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Bret Michaels lobbies hard for Simon's American Idol chair

By April MacIntyre Jun 1, 2010, 15:27 GMT

US musician and television celebrity Bret Michaels performs in concert on 29 May 2010 at the Rib America Festival in St. Luois Missouri. The concert was Michael\'s 2nd concert appearance after recent health issues. EPA/STEVE C.MITCHELL

Recovering reality TV star Bret Michaels would not mind sitting out a season.

If it was American Idol season ten on FOX.

Michaels tells Parade.com, "I'd Be Honored to Replace Simon Cowell on 'Idol'."

The 47-year-old rocker was recently on the Idol stage as a performer with Casey James, as he makes his way tentatively back from an April 2010 hospital stay, recovering from a near-fatal brain hemorrhage, warning stroke and the news he has a hole in his heart. 

Michaels just took the win for NBC's "Celebrity Apprentice" with Donald Trump. His appearance on the show's finale was touch and go until the very last minute.

Michaels responded to Cowell's suggestion that he would make a great "Idol" judge, according to People. "I was honored that Simon said that, and I would be honored to do it," Michaels  said. "I would bring my heart and my soul and amazingly honest and truthful advice. And I would tell them if I thought their chances of making it were really slim -- and how to fix that. Because my chances of making it were."

Michaels tells Parade he would bring 23 years of music-industry experience to the judges' table. "I'm talking old-school, paying-my-dues experience," he says. "I used to move the pool table out of the way to play for people six nights a week, playing five sets a night, where I had to announce the dinner special. I grew up the old-fashioned way. I would have done anything to have a platform like 'American Idol' when I was growing up."

Talk back, is Michaels the best choice to slot into Simon's spot?