Simon Cowell: Rebecca Black Is 'Genius'

He also discusses new "X-Factor" judge Antonio "L.A." Reid and confirms that Paula Abdul is still in the running to be on the program.

Simon Cowell has nothing but good things to say about overnight Internet sensation Rebecca Black and the single that made her famous, "Friday."

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Cowell gushed about the widely criticized song and called the buzz surrounding it "brilliant."

"Love it!" he said, surprisingly positive words for a critic so notoriously stingy with his praise. "I've never seen anything cause so much controversy. I think it's genius. The fact that everyone's getting upset about it is hysterical."

He likened "Friday" to the hugely popular '90s hit "Saturday Night" by Whigfield.

"It's what we call a 'hair-dryer song,' a song girls sing into their hair dryers as they're getting ready to go out," Cowell explained. "But the fact that it's making people so angry is brilliant."

Black, who appeared on Good Morning America Friday, said she was hurt by the nasty comments people left on the YouTube music video, which has been streamed over 22 million times.

Cowell also revealed more about the highly publicized hiring process for X-Factor's judges, including why Island Def Jam chairman Antonio "L.A." Reid was chosen to board the reality show.

"Taking it back to basics, since we were making the point that the whole idea of the show is that we're trying to find a star, my first thought was, I’ve got to have the No. 1 hit maker in the world on the show," he said. "And L.A. was the obvious choice."

Cowell added that at least one of the show's female judges could be revealed on Monday. Though he did not name any candidates, he confirmed that fellow former American Idol judge Paula Abdul is still in consideration.

"I'm not saying that Paula's definitely got the gig, because we don't know what's going to happen, but part of the fun of Idol when it first started was that it didn't take itself too seriously," he said.