At first glance, that is a lot of money.

While we're all still wondering about whether all four American Idol judges are returning to the show next season, an interesting detail has come out as negotiations are still underway: Simon Cowell might be offered as much as $144 million just for season 9.
Several media outlets quoted British newspaper The Guardian with the figure--although, oddly enough, I can't find the original article on the website.  Anyway, they report that a source close to Idol creator Simon Fuller has offered Cowell that big an amount, estimated to be three to four times as much as what he made last season, pegged at around $36 million.

After all, Cowell has become one of the faces, if not the face, of the show, thanks to his honest (and hurtful, depending on where you are) comments.  We've all said it'd be pretty hard to imagine Idol without him, right?  Add to that the speculation that's been going around smack in the middle of the last season, with Cowell saying he'd consider leaving Idol, especially since he's working on a couple of other shows across the pond.  (It was reported previously that Cowell will be leaving British talent show The X Factor at the end of its upcoming season, but that has yet to be confirmed.)

Then again, $144 million is a hell lot of money.  Perhaps it's a bit too much for one judge to get, for one season alone.  Well, yeah, go argue that it's Simon Cowell and he deserves it, but... isn't the a little spiffy?  Point, though, is that it isn't really confirmed yet.  I'll just have to get past the headache that number has caused.

And we haven't talked about Paula, Randy and Kara yet.




- Henrik Batallones, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: New York Daily News
(Image courtesy of Fox)