Simon Cowell tells Deadline.com in an interview that his new talent-competition program, "The X Factor," will have "zero rules." 

"Because I can’t bear rules. For instance, I’ve never liked the idea you have to be a certain age to be a pop star. I like the idea that anybody can enter, anybody can compete," Cowell explains. He adds that his new show will also allow groups to compete. "It should be a 14-year-old competing against a 50-year-old competing against the next ‘N Sync. That to me is an interesting show because it’s got a variety of contestants," Cowell notes.

Cowell says that he hasn’t yet booked the judges for the show, despite reports that the program has booked Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger and British pop star Cheryl Cole. "The only person that’s been booked is me. We’re trying to keep it as open as possible," he says.

As for the cost of producing the show, Cowell notes, "Fox gave me its assurance that’s it’s backing the show all the way." He adds that the U.S. version will be three times the size of the U.K. version of the show, which costs about $2.4 million to produce each week.