Simon Cowell thinks 'The X Factor' he has a better judging panel than 'American Idol', despite the singing competition's addition of Mariah Carey [photos] on Monday.
"I'm happy for her, actually, I like Mariah," Cowell says, "But I think she's going to find it difficult to say no. You know, she's sweet."
Cowell says that Britney Spears [photos] and Demi Lovato don't have the same problem.
"They are harder to please than me or L.A.," he says. "They are very happy, these two, in giving people a no. That's why we hired them."
"Britney's quite mean, as you'll discover. I'm not going to lie about this, I always said the number one person I would want on one of these shows was Britney because I was fascinated with her as a person, as a pop star. She's a really, really good judge."
"Demi is a brat, but there's something really likable about her as well. I think the show, because it has such a young audience, it needed someone younger."
Cowell says he still plans to have "a boy and girl" as hosts for the show. The hosts will likely be announced mid-August.
"Ideally, we'd like someone who hasn't actually been a host before," he explains. "We're screen-testing people for the next three or four weeks."
Simon Cowell thinks 'The X Factor' he has a better judging panel than 'American Idol', despite the singing competition's 
