2010-02-04, 13:11
Can Idol Survive Without Simon CowellWhen the news started to break last month at the TCA`s that Simon Cowell would be leaving American Idol at the end of this season to focus on his sister project, The X Factor, it felt like just a bad joke. But when he pulled out a pen and signed a contract in front of reporters, the showrunners, and the network, things suddenly weren`t so funny at all. With Idol`s recent casting shakeups (Paula Abdul heading out and Ellen Degeneres coming in but not until Hollywood week), the show`s once-stellar ratings seemed less-than secure as it was. Now add this piece of news on top of it, and reality fans began to wonder if the show could make it without it`s favored prickly British judge.