'American Idol's' cantankerous judge, Simon Cowell, spoke to reporters last night, and he touched on everything from whether or not there's a feud between him and Ellen, how he feels about Paula's departure, and who he thinks should replace him on 'Idol' next season (Hint: not Howard Stern).

Ever since Ellen DeGeneres joined the show during Hollywood week, there have been rumblings that the pair hasn't exactly been getting along. While Simon denies any sort of feud, if you read between the lines, it's clear that they won't be having slumber parties and painting each other's toenails any time soon. Cowell told reporters, "I wouldn't say that we didn't get on well. I don't know Ellen that well. It was a difficult position for her, because she started work on the Hollywood week, which is a quite difficult show to do."

Now that Simon Cowell's future has been determined and this is his last season with American Idol, his head is really into the next phase of his life, Fox's The X Factor. With that in mind, it doesn't come as a surprise that Simon would like Paula Abdul as a judge on The X Factor. We've actually written about it before and it seems more than likely to come to pass now.

It makes perfect sense, too. Simon would be drawing viewers from American Idol to The X Factor from the start. There would be both a curiosity factor, seeing Simon and Paula shoulder to shoulder together again, and there would also be a familiarity factor. It would look and feel like Idol, making fans settle in to the newer show no what matter the differences in the competition.

The ninth season of 'American Idol' is set to premiere on Jan. 12, but lately the show's buzz has had nothing to do with the singing competition -- not when there's so much movement behind the judges' table.

Speculation has reached fever pitch regarding music mogul Simon Cowell's rumored departure from 'Idol' following the expiration of his contract in 2011, but a recent comment from Cowell's brother has added fuel to the fire that everyone's favorite grumpy judge might abandon the show at the end of this season, "to concentrate on bringing the American version of 'X-Factor' to U.S. TV in 2011," Tony Cowell reportedly revealed on his weekly podcast.

But what is this 'X-Factor,' you may ask, and would crotchety Cowell really consider leaving the show that made him a household name on this side of the Atlantic?

2009 was a big year for American Idol. After airing for seven wildly successful seasons with three judges, Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul, producers decided to throw a fourth judge into the mix, bringing songwriter Kara DioGuardi on board for season eight. It was a controversial move, and to the surprise of very few people, it went ... poorly.

The judges, who had spent seven seasons learning the rhythm of the show, were suddenly forced to contend with a fourth voice. As none of these folks were exactly shrinking violets to begin with, this led to a lot of jockeying for the mic, which in turn wasted a lot of time. It wasted so much time, in fact, that critiques would get cut off, the show would run long, and at times, judges wouldn't be allowed to speak at all.

So at the end of this harried season, it was no surprise that someone would be shown the door. Many thought that it would be newbie judge Kara DioGuardi. Instead, it was Paula Abdul who was given the boot, and replaced by music legend ... Ellen DeGeneres?

Paula Abdul's star is dwindling now that she's off 'American Idol,' meaning the time is right for ex-boyfriends to come out of the woodwork. Arsenio Hall, former late night talk show host and one of Abdul's ex-paramours, appeared on 'Lopez Tonight' to dish dirt to host George Lopez. The info he's got on Abdul seems to be TMI but proves that Paula Abdul is forever his girl.

Watch the clip of Arsenio's appearance on 'Lopez Tonight.'

In an interview with 'Extra,' Simon Cowell's erstwhile foil praised her own people skills. "I feel I would be really good at it," she confided. "I have the ability to connect with people on a level. I've proven to pierce the heartstrings, but also to be celebratory and bring out the best in people."

If Kara DioGuardi has her way, she and Ellen DeGeneres will be hitting it off like franks and beans, peanut butter and jelly, frick and frack... two peas in a pod. At at an industry conference in New York, Kara was musing about the upcoming season of American Idol in which DioGuardi and DeGeneres will be sharing the judges' table together -- with Randy Jackson and Simon Cowell, of course.

"I'm hoping the chemistry with Ellen will be great -- and a great start to the season," said Kara.

With that in mind, Kara's going to sleep on the couch at Ellen's house until they're bosom buddies. ...Kidding! But Kara will try to spend some time with Ellen during December when they both have some time off from their busy schedules.

On last night's special Monday episode of So You Think You Can Dance, producer/judge Nigel Lythgoe displayed an empty chair, just in case, he said, a special guest decided to grace them with her presence. The chair was marked with the name "Paula Abdul." (On a side note, SYTYCD was on basically in place of House -- how can such a popular show go on break so often?).

