14 DAY TRIAL // Jennifer Lopez may be done with American Idol for good. While this rumor has been making the rounds for several weeks, the singer herself has confirmed that she doesn’t know whether she’ll return as judge come next season.
With the current season of the show now over, the big question is whether JLo, whose presence on the judges panel has boosted ratings considerably, will want to come back.
Unlike Steven Tyler, who has been signed on a multi-year contract, Lopez’s deal only referred to this season, with the possibility to have it renewed if everything turned out well.
Now that it did, and Jennifer was received warmly by fans of the show, there is also the question of whether she doesn’t have other plans that may interfere with AI, as the NY Post also notes.
“Lopez signed a single-year contract for a rumored $12 million – and now has to decide whether she wants to remain as a judge on the show next year or relaunch her pop career,” the Post writes.
Asked if she’ll be back, Lopez is sidestepping the issue. “It’s too early to tell,” she says, as rumors are spreading that she’s already begun negotiations with Fox to see if her return is doable.
“Everyone has multiple-year contracts. Jennifer had [a] single-year contract. We loved having her – the hope and expectation is she’ll return,” FOX chief Peter Rice said in a statement earlier this week, as cited by the Post.
While JLo got a reported $12 million for the one-year job on AI, Tyler was paid more – and this too is something that Jennifer is keeping in mind during negotiations.
Word has it that Tyler got a $18 million paycheck, so Jennifer too may be asking for a raise to return.
Judging by how much fans loved having her on the show and how much her presence on the panel improved ratings, chances are high she’ll be getting the raise, voices online are saying.