By Dina Ginzburg

Simon Cowell likes firing people. Since January, he has fired Paula Abdul, Nicole Scherzinger and host Steve Jones and is now in a bit of a pickle. He needs one more judge to fill the empty slot and there have been rumours circulating that Miley Cyrus and Demi Lovato are possible candidates. Avril Lavigne is also said to be under consideration.

A younger judge would appeal to a younger audience, so it would make sense that Simon would want any one of these singers on the show. However, nobody has actually confirmed or denied any of these rumours.

Something we can confirm though is that Britney Spears has agreed to a $15 million contract with THE X FACTOR, so there’s a big chance that she’ll be one of the judges for the upcoming season.