Music mogul Simon Cowell has explained why he talks to his American Idol co-judge Paula Abdul during American Idol wannabes’ performances – he taunts her feedback style. Acid-tongued Cowell is often criticised for not paying contestants the courtesy of his undivided attention during their auditions. But he tells chat show host Ellen DeGeneres, in an interview airing on US TV on Monday (Apr 30), “I’m taunting Paula throughout the performance. I’m saying to her, ‘Try to say something interesting, try not to use the words mountain and lakes in your critiques because it’s always, ‘You’ll climb mountains, you’ll swim lakes, whatever.’” But Cowell insists he still has time to listen to the auditions properly. He adds, “I’ll tell you a secret. I watch the dress run so I actually hear much, much easier what they really do sound like.”