Simon Cowell wants American judges on X Factor

Simon Cowell believes it is important to have American judges on the US 'X Factor'.

The music mogul - who is launching his pop star search competition in the states this year - admitted he is worried his knowledge of the US music industry is not extensive and he is happy to get as much help as he can from those who are more informed than he is.

He explained: "I have to make sure we have a lot of Americans working on the show to begin with. I've got to have people on the panel with me who can judge American talent because I'm 51 years old, I'm British and we've got people as young as 14 entering this competition. So I've got to make sure I've got people sitting alongside me who genuinely know what they're talking about so that we don't lose somebody in the audition process."

Simon - who is expected to name Def Jam chairman Antonio 'L.A.' Reid as the first 'X Factor' judge - also promised the programme will be different to the UK version of the show because the two countries have different music markets.

He added in an interview with MTV: "I've gone into it, first of all, that it is an American show and whatever happened on the U.K. last year is gone. This is an American competition for American contestants. From a pride point of view, they want to make this the best show they've ever done."

British singer Cheryl Cole - who is also a judge on the UK version of the programme - has been tipped to take a seat on the US panel, with Usher, Nicole Scherzinger and Katy Perry also linked to the show.

Meanwhile, singer Enrique Iglesias has reportedly been approached to take on presenting duties.

While a number of people were competing for the role - including UK 'X Factor' host Dermot O' Leary - Simon is said to have approached the 'Hero' singer about working on the show.

However, it is unclear if Enrique is interested in the role.