Randy Jackson Quits American Idol, Releases Statement
May 10, 2013 by Lindsay Cronin
The last of the remaining original American Idol judges has left the building. The resident “dog” a.k.a. Randy Jackson has just announced that he will not be returning to the show for its upcoming 13th season.
“Yo! Yo! Yo! To put all of the speculation to the rest, after 12 years of judging on American Idol I have decided it is time to leave after this season,” Jackson told Us Weekly earlier this afternoon, May 9. ”I am very proud of how we forever changed television and the music industry. It’s been a life changing opportunity, but I am looking forward to focusing on my company Dream Merchant 21 and other business ventures.”
Jackson’s announcement comes just hours after The Wrap published a report claiming that producers were planning on replacing all four judges. ”All four are gone,” the insider claimed. “They feel they’ve lost their core audience and they want it back.”
The show began airing on June 11, 2002 and remained the top show for eight consecutive seasons. However, after the exit of both Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul, things went downhill. The series, which peaked at over 37 million viewers during season 6, has since dropped to just 17 million viewers during the current season. Now, the show isn’t even ranking in the top 10.
Producers definitely need to do something major in order to get the show back on track. This year, the spotlight — and the headlines — have been more focused on the non-stop feuding between the newest judges, Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey, instead of the actual singing.