Simon Cowell Wants Lady Gaga To Mentor On ‘American Idol,’ Hopes Show Can Find A Taylor Swift-Like Winner

Simon Cowell may be leaving “American Idol,” but before he leaves his judges’ chair, he’d like to see one female pop star join the fold as a guest mentor for the contestants.

“I think we should have Lady Gaga,” he told reporters on a Thursday afternoon conference call. “She is the most relevant pop artist in the world at the moment… and I’ve met her and she’s very smart. I like her.”

Speaking of female singers, just a few weeks ago, judge Randy Jackson told reporters he thought a woman could win “Idol” this season and on Thursday, Simon said he also thought a lady could take the top prize.

“We’ve had a few years of guys winning the show and I would say there is definitely a better chance of a girl winning the show this year, certainly than last year,” he said.

And Simon had some ideas about who would make the perfect Season 9 female “Idol.”

“You want somebody who represents what is going on at the moment,” he explained. “I mean, look, I would love to find a Taylor Swift. Somebody who’s relevant rather than a contest winner.”

Simon also opened up about leaving the show, which he will do at the end of its current season, in order to kick off his “X Factor” singing reality competition stateside in the Fall of 2011.

When asked what it would take to fill his seat, Simon, predictably said — a lot.

“You’ve gotta be good looking. Secondly, I think you’ve just gotta know what you’re talking about,” he said. “We have to put people on the show who actually know what they’re talking about rather than guessing. They’ve really got to have experience so you can not just criticize, you can actually offer constructive advice as well.”

Simon shot down a host of suggestions from the group of journalists for replacements, including record producer Steve Lillywhite, ex-Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher and one person who has expressed an interest in the job – at a hefty price – shock jock Howard Stern.

“I know Howard’s name has been in there for a while, but I’m fairly certain that there hasn’t been an approach at any time for Howard to do this show,” Simon said.

One person he did suggest could be judge’s material is celebrity blogger Perez Hilton.

“Perez would be funny,” Simon laughed. “He’s got a good taste in music. He’s a personality. I mean that could work.”

The British judge also shot down the rumors he and new judge Ellen DeGeneres aren’t getting along.

“I wouldn’t say that we didn’t get on well. I don’t know Ellen that well,” he said. “It was a difficult position for her because she started work on the Hollywood Week, which is quite a difficult show to do. There was one story I read that I’d turned up an hour or late or something and that she wanted to film. The truth was I think I turned up 15 or 20 minutes late because I did a press conference earlier in the day and they did start filming, but that wasn’t a particular problem. But no, there was no fall out. I was trying to guide her through the week and that was about it really.”