16 January 2006
As 'American Idol' starts on US television tomorrow, with an anticipated audience of 27 million and advertising charges of more than £13,000 a second, Simon Cowell tells Ciar Byrne how he plans to make his first £100m
Casually attired in faded blue jeans and a long-sleeved green T-shirt that he has somehow managed to singe, Simon Cowell takes a sip of tea and a mouthful of cake, lights a menthol cigarette with an over-sized match from the posh perfumer Jo Malone and settles back on the sofa. His ex-girlfriend Sinitta, the 1980s pop star, whom he helped to make famous and who now works for him, flutters around, half personal assistant, half nursemaid.
Cowell is full of contradictions. Though his public profile is "Mr Nasty", he knows how to turn on the charm. He is also a man who has profited hugely from the business of creating instant celebrity, while working long and hard to attain his own.
Already a successful music talent-spotter when he first came to the public's attention as a judge on the first series of Pop Idol in 2001, Cowell has branched out into television production through his company Syco TV, and he is now worth a reported £35m. He was recently quoted as saying that he would like to be worth £100m "in a few years".
Following a three week winter break in Mauritius with a dozen family and friends including girlfriend Terri Seymour and mum Julie (Cowell, who is often lampooned for wearing high-waisted trousers, was mocked by Heat magazine for his high-waisted swimming trunks on the beach), the 46-year-old will spend the early part of this year at his second home in Los Angeles, where he is filming the fifth series of American Idol.
The US version of Pop Idol, which starts tomorrow on Rupert Murdoch's Fox TV network, is the most-watched show on American television, with ratings averaging more than 27 million. It is also the most expensive programme for advertisers after gridiron's Superbowl, with a 30-second spot costing more than $700,000.
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