Simon Cowell wants Obama to appear on ‘Idol’

Simon Cowell and "American Idol" have the power and popularity to enlist plenty of big names to appear on the show. But can they pull in the biggest name of all — President Barack Obama?

According to digitalspy.com, Cowell told Absolute Radio that "we're trying to get (Obama) to do a show at the moment."

It didn't escape Cowell's notice that he received a mention from the commander in chief on the "Tonight Show" last week, digitalspy.com reported.

"(The president) was on the 'Tonight Show' talking about how everyone in Washington is a critic," Cowell noted. "And then he said, 'Unfortunately, they're all like Simon Cowell.' I'm not sure if it's a compliment or not."

Cowell also called the president "a really cool guy."

On “The Tonight Show” Monday night, Cowell told host Jay Leno that Obama called him when the president was in Los Angeles to try and arrange a dinner.

“He wanted to do eight, I was free at nine and we just didn't quite connect,” Cowell said to Leno, as castmates Ryan Seacrest and Randy Jackson listened. Leno's response: “What were you doing, getting your teeth whitened?”

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