American Idol – Who Should Judge?

Columns, Top Story

Buh-bye!

It was recently announced that both Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez will be stepping down from their roles as American Idol judges after two seasons. Ever since Simon Cowell left, the judging panel has felt like a revolving door and I think it’s time for a clean sweep. That’s right, dawgs, I’d like to see Randy Jackson go as well.

 

If you’re still watching Idol and reading my recaps, you probably know that I’ve gotten really tired with several aspects of the show. The voting system that creates predictable, cut-from-the-same-cloth winners, the drab theme nights and song choices, and the overly positive, underly (I’m making it a word) critical judging. The phrases (“for me for you”, “dawg”, “in it to win it”, “beautiful”, “goose pimples” and “beautiful”, to name only a few…) have become more stale than the bagel that’s been sitting on my counter for the past week.

So who should judge the next season? I have some ideas.

Harry Connick Jr.

I liked a lot of things about Harry Connick Jr. when he appeared on the show as a mentor. He was very funny, but not overly mean. He has serious talent, and put a lot of work into coming up with unique arrangements for the contestants – that makes me think his critiques would have some more depth than “for me, for you, for me, man”. His name has been tossed around for a while now, and I think he’s the right choice. Plus, he’s dreamy and he wrote a song about me. (FINE, his wife is also named Jill. That means nothing. It could easily be about me.)

Gwen Stefani

I love No Doubt and Gwen, but have they been making very much music lately? They’re supposed to be putting out a new album on September 25th. You know what would help it sell? My favorite bottle blond doling out advice on TV. Gwen might not have the best voice, but she’s musically talented and oozes stage presence. When she appeared as a mentor, she was actually tough on the contestants. And don’t we want to see what she’ll wear every week?

 

 

Mariah Carey

I’m hearing whispers of this one on the Interwebs, and I’m on the fence about it. My fear is that Mariah would be too nice, a la Lopez. But if paired with the right people, that could be OK. And you can’t deny the lady has the chops. I like the idea of her with Stefani and Connick, because then you’d have R&B, rock, pop and adult contemporary covered.

Other ideas? I’m not into the idea of Adam Lambert joining because I don’t think his career has been successful enough to validate him as a judge. I kind of dug the suggestion of Usher, and I think Pharrell Williams could be great. Who else would you like to see?


You can follow Jill at her blog, couchtimewithjill.com, or on Twitter @jillemader Jill has been an avid fan of TV since the age of two, when she was so obsessed with Zoobilee Zoo that her mother lied and told her it had been canceled. Despite that setback, she grew up to be a television aficionado and pop culture addict.