[jackbell]

Steven Tyler definitely leaving
Randy Jackson possibly leaving
Jennifer Lopez says she leaving

[priscilla]

yeah i heard this as well
i really like the three judges, especially randy 'dawg'
i heard he wants to take on a mentoring role and mariah carey might take over as a judge

[Logan_Thomas]

Thought I'd give you a bump seeing as you only have one comment and I know how that feels haha.

Randy Jackson is the Louis Walsh of this show and I only just realised that guy was the frontman from Aerosmith!

[Dishpop]

Originally Posted by Logan_Thomas

Thought I'd give you a bump seeing as you only have one comment and I know how that feels haha.

Randy Jackson is the Louis Walsh of this show and I only just realised that guy was the frontman from Aerosmith!

That made it sound like you thought Randy Jackson was the frontman from Aerosmith! That would be quite something.

[Logan_Thomas]

Originally Posted by Dishpop

That made it sound like you thought Randy Jackson was the frontman from Aerosmith! That would be quite something.

haha he must have literally done a michael jackson to achieve that one!

[Patti-Ann]

Maybe Randy will be a mentor and Jimmy Lovine one of the judges

[Logan_Thomas]

Originally Posted by Patti-Ann

Maybe Randy will be a mentor and Jimmy Lovine one of the judges

Whats the difference between mentor and Judge screen time wise?

Randy had enough now then?

[unclekevo]

Randy should stay, they should get Paula back and then have a third judge, maybe a British producer like Mark Ronson

[meglosmurmurs]

I really enjoyed the 3 of them together and thought they had great chemistry.

But I suppose the thought of finding the 6th cute white guy with a guitar in a row was never going to be enough motivation to stay.

[C14E]

I thought they'd just have booted Randy and put Jimmy Iovine on the panel (or an equivalent). Doing another huge revamp of the panel just 2 years after the last one seems a bit risky. Idol went 7 years without any changes (arguably a bit too long) and if Randy goes that'll mean that in the past 4 seasons they'll have lost or fired 7 judges. The ratings were sharply down this year and I think a bit of stability might have helped - maybe with a change like bringing in Jimmy to try and resolve the criticisms of the judges being too soft.

For the next few months all the attention will be on Britney's debut on X Factor - for better or worse! And I really don't see how they'll top that for stunt casting. They might get some big names - but J'Lo was a pretty big name anyway. I think X Factor, having played its Britney card, needs to keep a stable panel next year. They can't top Britney and I suspect yet more judging changes will wear thin with the media and audience.

I can see them trying to get someone like Katy Perry or Rihanna. I'd imagine they'll ask Justin Timberlake again (some rumours that he's going back to music). The audience has really aged the past few years and FOX will be keen to reverse that a bit (advertisers pay on the basis of viewers between the ages of 18-49).

But the biggest issue is probably the WGWG syndrome. They went down that road just as pop music got really interesting - full of "big personalities" like Katy Perry, Gaga, Rihanna etc.

[Blondie X]

The problem with AI seems to be that the show starts with a bang and ends with a whimper. They find some fabulous singers in the auditions and then the winner is a damp squib. The last few years, I've lost interest several weeks before the final.

[AwesomeGeorge]

Does Ryan Seacrest still host the show or has he moved on now? I always thought his role was one of the strongest.

[21stCenturyBoy]

They need to overhaul the show somehow- the same kind of winner taking the trophy ever year is just beyond predictable now. Randy was clearly tiring of it by the end of the last season.

I think the new judges should be-

Janet Jackson- She fills the "legend" role and could be the next in a long line of female judges on Idol to offer mothering, encouraging platitudes.

Gene Simmons- I think having a rocker on the panel definitely helped, but Gene has more bite than Steven. Might be less afraid to actually say it as it is.

Akon- He's guest mentored a couple of times- and they have never really had an Urban music orientated judge so he could be interesting.

