person. If you're out of shape, then, yes, I would advise somebody to lose weight. It's probably better to be either very large or slim. Aren't you being hypocritical when you dismiss Pop Idol singers as "karaoke" when three of your acts - Sonia, 5ive, Robson & Jerome - won record contracts by exhibiting that quality? Gary Clark, London I don't think you can sell seven million albums in two years, as Robson & Jerome did, if you're an ordinary karaoke singer. What was the first pop concert you went to? Rowena Barnett, Towcester It was Elton John in Hammersmith. I was probably about 17 or 18. It was brilliant. Will Gareth Gates and Will Young still be around in five years' time? Jonty Smith, Banbury It depends on their records. If I had to pick one of them, on current performance I'd have to say Will. He has the better voice. Did the joke about your "high trousers" come to bother you? Lisa Jones, Shrewsbury It got to the point where I realised, every time I met someone for the first time, that they were staring at my waistband so I thought it was time for the T-shirts to be untucked. I haven't a clue where it came from. I think Ant [the Pop Idol co-presenter] said it once and it just stuck. If the Conservative Party put you in charge, could you turn it round? Lee Thurrock, Manchester Yes. They should stop being pompous and start putting forward issues that the public are in favour of, like banning fox-hunting. I could do a better job than they have. Is fame better than anonymity? Jeremy Andrew, Sittingbourne I'm not famous, I'm well known. Is it better to be well known than not? In my job, yes, because it opens doors. I do get approached, but it's not a bad thing. It shows you that people like the show. Article From In Touch (4/19/2003) American Idol's Paula and Simon: What's Really Going On? Simon Cowell tells In Touch about his new, surprising feelings for Paula Abdul.   Well it be sweet-and-dreamy Clay, soul powerhouse Ruben, or maybe the watch-out-Whitney diva Trenyce? While viewers wait with bated breathe to see who will be crowned the next American Idol and who will be bumped off each week, it's not just the possibility of watching a star being born that keeps the country tuned in. What keeps millions of viewers glued to the screen every Tuesday night is the flirting and fighting between judges Simon Cowell and Paula Adbul. The two are constantly at each other's throats, trading barbs like a couple of love-struck teenagers. But what is the true story--is it love, or is it hate? In Touch got the truth straight from the judge's mouth. "I just really, really love her," Simon tells In Touch, without the slightest hint of sarcasm. "We've always had this love-hate relationship. When we were on the road during the audition process, we were stuck on planes and trains together, and we just couldn't look at each other." Calling a Truce Simon pauses, as if he's about to deliver one of his trademark insults, before admitting, "But suddenly--things just changed. We hadn't been forced together for a while and we just started getting along. We worked out what each other was about." This is quite an about-face for Simon, who spent most of his time both on and off air dismissing Paula's talents during Idol's first season. In response to a question about a rumor that Paula would duet with the Idol winner, Simon quipped, "They should only let her sing backing vocals. Quietly. And let her choreograph the video." Paula, for her part, seemed equally unimpressed by Simon. "He's got claws and fangs, but he doesn't pee on my furniture, so I can handle that," she said in July last year. This season, however, a truce between the two hosts turned into a friendship that's playful and flirtatious--and even looks a little romantic. Audience members at the show's live tapings have been surprised to see Simon leaning on Paula's chair and giving her gentle neck rubs during breaks. The pair seem to be constantly whispering and giggling when the cameras are not on them. What caused this shift in the relationship? "After seeing all the other talent shows which followed American Idol, I just realized how good Paula is," admits Simon. "The judges on other shows are useless, and she's just so unique and funny. She is so weird that she cracks me up. All I have to do is look at her and she makes me laugh." Is it possible that Simon and Paula could make beautiful music together? "But the way she looks at me, I believe she has a major crush on me," reports Simon. "She looks at me like a dog looks when you're holding a can of food!" If her recent onscreen commentary is any indication, Paula holds a similar suspicion about her co-host. Last week, Paula flirtatiously commented she believed in what one of the contestants was saying "as