New American Idol Panel To Be Announced This Week.

By On 09/11/2012 · 109 Comments · In American Idol

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Yep. It looks like THE DAWG–Randy Jackson is returning to the American Idol judges’ panel, as Nicki Minaj, and Keith Urban close their deals. The trio will join Mariah Carey whose contract was signed earlier this summer. According to sources, FOX will announce the new panel by the end of this week.

From Deadline:

You can never count a dawg out. After months of speculation that Randy Jackson, the last remaining original American Idol judge, may be relegated to a smaller role on the show next season, in a last-minute move, Fox has made a deal with him to return to the judging table, sources close to the situation said. The network already had an option on Jackson, so the deal-making was relatively straightforward and was wrapped quickly after talks with Enrique Iglesias broke off. Sources indicate that the reasons to move away from Iglesias, who had been in negotiations for the gig, were not strictly financial.

From TV Guide:

The last minute return of Jackson comes after talks broke off with singing star Enrique Iglesias.

Negotiations are also in the final stages with pop star Nicki Minaj and country crooner Keith Urban to join Mariah Carey and Jackson on the panel. Fox is expected to announce the new Idol judges’ table by the end of the week.

Jackson was always expected to remain on Idol in some capacity — but as speculation about Iglesias heated up in recent weeks, it looked like Jackson might segue into a mentoring role on the show (similar to what music exec Jimmy Iovine already does on Idol). But sources say the Idol producers and Iglesias remained far apart on a deal (one source said Iglesias was asking for a salary in the eight-figure range), which is why Jackson was ultimately called back to judge duty. (According to one source, Minaj is expected to pull down around $10 million, while Urban is likely to make around $4 million.)

Did you see that? Enrique Iglesias was asking for EIGHT FIGURES? Alrighty then. (edited)

Also, Simon Cowell kinda let the cat out of the bag when he tweeted last night, “Just heard randy is back on idol. Right decision.”

 
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  • http://www.facebook.com/masewallace Mase Wallace

    if randy not leaving now, then he’s never leaving, and let’s face it,it’s kind of good to have him for continuity purposes

  • jpfan2

     If Adam isn’t a judge and could have told his fans that earlier in the game (to decrease their angst) he probably should have. However it’s possible that Idol had an agreement with possible judges not to say if they were picked as a way to increase buzz.

  • standtotheright

    Your analogy doesn’t make any sense, because the winner is not on the show the next season. That’s a lot different from watching a winning team that has many of the same players.

    Well, the winner actually is on the show the next season, if not as a contestant. The point I’m making is that the organization that supports the winner is the same and so viewers are more likely to believe that the same organization is more likely to produce a good winner the next time around if they did in prior seasons.

    If you’d prefer a financial analogy, investors choose brokerage firms that outperform over time, even if those firms pick different stocks each year based on market conditions. They don’t have to beat the market every year, but if they have a record that is better than their competitors, they’ll get more clients.

    And yes, the point of the show is to sell products. And they market those products by providing a storyline that “someone deserving but overlooked has a shot at a big (or at least moderately successful) career.” For all the viewers that never pay attention to what happens after the confetti falls, there are still millions who have and did, and who will change their viewing behavior accordingly if they think another show is going to do a better job at giving contestants a chance.

    The show is too old to simply rely on “entertaining” cast members; every broad personality type and/or genre slot finalist has now been seen many times over. There needs to be a sense that viewer engagement matters because they are trying to develop artists who can make careers. That’s AI’s comparative advantage to the Voice and X-Factor, not just that you actually learn the contestants’ names because there is less focus on the judging.

  • poipugirl

    Actually, after all these months of speculation and the addition of a wacky Mariah & Minaj, I am actually glad that Randy is staying on. 

    I think a large part of AI’s current audience would like to have some familiarity on the judge’s panel since there will be 3 new judges.

    He might be the only “good” judge compared to the 3 new ones!

  • poipugirl

    I’m still waiting for Jimmy Iovine being shifted into another direction too! Like OFF CAMERA!  :)

  • elliegrll

    I think that seasons 9 and 10 taught us that people will tune out or in based on that season’s contestants.  To that end, the producers of AI are going to cast the show based on who they think will get people to watch, and not who they think will sell the most music post AI.  

    Those two things are not always the same.

  • standtotheright

    I think S9 taught us that they’ll tune out when the judges check out and don’t help the contestants become better or more marketable.

    S10 gave us the most commercially successful winner in three years.

    What gets people to watch and what gets people to buy music may not invariably be the same, but at this stage in the show’s life, I place my bets on what showcases them as musicians.

  • kaliny

    Glad it’s (hopefully, finally?) over.  I’m also glad Randy is coming back over Enrique b/c I don’t think you need 4 celebrities and he makes it feel like you’re still watching idol.  The panel doesn’t revive my personal interest in the show, but w/e no big deal.  I still think releasing all those names as potential judges is not always the best idea b/c it made me more disappointed in who could have been hired then excited for who was.  Instead of being like yay Mariah and Nicki I’m more like, oh that sucks I would have preferred Diddy, Kanye, Pharrell, Miley, Pink, Katy,etc.  

  • http://twitter.com/bluinjewin Landon Cox

    God Randy is like herpes

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