The scowl of Cowell isn't as nasty as you might think.
American Idol's one-named wonder Sanjaya says getting criticized by blunt-speaking judge Simon Cowell this past season, even though he became an audience favourite, wasn't as difficult as it might have looked.
"I feel like Simon Cowell, he was being helpful," said Sanjaya. "He was actually the most help I had on the show in terms of feedback because he was completely unbiased and just told me exactly what he felt and I feel like that's important, to have someone, especially when they're judging your craft, what you want to do for the rest of your life, to have someone tell you exactly what they think and not sugarcoat anything."
Not that him and Cowell are close friends or anything.
"I haven't been able to talk to him since the show but I respect him," said Sanjaya.
And despite being the overwhelming fan favourite this season, there was never a point that Sanjaya thought he might actually win the singing contest.
"I didn't ever think that I was going to win it. I was just seeing how long I could last. It was kind of like a test for myself to see if I really wanted to do this and how long I could last and so I was kind of focusing on one week at a time."
