Jennifer Hudson and Taylor Hicks are not competing on "American Idol" anymore, but that doesn't mean they are free from Simon Cowell's criticism.
The acid-tongued judge spoke out about the two former contestants while at the Annual Paley Festival at the Directors Guild of America in West Hollywood.
Hicks, who won his season of "Idol," has gone on to a slow start in the music industry, so far selling the least amount of albums by a winner.
Of the grey-haired singer, Cowell said, "They (Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson) loved him. I couldn't stand him. I didn't get it...At the end of the day you have to find a bona fide recording artist. Just because you win the show doesn't mean you will sell a lot of records. Chris (Daughtry) is the one who sold the albums, not Taylor."
It seems that the judge is not impressed that newly crowned best supporting actress Hudson has not praised her big break enough.
Being an Oscar winning hasn't shielded Hudson, with Cowell saying, "Jennifer Hudson said 'American Idol' was a 'stepping stone' for her. Stepping stone? It was her big opportunity to become noticed and she got noticed and she got 'Dreamgirls.'"
The grumpy judge claims that most contestants, "deliberately turn against the show that made them successful. The reason (people) come on the show is because all the doors had been slammed in their face."
Other winners, Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood, have gone on to win Grammy Awards.
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