'American Idol' judge annoyed by Utahns' cheerfulness

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. — As it turns out, Simon Cowell was highly annoyed during his visit to Salt Lake City to judge "American Idol" auditions.

Sure, Cowell told TV critics back in December that he "absolutely loved it" in Utah. But, according to Paula Abdul, that wasn't the whole story.

"We found a lot of talent" in Utah, the "Idol" judge told the Deseret News. "And what I found was that everybody was so happy and nice that it bothered Simon. People would walk in and be so pleasant, and Simon would say, 'What is wrong with all of you?' "

Viewers will get a chance to see how the Salt Lake auditions went on Wednesday (7 p.m., Ch. 13). Fox will devote an hourlong episode of "American Idol" to both the July open call and the September callbacks, which featured Abdul, Cowell, Randy Jackson and Kara DioGuardi.

Abdul, who has kept her love-hate relationship with Cowell going into an eighth season of the show, said she was amused by Cowell's reaction.

"It's always fun when he's put out," she said. "He's the bully brother that sometimes we love each other and sometimes it's like I try to change seats. He's annoying sometimes. You have to reel him in.

"I think it's just that he wasn't used to people being so nice. He'd rather fight with people."

DioGuardi — the new kid on the "Idol" block who just joined the judging panel this season — said her trip to Salt Lake City was "really fun."

"I'd never been to Salt Lake City. ... And, you know what? It was great," she said.

DioGuardi, a songwriter/producer, said she enjoyed walking around Salt Lake City and the other audition cities.

"I have a place in Maine, so I love to go to places that are remote. That not everybody's been to. And kind of get the feel of what kind of Americans live there," she said. "In L.A. and New York, it's a pretty similar vibe. You know, driven, focused, eat lettuce, that kind of thing. But to go in the middle of the country was great.

"And it was great to meet all these people that would never have an opportunity to get in front of some professionals and get some real feedback."

Both Abdul and DioGuardi said more than once that they were impressed with the level of talent they found at the Salt Lake auditions.

"I wasn't really surprised — after all, David Archuleta came from Utah — but we did see a lot of talented people there," DioGuardi said.

"It was just so wonderful," Abdul said. "Salt Lake was a wonderful audition city."

E-mail: pierce@desnews.com