Jennifer Lopez and Harry Connick Jr. Confirmed as the New American Idol Judges
September 3, 2013 by Ricky Guo
She’s back! Jennifer Lopez is returning for season 13 of American Idol.
She was previously a judge on the singing reality competition for season 10 and season 11, but left the show to focus on her movie and music career. Joining her on the judging table will be new judge Harry Connick Jr. and returning judge Keith Urban. Earlier in the week, it was speculated that record producer Dr. Luke would be joining the show. However, he pulled out at the last minute due to scheduling and business conflicts.
After much speculation and guesses of who the two new judges would be, Fox’s Chairman of Entertainment, Kevin Reilly released a statement about the new judging panel: ”Jennifer Lopez, the triple-threat global superstar who loves Idol and whom Idol fans love; Harry Connick, Jr., a bona-fide musical genius and fantastic Idol mentor whose honesty and expertise can help turn these hopefuls into stars; Keith Urban, a multi-Grammy-winning artist who was such a positive force on the show last season.”
This is the third time that American Idol has changed its judging panel since it debut in 2002. Last season, Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj were brought on to help boost the ratings for the veteran show, but the ratings continued to drop. The show’s rating aren’t what they use to be with the original panel of Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, and Randy Jackson. Shortly after the finale, Nicki and Mariah both announced that they would not return to the show on their twitter accounts.
Jennifer and Harry will be replacing Mariah and Nicki. Ryan Seacrest will be back as the host and veteran judge Randy Jackson will be replacing Jimmy Iovine as the mentor. Hopefully the ratings will rise with the new judges. If not, we will be seeing a whole new judging panel for season 14.
The new season of American Idol will return in January.