Who has surprised you the most this season?
Kris. Better than I thought. Adam, we knew he was great and Danny, we knew he was great. But seven weeks ago, nobody would have predicted the possibility that the third place is Kris. He’s just quietly got on with the job. He didn’t get the praise he should have gotten last week because of the cockup with the timing. I would have really, really given him a confidence boost.

Who has disappointed you the most?
Lil Rounds. She was my girl. We always kept saying, look, whatever happens, we’ve always got Lil. We know we’ve got a great one.

Who’s your all-time favorite contestant?
Probably Kelly. But you know, she was the first one as well. Carrie I’ve gotten to like much more as I’ve gotten to know her. And in the UK, Leona Lewis.

What’s been the best performance of all 8 seasons?
I think “Mad World” was one of them. The one that wouldn’t be as popular with other people but I loved was Tamyra Gray singing “Fall in Love.” I don’t know why she hasn’t made it--I really, really liked her. Loved her as a person, loved her voice, and I always loved that performance.

Do you check the message boards after the shows?
No. I’m probably the only person, and I mean the only person, who’s connected with the show who doesn’t monitor themselves on an hourly basis. All the contestants do it. All the other judges do it, particularly the girls. You can read too much about yourself. It starts to become a bit unhealthy. You have to just assume that if you’re on TV, there’s certain people who’ll like you, and there’s a hell of a lot who’ll hate you. You just have to get used it. You’ll never, ever please everybody.

Do you Twitter?
I only found out about Twitter a few weeks ago. And of course the person who’s always on it is Ryan. Twitter is made for Ryan, where he can talk like a 15 year old. He knows the language, all the horrible abbreviations. And also have the ego to assume people are interested in what you’ve got to say. It is as strange to me as picking up the phone now and dialing a number randomly and saying, “Hi, what are you doing for dinner tonight? Because I’m having a cup of tea, are you interested?” It’s just too odd.

What other TV shows do you watch?
Nothing current. I can’t be bothered to watch dramas. The stuff I TiVo is so random, like The Flintstones, Dominick Dunne. I like movies probably more than anything else. But I can’t follow any of the reality shows any longer. The casting is so predictable, the soundbites are so predictable. It’s too safe. Everyone’s too aware of themselves. I tried to watch, God only knows why, this thing called Rock of Love. I mean this weirdo with all these girls. How can you take that seriously? They’re jumping into orange juice or something trying to date him. I can’t follow that.

What’s on your iPod?
Mainly classic stuff: Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Carly Simon. Bobby Darin, Nat King Cole. I love the old Mariah and Whitney stuff as well.

What would you put on the Queen’s iPod?
(Laughs) Very good question. I wouldn’t even know where to start. You’d have to put “Rule, Brittania” on there. On repeat. On a loop.

For TV Guide Magazine's full interview with Simon Cowell, pick up the May 4th issue, on stands Thursday!