Well, it’s finally official: Simon Cowell will be leaving “American Idol” at the end of this season.
He’ll instead be judging “The X Factor”, a show he created in the UK that will air in the US in 2011.
Back in December, MediaCurves.com surveyed Idol viewers, who rated Cowell their favorite judge (48%), with Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson a second (28%) and third (19%) respectively. New judge Kara DioGuardi was far behind, with only 5% of the votes.
When asked if they would watch “American Idol” more or less if Cowell left, 47% said they would watch less, 46% said they’d watch the same amount, and 7% said they’d watch more.

In a related survey the next week, MediaCurves.com reported that Idol viewers’ first choice to replace Cowell would be “America’s Got Talent” judge Piers Morgan. The runner up celebrities ranked as the second and third best replacement for Simon were Sean “Diddy” Combs and Quincy Jones, respectively. Other high ranking celebrities nominated to replace Cowell were David Foster, Donny Osmond, Jay Leno, and Jon Bon Jovi.
In the same story, CNN reports that Cowell said he missed Paula Abdul, who left the show in August “but wouldn’t confirm or deny whether she would appear on ‘X Factor’ in the U.S.”
CNN also says that Fox isn’t rushing to find a replacement for Cowell.
What do you think? With Simon gone, will you keep watching American Idol? And who do you think should replace him?
Got a gospel or Christian music news tip? Send me an email!
Click here to subscribe to Gospel Soundcheck by email and have the Gospel Soundcheck headlines delivered daily to your email inbox. And don’t forget to follow me on Twitter!