Tuesday February 9, 2010

MADONNA’s manager is being lined up to replace Simon Cowell on the American Idol judging panel.

Guy Oseary — who is also Chairman of the Celebration singer’s label Maverick Records, which has also released LPs by The Prodigy, Alanis Morissette and Deftones in the US — is said to be the favorite to succeed Simon when he leaves the show after the current series.

Although Guy is the frontrunner he still faces competition from singer-and-actor Jamie Foxx and former Sony music boss Tommy Mottola — the ex-husband of Mariah Carey — for the judging job.

“Guy has been in the music business since Madonna discovered him when he was 17, and he has a lot of the same experience as Simon,” a source said.

“His competition just can’t live up to his level of experience and the people behind the show are slowly starting to realise it.”

Jamie admitted it is unlikely he would be able to find the time in his schedule to appear on American Idol and he may not be able to “fill Simon’s shoes”, while show bosses are worried Tommy could be an even fiercer critic of the pop wannabes than Simon.

“People really only know him as Mariah Carey’s big bad ex,” the source told the New York Daily News newspaper. “And producers are worried he’ll even be harsher on contestants than Simon was.”

Guy — who has made cameos in several films, including Charlie’s Angels and You Don’t Mess With the Zohan, and authored four books including Jews Who Rock — is keen on the job because he wants to raise his public profile.

“He was thrilled to hear Fox is considering him,” said the mole. “He thinks it would be great for his image. And it’s great exposure to boot.”

Tags: american idol, guy oseary, madonna