Simon Cowell hardly seemed like a man who has just got engaged as he flirted on screen with fellow American Idol judge Kara DioGuardi.

The acid-tongued Brit gazed into DioGuardi’s eyes and moved up close to her after the pair were teased about their chemistry on the hit show.

He also let her rest her head on his shoulder after his Idol sparring partner and host Ryan Seacrest observed they have been “cosying up” during shows.

Seacrest started the show by saying to DioGuardi, who sits next to Cowell on the judging panel: “I notice this year you have been cosying up close to Simon’s plunging neckline there. I was just wondering. You have been scooting your chair closer and closer to Mr Cowell. What’s happening there? Anything you want to tell us?”

DioGuardi seemed taken aback and asked: “Is that a real question? Do you think I have been?”

Then she turned to Cowell and told him: “No, I think you have been kind of moving up to me.”

Cowell suggested it was “50-50”, but DioGuardi added: “You’re not rolling your eyes at me this season, which I kind of enjoy.”

Cowell responded: “You want me, don’t you?”

But the married DioGuardi, who has been accused by some fans of swooning over and flirting with some of the hunky male contestants, said: “I don’t know. There’s a lot of competition with the boys.”

Source: Splash News

Newly-engaged Simon Cowell stunned an American Idol hopeful and his fellow judges by offering to go to church with the deeply religious contestant.

Cowell made the shock offer after wannabe Jermaine Sellers responded to criticism from the judges by telling them: “I want you all to come to church with me one good Sunday.”

But he wasn’t expecting the reply he got from Simon, who instantly replied: “I’ll go to church with you.”

Fellow judge Kara DioGuardi looked gobsmacked and asked Cowell: “Really?”

Cowell shrugged: “Why not?”

Sellers, who described himself as “God-fearing”, thought Cowell was joking and pleaded: “Don’t play. I love the church.”

But Cowell maintained he was serious.

He was soon back to delivering his trademark putdowns to Jermaine, 27, who performed Marvin Gaye’s classic What’s Going On in a bid to get through to the last nine male contenders.

He told him: “I don’t think that was church singing. Church singing kind of gets you. You did a kind of cabaret performance with it.”

American Idol judge Randy Jackson says he is “shocked” by Simon Cowell’s decision to quit the show.

The TV star described it as a “bizarre” move that summed up the unpredictable nature of the US singing contest.

“I was shocked. I knew he was working on his contract and doing things, but it’s just so wild – this show is just so unpredictable,” he said.

Jackson, 53, was asked about Cowell’s announcement during an interview with chatshow host Ellen DeGeneres – a fellow judge on the Idol panel.

He said he knew the music mogul had been discussing his contract – but had no warning of the consequences.

“I’ve been doing this show for nine seasons and the two words I’m really leery of right now are ‘contract negotiations’,” he said. “You never know what that means or where it’s going to go.”

But he added: “There have been so many ups and downs this season and I can’t believe it – it’s just so bizarre.

“Ryan [Seacrest] and I were just talking about it yesterday and we were like, ‘It’s such a wild show, such a ride.’”

Cowell, 50, is leaving American Idol when the current series ends to concentrate on launching the US version of X-Factor.

Simon Cowell’s rep has dismissed reports that he is engaged to new girlfriend Mezhgan Hussainy.

The 50-year-old was said to be engaged to the make-up artist but his publicist and pal Max Clifford has denied the reports.

He said to UsMagazine.com: “I spoke to Simon in London yesterday afternoon, just before he took his flight back to LA. I asked him: ‘Look, are you engaged? Is it true?’ And he said: ‘No! No. I’m not engaged.”

The couple sparked reports when Hussainy, 36, was recently seen wearing a diamond ring while out dining in London.

Mezghan Hussainy, 36, will marry America’s top-earning TV star and a UK international success story when she walks down the aisle for Simon Cowell.

But many were left wondering, who exactly is she and where did she spring from? Few details about the American Idol make-up artist and her relationship have ever been available in the six months since the pair reportedly starting seeing each other.

