"American Idol" judge Simon Cowell says he only remembers one contestant out of the thousands who auditioned for the Fox TV hit's upcoming season.

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"The only person I can genuinely remember from the auditions that I've done for this season is an Irish girl that we saw in Las Vegas who now lives in America," Cowell told The New York Post.

"I think she sang a Chaka Khan song and afterwards I said 'I think we may have found someone as good as ('Idol' winner) Kelly Clarkson.'"

But after heaping all that praise on the Vegas "Irish girl," Cowell told The Post he forgot her name.

The fifth season of the talent competition is expected to bow in early 2006.