TMZ: Randy Jackson is leaving judges panel; Lou Ferrigno talks up Clay Aiken
Randy Jackson appears to be off the judges' panel. CREDIT: AP
TMZ says Randy Jackson is off the judges panel but will stay on as a “mentor.”
Given that Jackson helped get his client Mariah Carey on the panel and that he is the last remaining original judge left, the producers feel he should remain at least another season in some capacity. Though I can’t quite see him doing a particularly good job mentoring with the very effective Jimmy Iovine, I guess it’s a relatively harmless spot for him to be in.
TMZ says the Nicki Minaj deal is close but still not quite done. I can’t imagine how complicated that contract must be!
And yes, “Idol” is going for four judges. Boo that. And TMZ says Diddy and Kanye West are not happening but a country artist is in the running.
Please, please, please, give us a judges panel soon. This speculation is so so tired.
- My wife Helen and I attended the Dragon*Con media party last night to briefly meet Lou Ferrigno. Ferrigno looks incredibly good at age 60. She grew up watching “Incredible Hulk” and recalls crying during the first episode as a young girl. She also praised him for his work on “Celebrity Apprentice.” Many of the celebrities under-estimated him and didn’t treat him particularly well. The only person he still stays in touch with on the show is Clay Aiken. Aiken, he said, should have won.
My wife looks awfully happy with Ferrigno, eh?
And here’s Taylor Hicks performing at the Republican National Convention last night. He reprised “Taking it to the Street,” which was a key performance that helped him win season five:
Jessica Sanchez will be joining the Democratic convention next week.
- Phillip Phillips, who will be in Atlanta tonight for a free concert at Centennial Olympic Park (6:30 p.m.), told WPLJ-FM in New York that his album won’t be ready until early next year. Winners in the past, for better or worse, have gotten their albums out no later than November to catch the Christmas crowd.
Join my Facebook fan page and Twitter.
By Rodney Ho, Radio & TV Talk
accessAtlanta Partner Sites
Sections
Advertise on accessAtlanta.com »
Reach the audience you want by advertising on accessAtlanta.com
Join the Access Atlanta Network »
Advertisers and Publishers, expand your reach by joining the Access Atlanta Network.
Tell us what you think about the site
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement | About our ads
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
79 comments Add your comment
Jill
August 31st, 2012
3:36 pm
Finally I am free 2-3 nights per week now. No more Idol for me. I do not think America will embrace the new judges. Could be the last season! For sure. I do love that Phillip Phillups. Glad he was the last one to win the last AI for me! Out.
JTesla
August 31st, 2012
3:36 pm
Sam-A, who doesn’t do a lot of defecating?
JTesla
August 31st, 2012
3:38 pm
Jill: “free”? What free to watch something else? How is that freedom?
Pitchy
August 31st, 2012
3:57 pm
Sam-A – I haven’t watched since my daughter left for college. I’ve taped for her and we’re going to watch all episodes this Labor Day Weekend (lol).
Sam-A
August 31st, 2012
4:06 pm
Boy, you two are in for a wild ride! Especially this weeks season ender! Can’t wait to read your thoughts next Tuesday!!!!! JT: Picturing “orally”.
Good long weekend, all. I’m hoping to get outta here shortly. Safe one as well.
Deirdre, I am also missing Mercedes’ movie reviews today – guess I’ll break down and see “Dark Knight” or maybe “ParaNorman” – it looks adorable.
Harriett
August 31st, 2012
4:18 pm
Well, I am off to celebrate my Aunt Rose’s 92nd birthday tomorrow in Charlotte. Hope all of you have a great Labor Day weekend. I know I am looking forward to mine!
JTesla
August 31st, 2012
4:39 pm
Have a great weekend Harriett, and everyone else too. I’ll be here manning my post… because I have no life. I’ll take a few breaks to defecate.
Deirdre
August 31st, 2012
5:00 pm
Lawless is also quite good, Sam.
Good trip Harriett!
bknsty14
August 31st, 2012
5:03 pm
http://music.yahoo.com/photos/pop-stars-who-aged-well-1346438386-slideshow/debbie-gibson-photo-1346438214.html
This was my pick for the panel. Would have been SOOOOOO much better than Nikki Minaj.
G
August 31st, 2012
5:23 pm
I’m late in keeping up…..vacation time for me.
If Idol didn’t get Nicki, it probably would’ve been Diddy, Drake, Lil Wayne, Lil Kim, Lil John……….get my drift? The template is set. Next up, some county artist.
JTesla
August 31st, 2012
5:30 pm
Interesting link bknsty14, but they went out of their way to pick the ugliest “before” picture of her.
bknsty14
August 31st, 2012
5:40 pm
Yeah, not very flattering. But in 1986 I sure thought it was.
Rickster
August 31st, 2012
6:04 pm
Have a good weekend, everyone. “See” you all Tuesday.
