SIMON COWELL - COWELL CRINGES AT HIS OWN INSULTS

Outspoken pop mogul SIMON COWELL often regrets his sharp words to contestants on hit TV talent show AMERICAN IDOL - especially when he sees the pre-audition tapes. Cowell often cringes when he watches would-be recording artists filled with hope before they audition - and then sees himself insulting their performances just moments later. He says, "When you see the pre-audition package when they're filmed outside the room, you see them saying, 'My dog died, I'm singing this one for LASSIE...', but we don't know that, so we're not nice to them. "Watching it back, you do go, 'I shouldn't have said that.'"