The current slate of judges, including Lythgoe, Mary Murphy, and Adam Shankman (in for Mia Michaels), seems perfect. Other than the fact that I wish I had the technical know-how to develop a filter that would detect when Murphy is about to sound like a claxon and automatically adjust the volume of my TV, I enjoy all three judges. And, as I've said before, I actually feel like I'm learning something from the show when they critique the dancers. When they need another voice, they have Debbie Allen, the sometimes overly loquacious Lil C, and a few others who can easily step in.

Have you wondered why American Idol's recently debenched judge Paula Abdul has yet to land somewhere? You know, as a TV personality, it seemed like after her tweet that she was not returning to the show, she was hit with an avalanche of offers... and then nothing. No dancing show. No talk show. Just rumors. Okay, there was the VH1 Divas thing and a guest appearance on Drop Dead Diva, but nothing substantial.

Now, Ms. Abdul herself has hinted that there's yet a new possibility for her. She again used Twitter which is cheaper than a publicist. Paula sort of attached herself to The X Factor. The British musical competition show is coming to America next year if Simon Cowell can work out the deal. Paula may be part of that package. Paula tweeted: "Hey guys, I'm having a great time in London. Going to watch x factor rehearsals now. So excited! Almost the weekend!!!! Xoxo"

The Costume: Paula Abdul

What You'll Need: Being former 'American Idol' judge Paula Abdul (not unlike 'Being Bobby Brown') is all about the attitude: Randomly jump around and start dancing, while throwing your hands in the air and making the "I love you" horns ... randomly start spouting nonsensical phrases like "Simon always refers to a fortune cookie and says the moth who finds the melon finds the corn flake always finds the melon and one of you didn't pick the right fortune" ... randomly start slurring your speech and nodding off, like you're "tired" while giving a TV interview ... you get the idea. Act craz ... uh, enthusiastic and spirited.

(S9E06) I welcomed the return of Len Goodman on Dancing with the Stars because he separated the scores of the dances, by giving good performances two points less than they actually deserved. This week was a full Latin night with the Samba and Rumba.

When Chuck walked down the stairs I couldn't help but laugh at his arm frill, but Cheryl and Tom DeLay walked down as the American flag. I was laughing so hard that I didn't even notice that Debi's outfit killed all of Aaron Carter's Muppets.

There has been some drama with Tom DeLay's feet. Find out after the jump what happened to him.

Simon Cowell's The X-Factor has been a huge in the UK for several years now; that's where we got Leona Lewis. Due to his contract with American Idol, he hasn't been able to bring it to the US. FOX feared the increased competition from a similar singing competition might hurt their juggernaut.

Now that Cowell is in the final year of his current contract, open negotiations to keep him on Idol are including talks of bringing The X-Factor to FOX. If So You Think You Can Dance continues to underperform in the fall, The X-Factor might be a logical replacement, pushing SYTYCD back to the summer.

If the news that Ellen DeGeneres was going to become a judge on American Idol had broken a year ago, I would have been totally psyched. Hopefully she would replace Paula, and bring some much-needed humor to the show (humor that isn't mean-spirited or allegedly pill-addled, that is). But now that Ellen will be the new fourth judge on Idol, the news comes as somewhat as a disappointment.

I've been a huge fan of Ellen since her stand-up days, so I'm all for her showing up anywhere. I also think her purpose of bringing a "fan's perspective" to the show is a good idea on the producers' part. But does Paula need to be the only judge Ellen replaces?

Edward Norton adopts 'Modern Family,' Ellen replaces Paula on 'Idol,' Augusten Burroughs' 'Sellevision' and the Internet's 'Text From Last Night' head to the small screen, and more of today's top TV headlines.

There is big news in the world of television tonight. Multiple Emmy winner and talk show host Ellen DeGeneres has joined American Idol as a judge. She will essentially be the permanent replacement for Paula Abdul, so if any of you were holding out hope that Paula was standing by to resume her post, forget about it.

The bigger story here is that a star of Ellen's stature, someone who has high visibility and is beloved by the public, has decided to become a member of America's number one rated prime time show.

Ellen DeGeneres on American Idol as a guest star would be a rating boost, so it's safe to say that her weekly presence will ensure that Idol's numbers will continue to be top of the chart.