Simon Cowell's American Idol contract is up after this season and with Paula already gone and the additions of Kara DioGuardi and Ellen Degeneres as judges, the Brit brute's future on the show post-2010 is unknown. One thing is known though, and that is Idol or not, Cowell plans on bringing his hit British reality show The X Factor to the States sometime soon. The X Factor has already produced spin-offs in 19 other countries and launched the careers of stars like Leona Lewis, but Cowell's current Idol contract has kept him from launching the rival singing show in America.

There are many ways Cowell is planning on setting The X Factor apart from the show that has turned him (and his outrageous metaphors) into an American phenomenon. First off, Cowell and business partner Sir Philip Green plan on setting the show up in Vegas as opposed to Idol's home in Hollywood. But probably the most drastic change Cowell is considering for The X Factor is the idea of it not airing on television at all. Inspired by Susan Boyle's climb to fame through YouTube, Cowell is toying with the idea of The X Factor being purely viral. The idea is to record two shows a week and then broadcast them globally through the web on a pay-per-view basis.

"It'll all be online. You have 20, 30, 40 million people tuning in twice a week," Green told the British GQ in a recent interview. "You bring two or three hundred million viewers to a venue. It's turning it up a peg." 

While Cowell is still considering television as an option and is currently negotiating with both NBC and Fox, the idea of an all-Internet show doesn't seem like such a far-off idea. With sites like Hulu and the hundreds other illegal counterparts, watching TV on the Internet has become the norm. This is especially true for the younger generations who often can't afford a TV, let alone cable, or God forbid-TiVo.

In fact, The X Factor web show sounds pretty good to me. TV online often has fewer commercials and you don't have to deal with the possible embarrassment of peers coming over and stumbling upon your season pass (which is sure to give rise to much mockery and humiliation, trust me). Through the Internet I have been able to keep up with shows like America's Next Top Model and Jersey Shore shame free. Oops-I probably shouldn't have admitted to those. But either way, I say bring The X Factor to the States and bring it to my computer where I can watch it in my Snuggie without the judging eyes of friends and family. Viva la webshow!