The waxwork captures the Cowell stare

The model of Cowell, a judge on ITV1's talent show Pop Idol, comes complete with his trademark putdowns.

Pop wannabes are be able to sing in front of the model in a mock-up of the Pop Idol set, and await Cowell's judgement.

The model features an electronic device that can sense whether a person is singing in tune.

Other members of the public will be invited to join Cowell to judge the singers. There will also be waxworks of the Pop Idol presenters Antony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly to put people at ease.

It really feels just like being on the television programme and he is just as nasty Annalisa Hoadley

"Simon Cowell has become so notorious, we decided to create an interactive figure of him to combine with the new series of Pop Idol," a Madame Tussauds spokesperson said.

"By using interactive wax works, we are trying to get away from the stuffy old museum image."

Love-hate

The music mogul apparently insisted that his waxwork alter-ego should wear his jumper over his belt.

The TV judge - who has become a love-hate figure for the British and American public - has become lampooned for the way he tucks his jumper inside a pair of jeans worn, it is said, unusually high up the waist.

Diane Moon of Madame Tussaud's, said that Cowell wanted the figure to represent his new style of wearing jumpers.

The waxwork is equipped with 10 different comments, ranging from "That was extraordinary. Unfortunately, extraordinarily bad" to "One word to sum up - congratulations".

Visitors can pick songs such as Angels by Robbie Williams and Frank Sinatra's My Way from a total of 13 tracks.

Annalisa Hoadley, 22, from London, was the first to try out the new attraction.

She sang Robbie Williams' Angels and was told by the Cowell waxwork: "That was my favourite song of all time, not any more."

She said: "It really feels just like being on the television programme and he is just as nasty."

The waxwork Pop Idol judge joins a cast of celebrity likenesses that includes Jennifer Lopez, which blushes when its ear is whispered in, and Brad Pitt.

Meanwhile, Cowell has told a US paper that he wants his own chat show.

"If the deal was right and the format was interesting as a show, then definitely," he told the New York Daily News on Tuesday.