Beyonce Runs the World: Cowell Courts Blue Ivy's Mom and Other Hip-Hop Divas for X-Factor Season 2

Simon Cowell has reached out to Beyonce Knowles as well as Mariah Carey, Nicki Minaj, Katy Perry and others to be new judges on X-Factor. After saying goodbye to longtime co-judge Paula Abdul, and Nicole Scherzinger, who left the show to pursue her own music career, it seems Cowell is hoping to replace them with some of the world's hottest pop stars for season two of his show's U.S. version. X-Factor started as a British TV music competition before expanding into a mini-franchise with national versions airing all over the world.

Bringing Beyonce on board would help the show rival it's biggest competitor, American Idol, which brought on ex-Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler and pop star Jennifer Lopez for it's tenth season last year. The new trend of hiring popular musicians to judge TV music competitions suggests that these types of shows can no longer draw a large viewership on their own.

Though there are only two judging positions open Cowell seems equally enthusiastic about hiring Beyonce as he does Nicki Minaj, who he considers one of the biggest rappers today, or Mariah Carey, who considers her to be the best, according to the Daily Mirror.

The American edition of X-Factor had a successful first season, attracting over 12 million viewers. If Beyonce agrees to join forces with Simon Cowell it won't be the first time she's appeared on the series. In 2008 she performed on the British version alongside the season's winner, Alexandra Burke.