Britain’s Got Talent seems to have captured the nation. Saturday’s episode snagged another 10million-plus viewing figure, and the whole Susan Boyle thing has gone global. Now we have some pizza delivery man hogging all the headlines. He has made it very clear he doesn’t want to play on his ex-partner’s untimely death, and yet stories like this make the British public go aaaahh and awwww. Especially Simon Cowell. I don’t I’ve ever seen him smile so much. The question being asked on the interpipe at the moment is why he seems to be nice in the UK and not so nice when he does his US shows. So what’s the answer?

For all our BGT news and recaps, go here.

When Simon Cowell first started doing this whole TV talent contest thing, he was a proper villain. He told it like it was, not afraid to upset people. He said he was being honest in assessments and I agreed with him – while his colleagues would coo and offer sympathy, he was slightly snarling and grumpy. Viewers and critics alike soon wised up to his ways – he was a pantomime villain, no more, no less. Shows like Pop Idol and The X Factor needed a ‘nasty’ character and Cowell helped to set the template for subsequent talent shows not only in this country but also around the world.

Over the years there’s no question that he has mellowed. His hair has got more ridiculous, his teeth whiter (he may as well flash them, the amount of money he has spent on them) and his v-neck-without-shirt ever more revealing. He still (rightly) speaks his mind on The X Factor and American Idol, while Cheryl Cole acts as the fairy princess. This dynamic is perfect for that particular show, while Paula Abdul fulfills a similar function in America.

But Britain’s Got Talent? It’s meant to be feel-good. It’s meant to be silly and eccentric. If you had a raised eyebrow Cowell saying, “I’m sorry… but” it would be so inappropriate. In fact, BGT is one of the few TV talent shows that truly isn’t about the judging panel – it really is about the great British public making arses out of themselves, showing off genuine talent and providing the huge, credit crunch-addled audiences out there with dollops of disposable, feel-good TV.

This LA Times blog piece (here) suggests that the reason he’s so moody on American Idol is that this current series is leaving him cold. He has already intimated that he may take a break or leave the show at the end of his current contract (which lasts for one more series after this one).

Whereas BGT seems to be lifting not only the nation’s mood but Cowell’s own, the Idol stuff seems to be boring him. Perhaps he has been on his throne for too long, fed up with people feeding him grapes and waving away rubbish singers with the flick of a hand. The Susan Boyles of this world might just have restored his faith in humanity and brought him back down to the real world.

Perhaps he move his throne onto America’s Got Talent too. They might see him smile a bit more.