much as I think Simon wants to kiss me right now." She may be right. Simon has certainly become very fond of his co-star. He says: "Don't change--you are amazing the way you are." Recent Lifetime Magazine 2/20   Paula Abdul -- No stopping her now! No stopping her now! She was a big star in the 90s, but after a public battle with bulimia and two failed marriages, she was relegated to the "Where are they now?" category. American Idols put her back in the spotlight and shes going to make sure its for good. If Paula Abdul seems unfazed by Simon Cowell, her tongue-lashing co-star on American Idol, well, thats because shes been standing up to bullies since she was a kid growing up in North Hollywood. "My mom always worked as an assistant to the president of companies like Warner Brothers and the Screen Actors Guild," Paula recalls. "One day, when I was about 8, she came home from work really upset about her boss, who was a tyrant. It made me so upset that I wrote him a letter that said, Stop being mean to my mommy. I didnt get a response, but she also didnt get fired." Wow, for a tiny woman (shes 51"), she sure has big cojones! Paula laughs and takes a sip of hot chocolate. Shes sitting in the corner of a booth in the otherwise empty Fox studio commissary, winding down at the end of another long day. Apparently everyone else has gone home, but Paula-whos dressed in a black-and-white checkered shirt, black pants and pony-hair fedora-is still buzzing with energy. Paula, 41, has been in show business for nearly 20 years, but talks as passionately about the peaks, plateaus and pits of her career as if they all happened yesterday: Shes still very proud of her days as the Los Angeles Laker Girls choreographer, which launched her career. She talks nostalgically about the perks of pop music superstardom in the late 80s after her debut album, Forever Your Girl, sold 12 million copies. She recounts her seven-year exile from the spotlight, and shes truly grateful for her astonishing comeback on American Idol, arguably the most popular variety show since Ed Sullivans. "Im like the Forrest Gump of the business," Paula says. "Its been a wild ride." Michael Bolton babysat her when she was a kid, she taught Janet Jackson her signature Control dance moves, and she choreographed Tom Hanks famous piano keyboard scene at FAO Schwarz in the movie Big. The list goes on, but Paulas most amazing story is how she beat bulimia. "Its one of the biggest accomplishments in my life, equal to my career accomplishments," she says. Held hostage by her scale Paulas bulimia started when she was in high school, but the seed of the illness was planted when she was 7 by a clueless ballet teacher. "It was pointed out to me in front of the entire class that I didnt have a normal body, so to speak," says Paula, who was not rail-thin like stereotypical dancers. "And I hate to place blame, because I guarantee she didnt mean to be the root cause of my eating disorder. She didnt cause it. It was my thought process." For 16 years-through high school, the Laker Girls, pop success and even a two-year marriage to Brat-Packer Emilio Estevez-Paula hid her self-destructive secret. By 1994, she had sold millions of records, but she wasnt happy. She had a warped perception of her body and her weight. Bulimia for Paula wasnt primarily about purging-although she did do that-it was more about obsessively calculating calories and over exercising. "Ive said in the past I exercised four hours a day, but it was more," Paula says. "It was ridiculous. And its a very isolating disorder. I let it consume most of my day, worrying, Oh God, how am I gonna burn off what I just ate? I felt like I was in such hell. But you dont dare tell anyone about it because theyll look at you like youre a freak." The turning point came in July 1994, when Paula burned out physically from all the exercise and was so emotionally drained that she couldnt live with the illness anymore. "I realized I deserved to have peace in my life," Paula says. "God did not intend for me to be a prisoner to my closet, to my scale, to keep me isolated from others." She checked herself into the Laureate Psychiatric Clinic and Hospital in Tulsa for a 45-day program. "Its a difficult disorder. With drugs, you just dont take drugs, and with alcohol, you just dont drink. But with bulimia, you have to learn to have a relationship with food." The program was successful, and today Paula refuses to diet, allows herself to eat "just about anything" and refuses to be "crazy" about exercise. And to ensure that her recovery stays on track, she has followed a system using happy-face stickers. "On a calendar, I check off the days that Ive eaten at least three meals and done a reasonable amount of exercise," she says. "That