Worth £120 million, Cowell owns properties including a £15 million mansion in Beverly Hills, a £9 million villa in Barbados and a £7.5 million townhouse in Holland Park, London.

What Hussainy endured in her early life could not be more in contrast. She was forced to flee Afghanistan with her mother Mary, a teacher, her father Sayed, an IT analyst, and three brothers. Fearful the boys would be scooped up by the mujahedeen, the family paid smugglers to help them get out through dangerous mountain territory.

Hussainy recalled: “We had to leave in secret or we would have been killed. We were allowed to take only ­hard-boiled eggs and water with us. We were so scared and hungry and tired. We got shot at once and that’s when the smugglers asked for more money. My mother had sewn cash into her dress so we were able to pay. When we got to Peshawar, I had ­blisters around my lips from being dehydrated.”

The family was able to enter the US, where they had family, and start a new life in Los Angeles. Hussainy started work as a dental hygenist before moving on to make-up and once turned down a chance to work with Cowell on Idol’s first series to work on Seinfeld – but later joined in 2004. They reportedly started to bond as early as that.

Source: Splash News

Simon Cowell’s charity single for Haiti has reached number one in the UK after selling 500,000 copies in one week.

Cowell, 50, helped put the track together with stars such as Susan Boyle, Robbie Williams and Jon Bon Jovi providing their vocals.

X Factor 2008 winner Alexandra Burke, who also sang on the track, told UK newspaper The Sun: “It’s fantastic the single is at No1 and that helping Haiti is on everyone’s agenda.”

Leona Lewis also sang on the single and added: “I’m so pleased that so many people are supporting this record. There are still so many in Haiti that need our help, so please keep giving.”

Ellen DeGeneres showed off her more cut-throat side during her second appearance as a judge on American Idol.

The US chat show host had a say in eliminating hopefuls as the Idol judges cut yet even more contestants from the competition during Hollywood audition week.

The remaining would-be pop stars were put into groups by the show’s producers and had to perform on stage together in front of DeGeneres, Simon Cowell, Kara DioGuardi and Randy Jackson.

And it was DeGeneres who appeared to be the most cutting with her comments, criticising one group’s style of performance.

“It really was weird. You’re dressed like Cirque Du Soleil in all these outfits, it was surreal,” DeGeneres critiqued about one group who called themselves Neopolitan.

But despite her criticism of their performance she put the group through to the next round.

All told, 181 finalists were trimmed down to 12 guys and 12 girls in this week’s auditions.

The show then returns to its live format, where viewers get the chance to vote for their favourites.

The 52-year-old chat-show host spoke out about the recent rumours on a US breakfast radio show.

She said: “Everybody’s been making such a big deal about the tension.

“There’s been a lot of fun on that panel…”

DeGeneres – who has her own TV talk show – insisted that she gets on well with the usually acerbic Cowell, who she dubbed a “funny guy”.

She said: “Simon’s been on the show before and, as you know, we all had dinner before. I think he’s a funny guy. I think he’s a smart guy. I like Simon…

“He’s going to be a challenge. I think he’s Simon and I’m me and we both are completely different people.”

She added: “I think it’s going to be as they say… ‘good television’.”

Speaking about the upcoming live shows, DeGeneres said: “I think it will be fun and I think it will be exciting.

“And I can’t wait to experience that, being there, because I’m such a huge fan and I’ve just watched from home…”

She added: “I like a challenge. So this will be a good challenge.”

The talent show that has launched Jedward and Leona Lewis pipped Strictly Come Dancing. Simon Cowell, who has just signed a mega-deal to export the X-Factor stateside, said: “I said we would win last year and we didn’t so that wasn’t a great feeling. This is much better.”

X-Factor judge Dannii Minogue, who sits at the table with Cheryl Cole, said: “It hasn’t sunk in yet but I can’t wait. As for X-Factor, we haven’t even started talking about the next series but, of course, I would love to be involved.”

Minogue has just announced her pregnancy with boyfriend Kris Smith. Of her future on the show, Cowell said:”I dunno what her dates are like. At the moment she’s having a baby in the middle of the show.”