Reports: Simon Cowell Wants Beyonce as 'X Factor' Judge

(The New York Post) - Simon Cowell is offering Beyonce Knowles $100 million a year -- easily the highest salary on TV -- to become a full-time judge on "The X Factor," according to reports.

The money may seem outrageous, but the idea is not as far-fetched as it once may have seemed now that the world's No. 1 pop singer is a first-time mom.

Word is that Beyonce would like to stop touring and stay in one place for the baby's first few years. And a weekly TV job is the perfect way to get her off the road but keep her in the public eye.

Cowell has begun to think that Mariah Carey -- long rumored to be the first choice to take one of the two judges' seats on the FOX show, which opened this week -- is no longer the hot ticket she once was, according the website MediaTakeOut, which first published the story.

"He wants a big-name female star on the panel," a source told the website. "Mariah [Carey] is good, but she's not that hot today. He wants Beyonce because that would immediately give him the bounce needed to beat 'American Idol.'"

Beyonce even has some history with "The X Factor" and is familiar with the judge-versus-judge format. Back in 2008, she appeared on the British version of the show as a mentor. The woman she coached, Alexandra Burke, went on to win the show that year.

Until this week, the outside world did not realize how disappointed Cowell was with the inaugural season of "The X Factor." With an average of 12 million viewers a week, it was a top-10 show -- but did not draw near the 20 million viewers Cowell hoped for and lagged far behind "Idol," which averaged 18 million.

By axing three main people on the show -- judges Paula Abdul, Nicole Scherzinger and host Steve Jones -- this week, Cowell signaled that the show is going to be rebuilt from the ground up by next fall's premiere.

Beyonce's spokesman did not return email requests for comment.

FOX is owned by News Corp., which also owns the New York Post and NewsCore.

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