Do we really need another reality show? Do we really need another talent competition? Do we really need more Simon Cowell?

Well, yes. To all three.

Says Simon Cowell.

The caustic Brit who left American Idol to brainstorm his own fall event series -- The X Factor on Fox (Wednesday-Thursday starting Sept. 21-22) -- tells TV critics "we see this as a game changer. We're gonna try and change the rules. We're gonna try and find a completely different kind of contestant. Our job as judges is to find people who've got star quality and turn them into stars.'

And to depict the entire process. A 12-minute presentation reel screened at press tour features quick clips from audition tapings and beyond, reflecting Cowell's avowed goal to show "the good bits, the bad bits, the ugly bits." Contestants talk back at the live-audience auditions held nationwide this spring, with Simon at one point commanding "Shut it and start singing." Judges bicker and stomp off. Performers from teenage to middle-age, both individuals and groups, win crowd cheers, with their vocal talent or powerhouse personality. Meanwhile, family members react backstage to their loved one's fate. The successful go on to Boot Camp with the judge-mentors, whose homes we'll be heading into, too.

Even Cowell testily confronting audition producers made it into the mix.

"We wanted to show it to you guys because that's how these shows are going to be shown to the audience," Cowell said by satellite. "What happens when you make reality TV is that real things happen. Things don't always go your way."

Which doesn't mean The X Factor isn't slickly produced. Among a panel of judges and producers actually on hand at press tour -- lifesize onstage in the Beverly Hills hotel ballroom, while Cowell's close-up satellite image loomed Friday morning from huge screens on both sides of them -- Factor judge and frequent ex-Idol combatant Paula Abdul described the live-audience arena auditions as delivering entertainment "on a grand scale. It's an epic feeling."

On the live shows launching during the November ratings sweep (natch), Cowell said, "you're gonna see a scale of production you've never seen on any of these shows before. Yet in other areas, you've gotta scale it right back. We've allowed the public at home to almost look through a keyhole, to see things they're not supposed to see. So I like the combination of the two."

The X Factor has already been produced by Cowell in 30 locales around the globe -- its UK home, virtually every country in Europe, Russia, Argentina, India, Indonesia, the Arab world -- and not much will change for the big States debut. Competition is divided into four categories -- women under 25, men under 25, singers older than that, and groups of any kind. There's no upper age range. Fox asked that the youngest age be lowered to 12, which Cowell thinks is proving "100 percent right."

"Ten years ago, they'd have all been singing 'on the good ship lollipop,'" Cowell said of the youngest tw/eens, but now there's an entire generation schooled via web videos, YouTube and social media performance savvy. "They are very cool and very switched-on, and you will see a surprising amount of stars in this age range." Does than mean he'll tone down his criticism for their tender egos? Uh, no. "We've had to say to 14-year-olds, would they be kind to me. So they are more lippy than all the other contestants I've ever met in my life. I was quite traumatized after the auditions."

Ah, but he's kidding. Isn't he? It's sometimes hard to tell -- especially when it comes to old adversary Abdul, after the way the two went after each other on and around Idol.

Same here at press tour. "It's nice to be back in a demented relationship," allowed Abdul as she sat on the stage in sky-high heels with glistening rhinestones. Added humor-seeking series host Steve Jones (a sleek looker imported from Wales), "It's like mommy and daddy were separated, and now they're back together again." "It's kind of like The Exorcist, too," Cowell concluded.

Abdul later returned to the subject, saying "Simon is a completely different species on this show. He's turned into a pussycat, he's very sweet." Cowell subsequently added his own meow, when asked whether Factor contenders might include some with recording experience: "As Paula well knows, I'm all for giving people comebacks." Scoffed the woman supposedly been invited out of her Idol gig alongside him, "Oh, please, that is so funny. Not." "It's true," countered Cowell. "Everybody deserves a third chance."

There were others on the press tour panel, too, including the final two judge-mentors -- producer/mogul L.A. Reid ("I'm seeing more talent in a day than I could see perhaps in a year in my job as a record executive") and Pussycat Doll turned Dancing With the Stars winner Nicole Scherzinger, who got her own big break by winning an Eden's Crush girl group gig on The WB's 2001 competition Popstars.

Three other executive producers of The X Factor were there, as well. But really, who cares? There's Simon, and then there's Simon-and-Paula, striking sparks. (Meaning combustible. Not romantic.)

Starting Sept. 21-22, we'll also get to see some singing talent, seeking not only that big break but a grand prize of $5 million cash, plus a recording contract and his/her/their own Pepsi commercial during the 2012 Super Bowl.

Then we'll find out whether The X Factor has the X-factors needed to make itself a TV sensation.

[In photo of Fox' press tour session for The X Factor Aug. 5, from left to right: host Steve Jones; judges Nicole Scherzinger, L.A. Reid and Paula Abdul; executive producers Rob Wade, Andrew Llinares and Cecile Frot-Coutaz; Fox alternative entertainment president Mike Darnell. Photo credit: Frank Micelotta / Fox.]