My attitude is, if someone's going to criticize me, tell me to my face.
Simon Cowell
My dad said to me, 'Work hard and be patient.' It was the best advice he ever gave me. You have to put the hours in.
People confuse ego, lust, insecurity with true love.
You know what the secret to weight loss is? Don't eat much.
I couldn't think of anything worse than being in an unhappy marriage. It worries me because I've seen it destroy people.
I am quite miserable because I'm never satisfied with what I've got. You're always looking for that next high, and that is what I would define as happiness.
I don't have sophisticated tastes. I have average tastes. If you looked in my collection of DVDs, you'd see 'Jaws' and 'Star Wars.' In the book library, you'd see John Grisham and Sidney Sheldon. And if you look in my fridge, it's, like, children's food - chips, milkshakes, yogurt.
If you've got a big mouth and you're controversial, you're going to get attention.
Not everybody is perfect, and I don't think we should be looking for perfect people.
When I think of invention, I always think of America. You're always seeing ads: 'Have you got the next big idea?' There seems to be that spirit in America of inventions and inventors.
When you get your first pay cheque, it's the best feeling in the world.
I work out three or four times a week, I have Botox, take tons of vitamins and vitamin infusions - if you believe that these things work, you will feel better.
I don't like kids that are pushed into things by stage mums, but when I can see they are having a good time, they're excited and enjoying the process, then I think it's wrong to discriminate.
I hated school, but I love work.
It's not my habit to kiss and tell. I've never done it.
At 20, you're cocky and you think you can rule the world, and you get it all wrong.
Most things in music go full circle eventually.
We have hated the French for years. Now you have just joined the club. It makes you much more likable.
Thank God kids love following an artist. When you get a group who pop, it's the best thing in the world.
If you only ever heard Lady Gaga, she's the most boring singer in the world.
I was never given any hand-outs. I started at the bottom and was very good at finding people who knew more than me and learning from them.
The young people working for me are ambitious and hard-working. That work ethic has always been a trait of the British.
Shave off your beard and wear a dress. You would be a great female impersonator.
Britain's got talent, enormous talent; that's very obvious.
I could just sit back and get someone to spin my achievements, I suppose, but when I see others do it, I always think, 'Why are you telling me how successful you are?' I am always suspicious of those kinds of boasts.
I've always treated the music business as a business.
Money brings you security and choice. You can make decisions in a different way if you have a lot of money. But when you have nothing, you have a naivety, and a more fearless attitude because you have nothing to lose.
I don't mind being cast as some kind of a pantomime baddie, but I am very fair in business. I always have been. I pride myself on being fair.
No one really has any job security anymore, including myself.
I like spaghetti bolognese, I like baked beans on toast. I hate French food. I hate fancy food.
I've always been petrified of working for a boss who I didn't like but who I was in fear of, because I wanted my salary.
I was 12 years old when I first realized that food could be hot. That's why I turned out the way I am.
Sometimes when you have a record out, you think you're going to go in at No. 1 but you go in at No. 8. So your second record has to be better. That's how I treat it.
The minute you start assuming that the audience is very happy to see the same show again, you're dead.
If I went to a psychiatrist, it would be a long session. I've always thought that I do have a number of issues that probably need dealing with, because I am quite odd in some ways.
If your lifeguard duties were as good as your singing, a lot of people would be drowning.
I think America is a hard nut to crack. But once you get a toehold, it's a great place for an entrepreneur because people are so enthusiastic, and you have the most enthusiastic audiences in world.
If we had to choose one American Idol to go out to dinner with, it would be Fantasia. There are no airs and graces about her... I like her.
When I look at it now, the whole punk thing is sort of comedy in a weird way.
The object of this competition is not to be mean to the losers but to find a winner. The process makes you mean because you get frustrated.
Of course I have an ego, but you have to have an ego. You have to be incredibly competitive. I can get competitive at times, way too much, and it becomes a little bit obsessive.
It's the government's job to encourage entrepreneurialism and investment. Most importantly, it's the government's duty to inspire confidence.
You are a saucy little thing aren't you?
In TV, film, and music there's a lot of snobbery, and I don't like it. I've never been a cultural snob.
I want people to understand that from the minute Lady Gaga arrived, she created a new set of rules: being different is good; embrace it.
The end of the animal trade would leave more time to trap or beat to death pop star wannabes.
Anyone who goes on 'The X Factor' to make big money will be in for a big shock.
If I was gay, why wouldn't I admit it? It wouldn't harm me.
I think you have to judge everything based on your personal taste. And if that means being critical, so be it. I hate political correctness. I absolutely loathe it.
I've never bought a Dylan record. A singing poet? It just bores me to tears. I've got to tell you, if I had 10 Dylans in the final of 'American Idol,' we would not be getting 30 million viewers a week. I don't believe the Bob Dylans of this world would make 'American Idol 'a better show.
