BEING rude to Americans can be highly lucrative — and win you their trust. That, at least, is the lesson of Simon Cowell, the caustic judge on American Idol.

It was revealed yesterday that he is paid $98,630 (£53,389) per day, or $36 million a year, for insulting the efforts of wannabe pop stars.

“Screechy and annoying,” was his verdict on 17-year-old Paris Bennett, before she was dumped from the competition.News of Cowell’s salary, revealed by Desperate Networks, a book by the New York Times reporter Bill Carter, comes as a survey found that 58 per cent of viewers who vote for American Idol trust Mr Cowell more than his fellow judges.

Only 26 per cent trust Randy Jackson, whose catchphrase is “Dude, you were the bomb!”, and only 7 per cent pay attention to Paula Abdul, whose erratic, highly emotional, and stream-of-consciousness judgments often make little sense.The London-born Cowell, worth $80 million, was initially hated by the US public when the US version of Pop Idol was launched.

He gradually won respect, however, when his cringingly honest opinions turned out to be generally correct.

Cowell displays no traditional British reserve while filming in Los Angeles for the show, made by Fox, which is owned of News Corporation, parent company of The Times. He drives a Ferrari and is reportedly building a mansion in Beverly Hills.

A former postroom clerk for EMI, Mr Cowell become a consultant for BMG, where he launched Westlife, 5ive and Curiosity Killed the Cat. He set up the label S Records and in 2003 sold 50 per cent of it to BMG for a reported $42 million.

Mr Cowell’s initial backing of Kellie Pickler (catchphrase: “Pick Pickler”) backfired when the blonde Southerner was voted off after a couple of dire performances.

He now believes the winner will be either Taylor Hicks, whom he compared to a wedding singer, or the bald, scowling Chris Daughtry.

When told that 35 per cent of American Idol viewers thought their votes counted as much as those for the presidency, Cowell said: “What if — and I’ll throw this challenge out to President Bush — we do President Idol. A couple of songs, a bit of dancing, and I’ll judge it. Maybe that’s how we should decide the next President.”

MONEY TALKS

David Letterman $31 million

Jay Leno $26 million

Oprah Winfrey $20 million (for talkshow only)

Katie Couric soon-to-be anchor of CBS Evening News, $15 million

Jonathan Ross bidding war up to £5 million

Ant and Dec £3 million