don't we all...

I thought that ghetting Alex to phone the mother of the sick child and been on the 10 oclock news saying that SHE spoke to Simon and he agreed about the money was a very cheap publicity when everyone else was anonymous

He cant be right all the time. Gareth Gates did alright for a year or two after Pop Idol. It was the Jordan thing that ruined it for him and that was his own fault.

Simon couldnt predict that Jennifer Hudson would turn to acting and be very good at it. She didnt win an Oscar for her singing, it was for acting.

Although i have to say that he is way off this year thinking that Danyl could win. Unless he is the 'decoy' and Simon really wants Olly to win. I wouldnt put it past Simon to build Danyl up and the sacrifice him so Olly can take the win.

If that is the case why are we not all in the same wealth bracket.......

I think Simon has done quite well . . . .

Successful on both sides of the Atlantic . . .

Can't be bad . . . . .

I used to think he wasn't good at spotting talent but on the last season of American Idol he got it right with backing Adam Lambert and went up in my estimation What annoys me about X-factor is all the nastiness by the judges towards each other's acts which sours the whole experience for me.

And he supported Michelle in Pop Idol 2, let's not forget.

Simon has very short term priorities, generally speaking. Gareth and Michelle were both only going to sell records short term, rather than becoming lasting recording artists. Look at much of his pre-Pop Idol history, and you will see he simply latched onto every latest fashion in an attempt to make a quick buck. Very few of his acts have had long-term careers, and they've certainly not been artists in the true sense of the word.

He doesn't know a huge amount about music. But he understands what the public want to buy and how to deliver it to them.

He's not a musician, he's a businessman. He knows the music business but that doesn't mean that he knows who the latest critically acclaimed Mercury nominated band is or that kind of thing. (It's probably one of the reasons why he sells so many records.)

His focus on TV has allowed him to sell records that aren't cool and aren't backed by Radio 1, even before he had the platform of The X Factor. Acts like Il Divo were purely promoted on TV and Westlife's transition to an older audience has seen them relying entirely on TV. Plus Robson & Jerome and the (in)famous 90's novelty records. Unlike the vast majority of his colleagues, he has never had much concern about signing cool bands. Just signing acts that the public like and whose records they will buy.