Simon Cowell has just become Britain’s first billion dollar television earner.

Cowell signed a mega-entertainment deal with Sony to take the hit show The X Factor on the road to Las Vegas.

Cowell, who quit American Idol for the X Factor deal, said: “I have had a fantastic relationship with Sony for many years and I’m delighted we are launching this venture together.”

The top-earning television star in the US is now on track to make £500million ($816million) in the next two years on the back of the sale of The X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent formats, the UK Mirror reports.

Cowell, 50, and The X Factor have churned out such real-flesh sensations as Leona Lewis, Alexandra Burke and Susan Boyle.

Boyle, aka SuBo, has achieved the astonishing feat of making the fastest-selling album in history.

Cowell will also sign an ITV deal worth a further £10million in the next 10 days.

Ged Doherty, the chief of Sony in the UK, said Cowell was an “inspiring and stimulating business partner”.

If all the rumors are true, the upcoming season of X Factor is shaping up to be amazing. Simon Cowell is reportedly bringing in Robbie Williams on to be the 5th judge at the panel – just one of a slew of demands that the Brit has laid on ITV. The other requests includes upping the number of finalists from 12 to 16, extending the series by a month, moving the live shows to London’s Wembley Arena and replacing Dannii Minogue with a new female judge. As far as bringing the former Take That singer as the 5th judge, Simon said that Robbie’s “fun, he’s got good instincts, he doesn’t take himself too seriously and he’s a fun guy to be around.”

It’s such a pity the success got into Lady GaGa’s head so quickly. The artist apparently had a few very extravagant requests for her performance on “The X Factor”: she wanted butterflies and lambs on the stage. This what a source said about Lady GaGa’s requests: “Simon wanted her on the show because he knows she will put 110 per cent into the performance. She is always way out there with her costumes and dance routines. But not even he was prepared for what she had in mind. He thought the animals request was a joke but then realized it was Lady Gaga. Simon is an animal lover and wasn’t against having the lambs running around, but he said no because of health and safety.” Well, well… who does Lady GaGa’s behavior reminisce of? Remember the kitty request from the Diva? Dark path is Lady GaGa heading down on.

Simon Cowell has reportedly picked Miley Cyrus’s single The Climb as the X Factor winner’s track.

The 50-year-old judge and mentor is said to have gone for the Disney star’s song as he is aiming the single at the teenage market.

It is claimed that he is sure Joe McElderry, 18, will win the show.

According to UK newspaper The Sun, he said to friends: “I think Joe will win. More women and girls will vote for him than anyone else.”

All four of the final contestants on the show – Olly Murs, Danyl Johnson, Stacey Solomon and Joe – have all performed their own version of the hit single at rehearsals.

The British prime minister did not mince words when he said The X Factor twin contestants were not very good.

Gordon Brown pronounced his judgement on John and Edward Grimes, aka Jedward, a double act that is making its way past the trials of the highly rated UK reality talent show.

Mr Brown, a self-avowed X Factor fan, told Manchester radio station Key 103 that he did not rate the twins but that some of the other contestants were “really good”.

When he took questions from an audience of young people from Manchester, Mr Brown admitted: “I don’t think they’re very good.”

He added: “There are some really good people on X Factor. It’s really good. And I know it’s competing with Strictly Come Dancing.”

Teen actress Brooke Vincent (pictured) of Coronation Street joked: “You’re like, quite high up there. You’re like a top dog, aren’t you? So you could like ring in, and say ‘we don’t want ‘em’.”

Mr Brown then asked the audience: “Does anyone want John and Edward to win X Factor?”

Two said yes.

UK’s The X Factor winner Alexandra Burke recently released a brand new video for her song ‘Bad Boys’ featuring rapper Flo Rida. The song is the lead single from the singer’s upcoming debut album ‘Overcome’, which is scheduled to come out on October 12. The video was directed by Bryan Barber, who also did Kelly Clarkson’s ‘I Do Not Hook Up’ and Outkast’s ‘Hey Ya’. Personally, I haven’t watched Alexandra’s video yet. But considering that the company she’s keeping have good things going for them, I’m going to trust my gut and say that I think it’s a good video regardless if I haven’t watched it yet. You be the judge.
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Big name TV stars Simon Cowell and Piers Morgan are not worth the money they are paid, according to more than nine in 10 people polled in the UK.

Eighty percent of 2000 people polled think that television’s bright lights need their salaries slashed.

Nine percent of those polled thought Cowell, of Britain’s Got Talent and X Factor, and Big Brother judge Davina McCall, deserved their salaries. That figure dropped to a mere six percent in the case of Piers Morgan, also of BGT.

The BBC, meanwhile, has drawn criticism for refusing to release details of the individual salaries it pays to talent. The poll found 82 percent believe the pay of the BBC’s stars should be made public, with 76 percent believing a cap should apply to what the public corporation pays celebs.

A BBC spokesperson said: “We remain sensitive to the public’s view that we should not pay more than is necessary and we are committed to even greater transparency and accountability to Licence Fee payers. We have already begun to reduce the amount we pay top stars and in future we will disclose the total amount we spend on talent each year while maintaining appropriate confidentiality.”

Source: Splash News