American Idol

TMZ has obtained Antonio "Skiiboski" Wheeler's five mug shots from his arrests in Florida -- which according to Skiiboski's

from the Orange County Corrections Department, occurred between March of 2005 and December of 2009.

March 2005: Possession of cannabis with intent to distribute, possession of cocaine, escape, and two counts resisting an officer without violence.

November 2005: Ten counts of contempt of court, providing false ID to law enforcement officer, escape during transport, resisting officer without violence, possession of cocaine and battery by detainee in detention facility.

February 2007: Possession of controlled substance of less than 10 grams, providing false ID to law enforcement officer, resisting officer without violence, escape.

August 2008: Violation of probation, driving while license suspended, no registration.

On TMZ TV -- the day Simon announced he was leaving -- we floated Elton John as the guy who should take Simon's seat. After all, he knows music, he's certainly got the bitchy attitude, and he's British.

Now an "American Idol" spy tells us the talk on the set is ... Elton John!

Elton was a guest judge in season three of 'Idol.'

We spoke to Nigel in Beverly Hills today, where the mega-producer called "Idol" a "phenomenon" ... adding he's "not sure that anything will ever be as successful as American Idol."

We've learned Cowell and Fox had been negotiating the terms of the move for weeks. We're told the deal was basically done and the plan was for Cowell to make the announcement at the Television Critics Association.

But there was an unexpected snag yesterday morning. As Simon drove to the TCA in Pasadena, final negotiations hit a wall. Lawyers for both sides had a serious disagreement over one of the terms. As Simon was pulling up, he was on the phone and on the verge of aborting the announcement and driving away -- the ultimate game of brinkmanship.

Someone blinked ... because lawyers came to terms and Simon rolled out of his Rolls and into TV history.

UPDATE: Simon was just on Ryan Seacrest's morning show and confirmed they "were driving down to do the press conference and we didn't have an agreement."

Ellen just taped her show today, and cleverly explained a possible link between Simon, Conan and Jay.

As we previously reported, Simon's voting himself off the show so he can work on "The X Factor."

Paula Abdul has had discussions with Simon Cowell about being a judge on the U.S. version of "The X Factor"... sources tell TMZ.

The irony is stunning -- Simon, the lynchpin of "American Idol," abandoning ship and teaming up with the woman who was unceremoniously dumped from "A.I."

Our sources would not say how far along the discussions have gone between Simon and Paula ... but there were talks as recently as late last week.

Simon Cowell will no longer be crushing terrible singers' dreams on the most popular show on television.

Cowell just announced this will be his last season on "American Idol" -- and that he's leaving the show to be a judge and executive producer on FOX's upcoming American version of "The X Factor" ... the British talent show that launched Leona Lewis' career.

Cowell just made the announcement during the semiannual Television Critics Association press tour in Pasadena.

Simon said he was "offered a lot of money" to stay on "American Idol" ... but he "wanted to do something different." BTW, Simon reportedly makes around $36 million a year on "A.I."

For his part, Ryan Seacrest tweeted: "this is simon's last season on idol. He's working on US version of x-factor! He is one of the most brilliant people in our biz! Congrats."

Ironically, Simon and new host Ellen DeGeneres were featured on the cover of Entertainment Weekly last week and Ellen addressed the rumor of Simon leaving by saying, "If Simon goes, I go!"

Don't judge.

Kris Allen is just one of the many people affected by TWS -- last night, the "American Idol" runner-up winner told us his wife's been all over him since "reading all this stuff about Tiger."

Kris claims the paranoia is even causing his wife to have "bad dreams."

Unfortunately, there is no known cure for TWS.

No, it wasn't Taylor Hicks.

Simon Cowell is hitting the half-century mark with a lavish party at Wrotham Park in Hertfordshire, England today -- a swanky private mansion where people with money throw swanky private parties.

How can judging people be wrong ... if you can make so much money doing it?

The fifth season runner-up debuted her new blond bob last night at the Ann Taylor runway show in NYC.

It's the most exciting thing she's done since finishing second place to Taylor Hicks.

That would be like Simon, well, being nice.