Simon Cowell to leave American Idol

This upcoming ninth season of FOX’s mega hit and cultural touchstone, American Idol, will be the last that viewers will see the smirking face of its top judge, Simon Cowell.  The snarky Brit is citing irreconcilable differences with FOX; Idol’s production company FreemantleMedia, and 19 Entertainment for the split.  Even better, he’s got his own talent show in the works on a rival network in an attempt to kill the beast he helped birth. Cowell will attempt to repeat his formula of bringing a British import and Americanizing it with The X-Factor.  In Britain, The X-Factor bills itself as the UK’s biggest talent search.  If Simon is successful, he could very well make the United States’ version of the show as big a hit as Idol.