Simon Phillip Cowell (born October 7, 1959) is an English television personality, A&R executive, television producer, and entrepreneur. He is famous in the United Kingdom and in the United States for his role as a talent judge on TV shows such as Pop Idol, American Idol, The X Factor, and Britain's Got Talent. He is also the owner of the television production and music publishing house Syco which will be rebranded to Greenwell Entertainment as part of a coalition with Sir Philip Green.Cowell is notorious as a judge for his blunt and often controversial criticisms, insults and wisecracks about contestants and their abilities. He is often parodied in pop culture, and was described by the The Times journalist Minette Marrin as representing the "heartless, thoughtless and superficial – the flotsam and jetsam of the polluted seas of celebrity that is likely to sink without trace into toxic foam". Cowell is known for combining activities in the television and music industries, having p... more