[len112]

Originally Posted by Logan_Thomas

Thought I'd give you a bump seeing as you only have one comment and I know how that feels haha.

Randy Jackson is the Louis Walsh of this show and I only just realised that guy was the frontman from Aerosmith!

That really is a massive insult to Randy, to be compared to that leprechaun that has as much musical gravitas as my bathroom slippers .

[Logan_Thomas]

Originally Posted by len112

That really is a massive insult to Randy, to be compared to that leprechaun that has as much musical gravitas as my bathroom slippers .

How both have stayed on the show throughout and seem to have no intention of leaving.

Who said I was comparing them musically

[Nobby Burton]

Just end the show already

I couldn't even name any of the last 8 or 9 winners

[Anightlikethis]

The show is past its prime, time to let go, it had a good few seasons back in the day.

[unclekevo]

What about getting someone who has went through the process like Jennifer Hudson?

[AdelaideGirl]

Apparently Aretha Franklin wants the job.

[HughOS]

The thing is, American Idol is still the best singing competition show on air. They attract talent and diversity in ways that TXF and The Voice just don't. The problems lie in the judging panel and the blinkeredness of the voters. The talent for the last two years has been extraordinary. Absolutely incredible in fact. The quality, range and appeal of singers has been almost too good to be true, but the winners have been wrong. So they need to bring in judges that can call out the WGWGs for their mediocrity and stop pretending that they are as talented as the others. Then they need to change the voting system to stop fraun from catapaulting these mediocre guys to the win.

[MrFYE94]

Adam lambert should deffos judge! Been through the process great songwriting and singer was great two seasons ago when he was a mentor and really relevant in the music world!

[Diceroll_81]

Originally Posted by HughOS

The thing is, American Idol is still the best singing competition show on air. They attract talent and diversity in ways that TXF and The Voice just don't. The problems lie in the judging panel and the blinkeredness of the voters. The talent for the last two years has been extraordinary. Absolutely incredible in fact. The quality, range and appeal of singers has been almost too good to be true, but the winners have been wrong. So they need to bring in judges that can call out the WGWGs for their mediocrity and stop pretending that they are as talented as the others. Then they need to change the voting system to stop fraun from catapaulting these mediocre guys to the win.

I agree with this, mainly because the contestants don't have some overbearing celebrity 'mentor' telling them what to sing and how to dress (I know that Jimmy Iovine and Tommy Hillfiger were involved in this to an extent but the singers seem to have a bit more freedom than XF).

The range of songs that conestants perform on Idol seems but more interesting and diverse than XF as well.

[Diceroll_81]

Originally Posted by AdelaideGirl

Apparently Aretha Franklin wants the job.

I would love to see this. She may not be the judge to bring back the younger viewers but she could offer more as a judge of talent that most others.

The only thing I can see stopping Aretha is her recent health trouble (I'm not sure if she's fully receovered or not though).

[boysforpele]

It sounds like a complete new panel is on the horizon. Janet, Gene Simmons and Will I Am would be a good combo. I hope that Glambert declines,he needs to focus on his music.

[Metal Mickey]

Originally Posted by Diceroll_81

The range of songs that conestants perform on Idol seems but more interesting and diverse than XF as well.

The What Not To Sing site has lots of stats on this - last time I read it they said the average age of an Idol song was 33 years (ridiculous bearing in mind the age limit is 28!) and The Voice was 11 years (they didn't mention XF.) Also, on average, less than one song per show was "new" to the show, i.e. had never been performed on Idol before.

Now Tyler & J-Lo have confirmed they're going, I don't know if it'll be better or worse for Randy to stay - he seems like a nice guy, but effectively a robot repeating the same 5 phrases again and again, but on the other hand, a totally new panel would be a huge risk, even for the biggest US franchise, and even assuming Ryan Seacrest is still on board... maybe Jimmy will get "promoted" to the judges' table, and if Mariah Carey really is joining, that leaves one more slot, it'll have to be a really big male superstar I think...