American Idol's resident Mr. Nasty has a soft spot, after all.
Simon Cowell has stepped up to the charitable plate (or stolen the thunder from U2 and Jay-Z) and announced that he's organizing a "We Are the World"-style charity single to benefit the Haiti relief efforts. Hmm...great minds think alike.
And while it might have been nicer had he come up with the idea himself, the orders apparently came from a bit higher up.
"We are going to do a single," he told reporters at last night's National Television Awards in London. "I wanted to do something for Haiti, and we had a request from the prime minister to put a record together."
Expect a who's who of Cowell-mentored celebs to lend their pipes to the track, which will be released with support from The Sun newspaper and which, it seems, has yet to be written.
"I have no idea what it's going to be at the moment, no idea who's going to be on it," he said.
Well, maybe some idea.
According to the Sun, Simon has already reached out to his British sensations Leona Lewis and Susan Boyle to participate on the song, which is being fast-tracked, most likely to be available for download right around the time of tomorrow night's Hope for Haiti telethon.
"I've got to get it together in 48 hours," he said last night. "It's not the best time. Logistically, we're all over the place, but I will make it happen."
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Every dollar counts. Find out how you can help with the Haiti relief effort and tune in to E! and E! Online this Friday at 8 p.m. PT/ET for the Hope for Haiti telethon.