is equal to a happy-face sticker. At the end of the month, there are usually more happy-face stickers than not. And I feel like I dont enter into that zone of having to be bulimic. Im not going to say that I dont have my I feel fat days," adds Paula, whos currently a member of the National Eating Disorders Associations Ambassadors Council. "Of course I do. Im just like everybody else. But I dont let it monopolize my life. People say, How do you stay thin? I just say, I got on with my life. Im not a prisoner." Even though Paula was healthy, there were more hard times to come. Two months before treatment, she and Estevez had filed for divorce because of their conflicting and overloaded career schedules. She spent five years having surgery for neck injuries and a bulging herniated disc around her vocal chords. In 1995, her third studio album, Head Over Heels, tanked. For the six years following, Paula was under the radar but still working overtime behind-the-scenes, choreographing movies such as American Beauty and Jerry Maguire. In 1996, she wed a second time to Starter sporting goods heir Brad Beckerman, but the marriage ended acrimoniously after only 17 months. "Ive learned a tremendous amount from past relationships," Paula says. "I want true companionship. I want to always be honest. Brutally honest. And I also want laughter, and someone whos humble and who has his own thing going on, and is confident enough to let me soar." When Paulas most recent boyfriend, Smith & Wesson director Colton Melby, is mentioned, she stares down at the table. "Its a bad topic," she says quietly. "Im having second thoughts right now. Love is wonderful but its also a mystery. Every time you think you get it and you got it and you know it and you have it, you dont. Love is weird. Love doesnt make sense at all." Nor does the fact that she hasnt had children. "Im kinda sad," she says. "I thought by now Id have kids but it didnt work out that way. I can always adopt. Who knows? Im a mom anyway. Im a surrogate mom to hundreds of thousands of kids from my cheerleading camps and kids on American Idol." The brains for business, the bod for dancing Paula has always loved children-and has run cheerleading camps for them. In fact, her goal is to create a sort of Paula Abdul Inc. by branding the dance/cheerleading market. Paula has dance in her blood-she even dreams about it in the middle of the night. "I see snapshots, like a Polaroid, of a dance sequence," Paula says. "I have a video camera set up in my bedroom and Ill get up half-asleep, turn it on and start dancing. I look the next morning to see what I was doing." Does she ever worry that a video of her prancing around in her pjs could hit the Internet? "Trust me-its not as interesting as the Paris Hilton tape!" Paula recently filmed a television pilot called Skirts, about a dance-cheer squad. Shes also working on her first new record in nine years, and is in negotiations to launch her jewelry line, Innergy-some of the Idol contestants wore its pieces during the last season-plus a line of active wear retailers. Near and dear to her heart, though, because she loves kids so much, is landing a coveted spot on the Presidents Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. "Ive written a letter [to President Bush]. I havent heard back yet," she says. "Hey, I just figure if you put it out there, it might happen. I feel Im a perfect candidate for that." Seven years ago, when Paula first proposed her grand to be the Oprah of the dance/cheer genre, she says her reps at the William Morris Agency just rolled their eyes and said, "Whatever." Luckily, she has never been one to listen to naysayers. "Early in my career, I got the door slammed in my face so many times because I didnt look the part. Back then, it was all about being tall or about T&A. I never fit the mold. And it was always me going, I wish someone would just let me dance, damn it. Let me just show what Ive got. Id try out for anything, and Id get cut just based on what I looked like. I got so disenchanted. But I thought, Im going to do everything I possibly can to dance, sing, act-perform somehow." Two steps forward, one step back Paula credits her mom, Lorraine, for her indefatigable work ethic and drive. "My mother was basically the one who raised my sister and me because my dad wasnt around that much," says Paula. Although her parents divorced when she was 7, she remains very close to her father, Harry, the retired owner of a water bottling company. "Im so connected to him," she says. "It doesnt matter if I dont see him for a while. I love my mom to pieces, but theres a connection I have with my dad that I cant explain. Were like two peas in a pod." Paula started taking dance lessons at the age of 8. Later she