Via J. Lo’s Twitter page
In the worst kept secret category, it looks like Jennifer Lopez will return to the judges’ table for the thirteenth season of American Idol according to a Deadline article from the weekend. J. Lo was part of the panel for seasons ten and eleven, but didn’t come back for season twelve. Last year’s panel was ridiculous at times and ridiculously entertaining at others, but ultimately didn’t mesh as Mariah Carey and Nikki Minaj couldn’t get along and either weren’t invited back or didn’t want to come back for season thirteen. Long timer Randy Jackson is also out for season thirteen.
But you know who is back?
Yes, none other than Keith Urban. Urban played a half Paula Abdul role where he was always trying to find the positive and sometimes really trying to find it when there was none. But he was also good at giving constructive criticism but painting it in a way that didn’t come off negative. Well, that’s also what J. Lo is good at.
Who is rumored to be added to the third chair at the table? According to Billboard, it’s will.i.am. Personally, I’m not a fan, but I guess it’s better than some of the other options I’ve seen.
It does look like my wish was actually considered. I wanted a four person panel of Carrie Underwood, Kelly Clarkson, Fantasia, and Adam Lambert. It would remind viewers that stars have been created on this show before. From the things I’ve read, Underwood and Clarkson were considered as was Jennifer Hudson, but they couldn’t put it together. I would’ve been fine with any three or four former Idol contestants picked from our list of the Top 10 American Idol Contestants Of All-Time that we published earlier this year.
Will a J. Lo, Keith Urban, and will.i.am panel drive viewers back in droves? Probably not. But this ship has been leaking for many years now. This is just another patch.
Update:
I sent out the bat signal to my podcast partner in crime Tiffany aka @TVLadyProducer and here were her thoughts on J. Lo coming back to Idol:
J. Lo coming back would be awesome for her hair and outfits alone, but they’d need to limit her performances to the finale.
#BOOM!