Smallscreen News
Simon Cowell unleashed
By M&C Smallscreen
May 8, 2008, 21:35 GMT

The mouth from Britain is dishing about Clay Aiken, Miley Cyrus, Hillary Clinton and Jason Castro, as Cowell sounded off to his girlfriend at Extra.

Terri Seymour sat down with her main squeeze, American Idol’s Simon Cowell for The World According to Simon.

Responding to a recent “Extra” interview in which American Idol alum Clay Aiken revealed he no longer watches the show.

Cowell said, “So, that was Nancy Grace? That hair…I can’t listen to him…[But] to be fair to Clay, he was actually one of my favorite contestants in a way because he was so ambitious and so desperate to win.”

As for the Miley Cyrus Vanity Fair photo controversy, Cowell commented, “Anyone that goes into a photo shoot, particularly someone in her position, you know pretty much what you’re going to wear….You have a choice – either you put it on or you don’t.

They made that choice to do it, so to complain afterwards, you had an opportunity not to do it….She just looks tired.”

He continued, “The problem is she’s part of the Disney stable so for them it’s a bit like Minnie Mouse going topless.”

In a past “Extra” interview, Cowell suggested that Hillary Clinton should cry more in order to win. He said, “She should have taken my advice. When she cried she won. It doesn’t do you any harm when you’re in a competition, particularly if you’re a girl.”

As far as Idol castoff Jason Castro’s performance Tuesday night, Cowell declared, “It was a complete self-destructive performance and it was almost like he was doing it on purpose. Like, ‘This is how bad I can be so vote me off.’”

Although Idol’s ratings are lower in comparison to past seasons, Cowell said, “From when I go out and the reaction when the contestants are out, it’s like the whole country is watching the show…” According to Cowell, “I think all these shows including Idol in the future are going to have to go younger. We’re going to have to drop the age from 16 to 14.”

“Extra’s” interview with Simon Cowell airs tonight, May 8th- log onto here.