was accepted to The Juilliard School, but "I didnt go because I couldnt face living in New York," she says. "It scared me." Instead, she enrolled at California State University, Northridge, to study broadcasting. To make extra money, she auditioned to be a Los Angeles Laker cheerleader. At 17, she was selected from among 1,000 hopefuls and soon named the choreographer. Under Paulas directions, the Laker Girls became so famous that Marlon and Jackie Jackson asked her to choreograph a video for the Jacksons 1984 Victory album. After that, Paula helped Janet Jackson on Control-from then on, every artist wanted Paula to teach them to dance. "I was beside myself that I was getting paid money to choreograph these artists," she says. "I mean, it was my dream." But it took more hard work and a chance meeting for phase two of the dream to be realized. In the late 80s, Paula took a six-week course taught by trend guru Faith Popcorn at UCLA. "She was shocked at the questions this punk kid was asking," Paula remembers. "I asked if rap would last forever. If active wear was going to transpire into evening wear. I wanted to see if I was on the right track. And according to her, I was." Around then, Paula was choreographing a music video for the movie Dragnet when she met two fledgling record producers in the recording studio next door. They agreed that in exchange for her choreographing their video, they would produce a song on an album Paula was working on. Forever Your Girl and her follow-ups went on to sell more than 30 million copies (and today Antonio "L.A." Reid and Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds are hugely powerful music moguls). Paula won two Emmy awards, a Grammy and seven MTV awards, palled around with famous people like Arsenio Hall and dated John Stamos. The fun times bottomed out after her third album sold dismally. For the next five years, Paula was gone from the public eye. Finally in 2001, the phone call that ensured her place in pop-culture history came: A producer from British TV show Pop Idol called to get Paulas permission for the contestants to sing a song she wrote. Shortly thereafter, Paula called the producer back and told her shed love to choreograph the final show. It didnt work out, but seven months later, Fox called. They said, "We want you to do American Idol." Almost instantly, sweet Paula became the mother hen of the show. When the cameras stop rolling, Paula says that while judges Simon Cowell and Randy "Dawg" Jackson are out celebrating a successful taping, she spends the next two hours in her dressing room commiserating with the contestants. "Simon said something to me once that was very true," she says. "Being him is much easier than being me. He doesnt care. After the show, the kids dont go to Randy and Simons room. They go to my room. I cant turn them away because thats not my nature," she says. "Theyre sad and theyre crying. They dont understand that you cant take it personally. Its a TV show. Im the mommy and Simons the daddy," she adds. "Theyre always looking for the approval from the daddy. Mommy does all the work nurturing and then at the end, its still like, Daddy, please like me! Please like me! I swear to God, I am used up. Mothers milk is used up!" But just because Simon and Paula have the parental thing going on, have no fear that they will ever head down the aisle together, even a grocery store aisle. Asked if they hang outside Idol, Paula puts her head on the table and wails, "God, no!" In Simons new book, I Dont Mean to Be Rude, But...: Backstage Gossip form American Idol & the Secrets That Can Make You a Star, he wrote that Paula had a crush on him when they first met. "Hes a liar!" she screams with laughter. "He wishes. Hes crazy. We hated each other for sure. We get each other now. I know how to work him. He says he makes me look good. I said, No, see the truth is, Simon, I make you look good. I soften you. He has said horrible things to me on the show. He says now that he did that purposely to make me a better judge, and I just laugh. Of course, Simon. I learn everything from you because you are the man. And I learned that you have to do that to men. Its the male ego! But I understand who Simon is and what hes all about. And I can honestly say I enjoy the relationship we have now." Paula sees the method to his madness-which is to demonstrate that the business is brutal. If anyone understands that, its Paula. "Simons goal is to show its gonna take a lot of character and tenacity to make it. So what if there are Simons out there? If you believe in yourself and you have talent, it will prevail. If you dont have talent, you wont. Im living proof that you cant wait for an opportunity to happen. Youve got to make it happen for yourself."