If SIMON COWELL fired "X Factor" judges PAULA ABDUL and NICOLE SCHERZINGER to bring more credibility to the show...it'd be a surprise if he's interested in hiring 19-year-old DEMI LOVATO.

But that's exactly what we're hearing.

The "Hollywood Reporter" says Demi is, "closing a deal to join BRITNEY SPEARS" on "X Factor" next season.

There's still no official word on Britney...but the whole Internet is under the assumption that she's a sure thing. Supposedly, she's getting $15 million for one season.

"Sources" say Simon is interested in Demi because she "will bring a younger audience to the show."

But Demi isn't the only rumored judge.

Celebuzz.com claims MILEY CYRUS is in the running...but "sources close to Miley" tell E! Online that she doesn't have an offer yet. There's also talk that Simon is considering AVRIL LAVIGNE.









ONE DIRECTION DOES TWITTER
The guys in ONE DIRECTION are active on Twitter...and the stuff they Tweet is occasionally somewhat amusing. Here are their individual handles:

Liam Payne: @Real_Liam_Payne, Harry Styles: @Harry_Styles, Louis Tomlinson: @Louis_Tomlinson, Niall Horan: @NiallOfficial and Zayn Malik: @zaynmalik.

Here are some recent "highlights":

"I just got caked in the face...and a cake made of ice cream is harder than regular cake. Hard cake in the face." (Harry)

"Liam has just said the word 'lingerie' for the first time...he said LINGER-EE." (Harry)

"Zayn just violated my flannel." (Harry)

"Zap I could get a New York hot dog right now. #Zap."  (Louis)

"Little unknown fact: I'm 1/16 Belgian." (Louis)

"Not to alarm anyone, but I genuinely think I have left my toothbrush in the last place we were." (Liam)

"Poooop is all I have to sayy." (Liam)












THE WANTED HATE BRITNEY SPEARS NOWThe British boy band THE WANTED recently called CHRISTINA AGUILERA a "total bitch, and now they're criticizing BRITNEY SPEARS' handlers for not letting them LOOK at Britney when they opened for her.

SIVA KANESWARAN says, "I was in the hallway with my tour manager. Basically we were looking with a laptop, trying to get Wi-Fi...facing the middle of the hallway. [Britney's] bouncers came down with her and told us to face the wall.

"We turned around. And I faced a wall for about 10 seconds until she got really far away. It was serious." (This doesn't make much sense. Maybe the bodyguard thought he was filming Britney with his laptop?)

Britney's camp DENIES this. Her rep says, "What's even more interesting than the false allegations they made is the fact that they have claimed to be picked on by two female pop stars in just a few days.

"Look out Lady Gaga...there are still three days left this week."

Regardless, The Wanted doesn't have anything against Britney personally. JAY MCGUINESS says, "When we actually met her person to person, she was so down to Earth. You can tell she's a total southern girl."

That's probably mutual. In November, Britney posed for a picture with The Wanted...and Tweeted it out to her followers with the caption: "We hung out backstage! Love them!" Here's the link









DUMPING FRIENDSJust so you know, if you plan on DUMPING someone anytime soon, it's going to cost you some friends. And not just Facebook friends. Actual friends.

According to a new poll by a website called HealBee.com, the average man or woman loses EIGHT friends in a break-up.

And that's not even counting the person you break-up with...because, I assume, you agree to "stay friends" even though that's clearly a lie, and falls apart within a month.

The average person loses three of their ex's friends, three mutual friends, and two friends they knew before the relationship.

And the people behind the poll say the results were consistent across gender, age, and geography







TALKIN' TRIBEWell actually just talkin' baseball...Will you have to crack into your 401(k) to afford a game this summer? The good news is, probably not. The bad news is...even though it's not THAT expensive, it's not exactly cheap.

The annual "Fan Cost Index" just came out, which breaks down the prices at all 30 Major League Baseball stadiums. Here's what it found...

Tickets. The average ticket to a baseball game costs $27, and the average GOOD seat costs $88. Those numbers haven't changed from last season.

Hot dogs. The average hot dog price is $4.13. The Cincinnati Reds are the cheapest...their new "dollar menu" offers $1 hot dogs. Hey!! I like it!
The Miami Marlins and New York Mets are tied for most expensive...their cheapest hot dog is $6.

Beer. The average price for a small beer is $6.10. The average size of the smallest beer is 15 ounces, or three ounces more than a standard can.

The Arizona Diamondbacks have the best small beer value, at $4 for a 14-ounce beer. They actually charge that same price for a 14-ounce SODA as well. The Boston Red Sox have the worst deal on beer BY FAR, at $7.25 for a 12-ounce.










ALMOST VACATION SEASON...TripAdvisor just released their annual list of the top places to visit on the planet, and apparently people have gotten less adventurous in the past year.

Last year's number one was Cape Town, South Africa. Number two was Sydney, Australia, and number three was Machu Picchu in Peru. This year none of those three made the list. This year's choices are MUCH less exciting.

#1.) London, England

#2.) New York City

#3.) Rome, Italy

#4.) Paris, France

#5.) San Francisco, California

#6.) Marrakech, Morocco

#7.) Istanbul, Turkey

#8.) Barcelona, Spain

#9.) Siem Reap, Cambodia

#10.) Berlin, Germany

The list is based on an analysis of hundreds of thousands of TripAdvisor's reviews over the past year...so the places with the highest overall ratings made the list.










NEW MUSIC FROM ALANISALANIS MORISSETTE has a new album coming out on August 29th. It's called "Havoc and Bright Lights", and the first single, "Guardian", will be out May 15th.

