By Jeremy D. Bonfiglio
MyTVHatesMe.com

Simon Cowell isn’t having as much fun picking on Paula Abdul these days.

Especially since “American Idol” has added another woman to the judges’ panel as it prepares for its eighth season.

“Well, what guy would like that? Come on. You know? You have two girls ganging up on you,” Cowell says. “One is hard enough; two is unbearable. They’ve both got personalities, they’re both very forceful … at least I’ve got Randy by my side.”

When the FOX reality singing competition returns with a two-night, four-hour premiere beginning Tuesday, Jan. 13 (8 p.m. EST), Cowell, Abdul and Randy Jackson will be joined at the table by songwriter/producer Kara DioGuardi.

It’s the most visible of changes to television’s top show in an attempt to rebound from a slight dip in the ratings the past two seasons.

“There had been talk for some time about adding a fourth judge because the British show I do – ‘The X Factor’ – has had four judges for some time and it did help the format,” Cowell says. “I have no idea whether this is going to work or not. I haven’t seen the show back yet. It’s only when I watch the show back whether we actually know if this has been a good idea or a bad idea.”

Despite the arguments at the judges’ table, Cowell says he has reveled in his new power of being the deciding vote when there is a tie.

“There’s been a few arguments along the way, particularly from the girls when they can’t get their own way,” Cowell says. “There was one particular girl — you’ll see her on the show —who came in in a bikini. I mean, the second she walked in it was a ‘Yes’ from us guys and a categorical ‘No’ from the girls. Luckily, I had the casting vote and you’ll see her again.”

In addition to DioGuardi, “Idol” producers — minus Nigel Lythgoe who left to helm his myriad dance shows — have restored the judges’ wild-card picks this season and vowed to focus less on train wreck auditions and more on the semi-final round, which will include 36 instead of 24 contestants.

” I wasn’t crazy about the process we went through the last couple of years where we were given a small group of contestants who you actually got bored with once you hit about show five of the live shows,” Cowell says. “It was kind of like battle of the blondes and they all looked the same. I couldn’t differentiate one from the other. This year there seems to be more personality. … We tried to be as broad and as open minded as possible so that we don’t end up with 12 people from the ‘Stepford Wives.’”

With the possible exception of that bikini-clad auditioner, Cowell believes it is the men and not the women who have shown the most talent so far this season.

“The guys overall – maybe five or six of them – were just stronger and they stood out more than the girls,” Cowell says. “Still, anything can happen.”

Of course this being “Idol” the show enters its eighth season with a steady stream of controversy.

Abdul recently slammed Cowell in a Barbara Walters interview, accusing him of making her look crazy by whispering in her ear.

“Guilty,” he says. “I’ve done it from day one. That’s part of the relationship I’ve had with Paula. I’ve looked upon it in a kind of a fun way. It’s never done with any maliciousness.”

Cowell says that Abdul’s comments were not, “as barbed as they may have appeared.” Abdul was also outspoken about the show’s inclusion of what she says was one of her known stalkers in a 2006 audition round.

That accused stalker, Paula Goodspeed, who performed an off-key rendition of “Proud Mary” before the judges in 2006, was found dead on Nov. 11, 2008 of an apparent drug overdose in a car outside Abdul’s Los Angeles home.

“What happened was awful,” Cowell says. “My regret in all of this is that we didn’t know how troubled this person was. If I could have gone back in time and known what she was going through, I wish that we could have spent time trying to help her, but we genuinely didn’t know.”

Cowell says the show has open auditions and participants are not screened beforehand. Anyone answering the cattle call is warned that if they can’t handle criticism, they shouldn’t sing.

“The show is not an inherently mean show,” Cowell says. “It is an American dream show. The whole purpose of the show is to find somebody — it could be a cocktail waitress like Kelly Clarkson — who through the process becomes a star.”