In their own words

Celebrity stories cut short: Simon Cowell

At the time I entered the music business, punk music was all the rage in Britain. When it all crumbled in the late 1970s, I breathed a huge sigh of relief.

I met a singer from Seattle named Sinitta. It was to be my first big break. I made the video for So Macho for £2,000 - and it looked like £1,500. I wanted hits and couldn't have cared less about credibility. After the WWF, Zig And Zag and Power Rangers records, I was doing well financially. Robson And Jerome really proved to me the power of television and music: 7million albums, 5million singles, 3million videos. No radio play.

From the start, we knew the Pop Idol concept depended on the relationship between the four judges. Rosie Ribbons did everything to The Winner Takes It All except sing it in key. Laura Doherty came onstage looking like someone from The Addams Family and it got worse from there. Kirsty seemed to want to win so badly I found it painful to witness. When Ant and Dec told her the verdict, she collapsed onstage.

The popularity of American Idol took us all by surprise and, in [judge] Paula Abdul's case, resulted in her returning to her earlier diva status.

I have to say that what Alanis Morissette has achieved is close to a miracle. To me, she is a more successful illusionist than David Copperfield.

And what makes it all so wonderful is - it could be you. (If you can sing.)

Simon Cowell - I Don't Mean To Be Rude But... (Ebury Press £16.99) was abridged by Andrew Williams