14 DAY TRIAL // After months of speculation and never-ending rumors, the judges lineup for the new season of American Idol has been confirmed: Mariah Carey, Nicki Minaj, Keith Urban and Randy Jackson. Ryan Seacrest remains host.
Once Jennifer Lopez announced that she would not return to the show for a third year, talk immediately started whether Steven Tyler might do the same and just walk out to focus on his own music again.
This is precisely what happened, prompting reports that AI might even come to an abrupt end because producers might not find better judges to fill the spots.
It turns out that they did – and the new judges come as no surprise, having been in negotiations for the position for quite some time.
The first to break the news was Mariah Carey, who tweeted a photo of herself, Nicki Minaj, Keith Urban and Randy Jackson, with the caption, “At the @AmericanIdol judging table... Oh and @RyanSeacrest is here too.”
In a matter of minutes, word of this spread online like wildfire. Seacrest took to his own Twitter page to confirm the news.
“It's official, your new #IdolJudges are @MariahCarey, @NickiMinaj, @KeithUrban & @Yo_RandyJackson!” he wrote.
According to TMZ, Randy Jackson was with one foot out the door as well, but only managed to stay for another season because Enrique Iglesias, whom producers courted intensely these past few months, turned down the offer.
Considering that early reports said that Mariah was quite unhappy about having to share the spotlight with an attention-hungry diva such as Nicki, one can imagine audiences will tune in for the new season, if only to see the kind of chemistry the new judges have.
The 12th season of American Idol premieres on Fox in January. The judges are already back to work, having made the first official appearance in New York, and will be hitting the road for auditions pretty soon.