On Thursday night’s The X Factor, diminutive rapper Astro (a.k.a. 15 year-old Brian Bradley) found himself in the bottom two, facing elimination, alongside singer Stacy Francis. Unlike American Idol, the judges have the final say in who gets eliminated from the bottom two (who are determined by fan vote) on The X Factor. A pouting Astro, finding out about his fate, took the stage for his performance saying, “I really don’t want to perform, I feel it’s unnecessary.” After being urged to rap, he did a half-hearted performance that prompted L.A. Reid to say he quit.

CNN host Piers Morgan defended himself on Twitter Tuesday morning against suggestions that he had any involvement with phone hacking while he was editor of recently shuttered News of the World, but that didn’t stop the scandal from jumping to his cushy entertainment gig as a judge on NBC’s America’s Got Talent. Fellow judge Howie [...]

Well finally we know the answer that’s on everyone’s mind: who will replace Simon Cowell, Ellen DeGeneres and Kara DioGuardi as judges on American Idol? Rumors that Jennifer Lopez had already inked a deal to join the only returning judge Randy Jackson appear to be true. The two of them will be joined by Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler.

Simon Cowell says Piers Morgan will be a CNN host, and while CNN/U.S. President Jon Klein isn’t talking about the possibility, no one at the network is outright disputing it either.

So if Piers Morgan does take over the 9pmET slot this fall when Larry King leaves, and I believe he will, let’s take a look at what the CNN audience is in for.

Leave it to Simon Cowell, the most brutally honest person on TV, to potentially break the news that yes, CNN is indeed hiring Piers Morgan to replace Larry King.

During a brief interview with Extra TV, Cowell said he personally helped “broker the deal.” As in, done deal.

If the ‘Lee Wins Idol’ headline Drudge was running an hour before the winner was announced was anything to go by the results of tonight’s American Idol was not a total shock. Unless, of course, you watched last night’s show during which Crystal Bowersox was clearly far and away the better performer. Regardless! America has spoken and Lee DeWyze, the former paint-seller, is America’s new idol.

During a performance by the comedian Dane Cook mocking the various offensive things Simon Cowell has said to audtionees over the years one of the people on the stage playing a misfit who didn’t make the cut — or perhaps it was an actual person Simon had offended! — grabbed the microphone and began to yell at Cowell. It was a minute before the producers appeared to realize this wasn’t part of the show and zoomed away to break.

The UK parliamentary elections are tomorrow, and the Conservative Party is taking over the news cycle with the blessing of reality TV celebrity and music mogul Simon Cowell. In a profile in The Sun which has been rapidly aggregated throughout UK media, Cowell endorsed Tory candidate David Cameron for Prime Minister and gave him a mandate to change the course of the country. It seems people across the pond take celebrity endorsements a little more seriously than we do, but then again, is there a celebrity that occupies the same cultural space as Cowell in America?

Remember how the storyline when Conan O’Brien hosted the Tonight Show was that he could win in the younger demographics but would lose in total viewers?

Well, after a first week back of big ratings and victories over CBS, Jay Leno and the new old Tonight Show lost to David Letterman in the demos Monday night.

Is Simon Cowell hoping that the “We are the World” remake benefiting the victims of the Haitian earthquake is a failure? Although he’s not wishing ill to the people of Haiti, he has his own charity single coming out, and he’s not about to let Quincy Jones beat him on the pop charts if he has his way.

On Sunday, we summarized Scott Brown‘s high-profile sit down on This Week with Barbara Walters, but never addressed what is perhaps Brown’s biggest legacy so far. That’s right: his daughters are “available!” When Barbara brought it up, Brown motioned with a gun to his head, and then made an offer, on behalf of Ayla, to Simon Cowell of American Idol.

This year, it was Paula Abdul. Next year it will be Simon Cowell.

FOX and Cowell announced today this season would be his last with mega-hit American Idol, and beginning in 2011 he would be bringing his very American Idol-like X Factor across the pond and host the show for FOX as well.

Is Simon Cowell, seen by many knowledgeable observers as “the only reason to watch American Idol,” about to depart from said American Idol at the end of this season? Simon Cowell’s brother Tony (Cowell) said as much on his podcast, “The Cowell Factor.” After a bit of hesitation on the media’s part, the story has traversed the gossip blogs and been picked up by the Associated Press, ABC News, and other outlets. So: is Simon Cowell actually leaving American Idol? And if so, does the show have a chance?

This morning on the Today Show, weekend anchor Lester Holt unveiled his Halowe’en costume: Susan Boyle. It was…impressive! So impressive that even Piers Morgan would have flirted with him. Amy Robach was Simon Cowell, looking a little like Natalie Portman with her fetching pixie boy-cut. Adorbs.

On today’s (long) opener Glenn Beck (doing his best Clark Kent impression) rendered his own particular version of the age-old “kids these days” tirade. Kids these days are pro-Obama health care: “Like, dude, why would you be against free health care…it’s, like, free pot and stuff.” Kids these days are a generation of “would-be killers” in the making.

With the appointment of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court a near-fait accompli, America turns its attention, today, to another important vacancy: The spot on the American Idol bench that Paula Abdul abdicated earlier this week via Twitter. Of the possible suggested contenders Meghan McCain was by far the most interesting. Here’s what she had to say about it.

Paula Abdul will not be back as a judge on American Idol, as she reported first on her Twitter feed last night. Why did she pull the trigger – especially when reports say she didn’t necessarily have to?

Abdul has spent eight seasons on the highly-rated show, and rumors she was thinking about leaving have floated for the last couple years. But few thought it would happen. In fact, some didn’t buy it when the news first came out.

It’s hard for me to admit this. Because I’d like to have a $15 million a year job. But I think the American Idol producers will get their money’s worth after signing Ryan Seacrest to a 3-year contract.

American Idol is one of the only shows I seem to be able to make time for regularly. I’ve long said it’s a near-perfect reality television creation, and the masses seem to agree.