“American Idol” judge Simon Cowell will have the opportunity to sharpen his tongue on another season of contestants—and be paid very well for it.

The NY Daily News reports the acerbic Brit is getting a whopping raise for his services, up from $36 million last season to $144 million for the next. 

So at least one more batch of “Idol” hopefuls will get their hopes dashed by Cowell, while Randy mutters “Dawg,” and Paula looks loopy. Isn’t that what keeps us watching?

If Simon’s calling in to vote for Adam, he’s a little later. America (or more likely, a lot of fast-texting tweens) voted for the non-threatening boy next door instead of the guy who could really sing. But even controversy couldn’t keep the ratings for the “American Idol” finale from sinking.

According to Reuters, last night’s show drew the smallest audience since 2004. The “Idol” 28.8 finale lured million viewers, down from 32 million last year. The show made a few changes this season—none of them popular with fans. The addition of fourth judge Kara DioGuardi has been widely panned, and it will be no surprise if she isn’t asked back for season nine. 

The water-cooler talk following the finale has been centering on runner-up Adam Lambert, and why he lost. But the rocker with the black nail polish and guyliner is likely to have the last laugh. And the longer career.

Simon’s not talking—but somebody behind the scenes at “American Idol” is. The NY Daily News reports that an “AI” staffer has been blabbing that this season’s final four have already been chosen—even though 11 contestants still remain in the running.

The lucky four are, not surprisingly, Danny Gokey, Lil Rounds, Adam Lambert and Alexis Grace. So who’s going to win? According to the snitch, it’s between Gokey and Grace. She told the Daily News why.

 ”Adam Lambert and Lil Rounds are better singers and musicians than Gokey and Grace, but they’re too much like past winners and ‘A’ successes. Adam’s too close in style and sound to Chris Daughtry, while Lil Rounds is a dead ringer for Fantasia. Even their background stories are similar!  The producers really want it to be Danny or Alexis. They think they’re very commercially viable, have a good image and a great story.”

But what if America votes one of them off before the finals? Maybe that’s why the judges have the chance to save one contestant from going home. But what will they do if the viewers vote off two of the fave four? 

The TV networks have known for years that ”American Idol” is a sure ratings champ, but last night they found out that the show is even more powerful than the President. On Tuesday night, “Idol” beat out prime-time coverage of the presidential inauguration on ABC, and also beat the other networks’ inauguration coverage for the evening.

According to early data from Nielsen Media Research, ”Idol”scored an 8.9 rating/22 share among adults 18-49 and a 12.1/18 in households, with a total audience of 22.4 million viewers in the 8 p.m. slot. ABC’s “The Neighborhood Ball: An Inauguration Celebration” averaged a 3.7/9 in the same demo and a 7.9/12 among households, drawing an audience of 12.6 million from 8-10 p.m.

But does this really show the strength of  ”Idol” or the fact that by 8 p.m., the inauguration coverage had been going on for more than 12 hours?

“American Idol” judge Simon Cowell did a conference call with the press this afternoon and discussed the upcoming eighth season of the show. He revealed that his first choice for a celeb guest on the show would be Britney Spears because of the response to her appearance on his British show “The X Factor.”

“She would be literally first on the list, as far as I’m concerned. I would love to see her mentor the contestants. If she doesn’t want to do that, but wants to perform on the show—I would welcome that at any time.”  

Sounds good to me—wonder if Britney’s interested?

Terri Seymour may be single again but she isn’t hurting for cash. Simon Cowell gave her a $9 million kiss-off including $4 million to buy a house in Beverly Hills and $5 million for incidentals. Well, he may be pompous but he’s not cheap.

Attention female fans of “American Idol”—Simon Cowell is single! And really, really rich. Simon got the heave-ho from longtime girlfriend Terri Seymour, reportedly because she wants kids and he doesn’t. Simon’s rep Max Clifford stated: 

“Terri phoned Simon and finished it in September, about six weeks ago. They are going to remain close friends. Simon thinks the world of Terri and that isn’t going to change. He also understands her reason for ending it.”

Let’s face it—his insufferably pompous personality probably didn’t help.

Who knew Simon Cowell was such a softie? Well, Mr. American Idol himself proved that he’s not just full of critical comments – he also has a big heart. Appearing on Oprah today, Simon took part in her Big Give program and paid off a needy family’s mortgage off. Isn’t that sweet? The family is dealing with a daughter’s debilitating cancer and they have to travel 100 miles everyday for her to receive treatment. To take some toll off their financial worries, Simon decided to pay off their mortgage. Bravo, Mr. Cowell!

Please excuse the bad play on names, but I thought maybe the Alvin and the Chimpunks reference would be cute. I guessed wrong. In any case, Fox announced the scheduling of the seventh season of American Idol today. The season is set to begin with a pair of two hour segments that will run on two consecutive nights, January 15 & 16.  That’s right folks, it’s the seventh season. Our old friends Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, Randy Jackson and Ryan Seacrest will once again grace your television sets. So for all you American Idol fans, get your TiVo ready because it’s going to be a great season. Seven’s a lucky number, so I predict that this will be the best Idol season yet. And I also predict that the Green Bay Packers will win the Super Bowl, but don’t bet any money on that.