Simon Cowell “Bored” With “Idol”

Simon Cowell will bid farewell to American Idol on next Wednesday night’s Season 9 finale, and the tough-talkin’ music mogul has good reason for jumping ship on television’s most watched talent show after eight years: It bores him….

“After a while, you start to go on automatic pilot,” Cowell explained in an appearance Oprah on Thursday. “Too many times, I was sitting there [at the judges’ table] bored. The audience deserves more than that … and I can’t hide when I’m bored.”

Of course that doesn’t mean Simon’s done with reality competitions — he’ll launch an American adaptation of his UK hit, The X Factor in 2012.