“I'll make a decision about (staying or leaving) next year," American Idol creator Simon Cowell said in an interview on Wednesday. "T.i. show could continue for another 10 years.”
But that doesn't mean it has to go on with a bored Simon sitting in the judge's chair. With all the swirling speculation that Kara DioGuardi had been brought in to replace troubled judge, Paula Abdul, it now seems likely that Kara is there to fill Simon's seat.
But producer Simon is still talking up the new season as the bestest ever. He's saying that the male contestants will bring a new level of awesomeness.
"The guys overall, maybe about five or six of them, were just stronger and stood out more than the girls," he told reporters on a conference call yesterday. "But I've said this in the past and been wrong. Anything can happen."
He also believes that the new crop of singers will be much more interesting than what we saw last season.
"Last year, it was sort of like battle of the blonds, and they all looked the same. This year, there seems to be more personality. They're definitely standing up for themselves more, which I like, and they're different from people that we've had before."
Simon says he is also happy to have the wild card round back in rotation, which he says will create "more fun" in the middle stages of the competition.
The show returns for its eighth season with a two-night premiere on January 13-14, 2009.
