Simon Cowell to leave Idol? Say it ain’t so!

What would American Idol be without its resident snark-meister, Simon Cowell? We may learn sooner rather than later if this report claiming his imminent departure is true. According to the story, which quotes Cowell's older brother Tony, the 50-year-old Cowell, who earns an estimated $36 million per season, is bored with his role as judge and may call Idol quits after 2010 to concentrate on bringing his enormously successful UK show, X Factor, to the United States. (Cowell is also a judge on Britain's Got Talent, the show that made Susan Boyle a household name.) It's been widely rumored that X Factor would also end up at the Fox network so as not to directly compete with Idol. A Fox spokesperson and Cowell's representative had no comment on the report.

The two returning Idol judges are only committed through season nine—Randy Jackson extended his Idol contract by three years in 2006, Kara Dioguardi signed on for another year in August 2009—while newcomer Ellen Degeneres inked a five-year deal in September 2009, which could mean significant changes to the panel if either decides that television should take a backseat to careers in the music industry.

And speaking of the music biz, Cowell may be opting to concentrate on deeper involvement developing his own signed artists. After all, Susan Boyle, BGT's runner-up, is on her fourth straight week at the top of the U.S. album charts. His previous talent discovery, Leona Lewis, also had a successful stint on the American charts with her album, Spirit.

Still, one has to wonder, with America's Got Talent, The Sing-Off and potentially X Factor, how many singing-talent competition shows do American audiences need? And would an Cowell-less Idol be worth watching? What do you think, Idol fans? We want to know!

- Shirley Halperin

Photo: Randy Jackson, Kara Dioguardi, guest judge Avril Lavigne and Simon Cowell. Credit: Ray Mickshaw / FOX

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