Alanis...being Alanis...had this to say about the new album: "This record, as always, is a snapshot of what I currently obsess about, care about, and what strikes me at 4:00 in the morning in my most introspective moments.

"It is my emotional, psychological, social and philosophical commentary through song."

That sure sounds BRILLIANT...but we all know Alanis is at her BEST when she's FUSSING about something with angry, angsty sarcasm. Or at least, I think so. I haven't really paid attention to Alanis since the '90s.

Specifically, I'm talking about relationships. If you didn't know, "Full House" stud DAVE COULIER claims the song "You Oughta Know" was addressed to HIM. He dated Alanis in the early '90s. Alanis has never confirmed that.)

Also, she's said that her last album, "Flavors of Entanglement", was inspired by her split from RYAN REYNOLDS in 2007.

But now she's married to rapper MARIO TREADWAY, a.k.a. MC SOULEYE. Their relationship seems fine, and they have a kid together. So now that Alanis is so domestic, what will she be whining about this time?

Maybe things like: The A-hole that cut off her mini-van in her cul-de-sac...the organic market was out of fresh eggplant, and she was planning to make ratatouille for dinner...

Or that the new iron that she ordered from Amazon.com was damaged during shipment, and her laundry is piling up.












GAGA IS SINGLE...IF YOU CARE
LADY GAGA and her boyfriend TAYLOR KINNEY have split up. Well, according to a source, they're, "on a break."

The source says, "Gaga will be touring nonstop until next year and has found she can't have a relationship at the same time. There's just no room for anything else. Her work is all-consuming."








FOX IS PISSEDFox has announced a new dating competition show, which totally rips off "The Voice"...right down to the blind auditions and spinning chairs.

Here's how it'll work: Eligible bachelors and bachelorettes will "audition" for four single celebrities, who will be seated in the chairs. Like "The Voice", the stars will be faced away from the contestants at the beginning.

The contestants will talk about themselves, and if a celebrity likes what they hear, they pull their "love handle," and their chair spins around. If two stars are interested, the contestant gets to choose one of them.

Each celebrity will choose three potential matches...and then there are two additional rounds, where the celebrities whittle it down to the one they want to go on a date with. There's no word on what kind of "celebrities" are doing this.

If it didn't go without saying, Fox notes that all the contestants will be, "physically attractive."

By the way, Fox doesn't seem to GIVE A RAT'S ASS that this totally rips off NBC's "The Voice". The show is even called "The Choice"...and a promo brags:  "Four celebrities. Blind auditions. Spinning chairs. But it's not what you think."

Hmm. It sure sounds like SOMEONE'S still a little sore about "The Voice" coming in and taking a bite out of "American Idol". I have to admit, this is so brazen it's kind of amusing.

"The Choice" premieres June 7th. The host will be CAT DEELEY, who also hosts Fox's "So You Think You Can Dance".

Wait a minute. "The Voice" is hosted by CARSON DALY. Could they have found a host with a more similar name than Cat Deeley? This is all REALLY odd.

Despite all the obvious similarities, Fox suit Mike Darnell was coy about them stealing anything. When asked about using the spinning chairs, he said, "I had three choices. Choice one: Do a wall like they used to do on 'Dating Game'.

"Choice two: Blindfold them, which would look ridiculous. Or choice three: Go modern and do a chair that turns."

And when asked about the show's TITLE, he added, "'The Choice' seems like an obvious title because you have to make a choice. I'm just now realizing it rhymes!"









MEN AND WOMEN CAN'T BE FRIENDS: STUDYResearchers at the University of Wisconsin in Eau Claire ran a study on more than 400 adults ages 18 to 52, and their friendships with members of the opposite sex.

And they found that pretty much across the board, opposite-sex friendships just made people MISERABLE.

There was almost always SOME degree of sexual tension...and the more attracted someone was to their friend, the less satisfied they were in their current romantic relationship.

And usually, the GUY in the friendship is the one causing the problems. The researchers say that's just basic evolution...men aren't wired to be friends with women, they're wired to try to have sex with as many of them as possible.

"Attraction in friendship is happening, and it's persistent. Based on all our data, in the majority of friendships there's at least a low level of attraction."







MOVIESAccording to a survey in Canada by a theater chain called Cineplex Entertainment, the average person goes to their first movie in a theater when they're nine years old.

60% of people say that they've been to a movie on a first date, and 35% of people say it's the most common place to take a first date, ahead of dinner and going to a party.

Here are our biggest pet peeves about going to the movies:

#1.) When other people won't SHUT UP: 33% said that people talking was the worst.

#2.) When the person behind you KICKS your SEAT: 18% of people think that's the worst.

#3.) When someone sits RIGHT in front of you, even though there are plenty of other seats: 14% of people mentioned that.







TEBOW DITCHES PROM
18-year-old Rachel Bird of Kingsley, Iowa is a blonde high school cheerleader at Kingsley-Pierson High School.

Her senior prom was last weekend, and she wanted her date to be...TIM TEBOW. So a few weeks back, she tweeted to him, his agent, and the New York Jets asking him to go to the prom. She never got a response.

So rather than go to prom with an actual guy, she decided she was STILL going to go with Tebow. A LIFE-SIZE CARDBOARD CUTOUT of Tebow, that she made at Staples.

Rachel says she didn't get a real date because, "A lot of my friends are guys and they were involved [already] with girls. I didn't want to go with just anybody just to have a date."

She also says she's not bitter at Tebow for never responding. Quote, "He must get 100 requests a minute."