Deirdre
August 31st, 2012
9:19 pm
Uh Oh:
“There will be several positive announcements to follow shortly,” Fuller told EW in a statement. “American Idol is moving up a gear and with the help and commitment from Fox, who are more intimately involved and supportive this season than ever before, we are looking forward to a dynamic new season ahead.”
Fox has been more intimately involved????? They’ve taken over?????
Deirdre
August 31st, 2012
9:21 pm
Also Nicki Minaj and Keith Urban are close to a deal. If they decide to go with a 4th judge, they will try to hire Enrique Iglesius BUT, according to rumors, Adam Lambert has NOT been eliminated as a possible judge
Seth T
September 1st, 2012
2:05 am
Enrique would be a much better addition than Kanye West or Diddy – but lately he’s still more into the synth-Pop than using his voice to create memorable songs. When Nickie was singing live on a skit on a show a while back that I seen, she was just screeching and sounded pretty bad.
At least Mariah can actually sing, and Keith Urban has built a music career on some fairly good songs, and not on some of the “explicit” lyrics that Nickie used in some of her videos. If I even repeated them here, the post would have to be removed.
While I don’t care for John Rich, I would say that Joe Jonas, Gloria Estafan and Nelly are doing a pretty good job on “The Next” on CW network. The talent brought in to compete are all good, but not stark amatuers. Since the audience votes on-the-spot, each episode in self-contained for the winner of that paticular City/area competition. Then they will eventually go to a finals in L.A.
There was some very lousy talent brought on to “Duets” and the show fell apart in spite of Kelly and John Legend. None of the contestants had any real “star appeal” at all and some were worse than what you see in a Karaoke Club on Friday night.
I think that is a clear example that the Judges alone, sitting in a chair and blabbing comments, can only hold interest in a show for so long, then ratings start to fall — if the talent is poor.
Idol’s chances for ratings improvement are as closely related to finding and fairly advancing real talent through the system, as it is in getting more celebrity puppets in the chairs. They are not likely going to be using the “Chair Turn-Around” and Battleround gimmicks of other competitors to create excitement, so they have to quit playing games with the talent and let the real talent step-up and compete.
Last season they threw a half-dozen C level contestants into what should be an A level competition. And I don’t mean just singing ability, but also “star quality” appeal. So you had to suffer through all the fill and set-to-fails, with all the Judges meaningless commentary, until it became an actual competition.
Deirdre
September 1st, 2012
8:07 am
Morning!
I know that it’s Saturday and a holiday weekend but that statement by Simon Fuller has me worried. What does he mean when he says AI is “moving up a gear”? If they are going the X-Factor/The Voice route, they will really be trying my patience!
ItsMyOwnOpinion
September 1st, 2012
8:29 am
Clay Aiken also should have won American Idol. He’s ever the good natured runner up.
I don’t think we’ll see Idol return after this season.
G
September 1st, 2012
9:18 am
“Moving up a gear” is an admission of the current format being stale or falling behind. Even if Idol oldheaads are fine with minimal orno changes, it’s evident the Idol brass wants to shake things up…..in a major way. I welcome the change. If its more hip like XF or The Voice, that can only be a good thing.
Let’s be clear about Nicki’s profession. She is a rapper not a singer. I don’t like her style of rap but she’s a indeed a certified rapper. This leads me to believe the format of the show may be hanging to allow rappers.
I see good things ahead for Idol. From “Disney to reality”.
Deirdre
September 1st, 2012
9:57 am
I don’t see XF as hip at all. It’s a VERY old-fashioned style show featuring some modern music. In truth, if you go back and look at the song lists for last season’s XF it is actually MORE old-fashioned than Idol was this year.
DanJ
September 1st, 2012
10:23 am
Deirdre, I agree that idol needs to stay with what brought them to the dance for the most part but it does seem like they’re trying to be more like the other shows by their actions and who they’re talking to as judges. They have their own niche and if they move to far to the other side they may well lose viewers. I think most of us would be okay with Brad, Keith, Enrique, Carrie etc. It seems like Nicki is who most have issues with. Probably for good reasons.
As far as which shows are more hip I think you can base it on certain critria. Age groups who view and the judges on the show. Both XF and The Voice allowed hip-hop and rappers which helps draw in the younger viewers. Because of that I think most would consider XF & The Voice more current and attractive for the younger viewer. Personally I like Idol the way the format is set up. It’s what separates them from the other shows.
Most shows need change especially older shows. Idol should take a page out of the Cheers book. They replaced Coach with Woody, Shelly with Kirstie and didn’t miss a beat but they didn’t completely overhaul the show at once which is what Idol seems to be doing. Idol needs a facelift not an entire bodylift. Simon F. and Nigel seem desperate and that’s never a good sign.
G
September 2nd, 2012
10:01 pm
Idol is not what I think of as hip. I agree with DanJ on the format of XF & Voice allowing rappers make it hip.
JTesla
September 3rd, 2012
12:51 am
Happy Labor Day folks, for your listening pleasure something that is not related to Idol’s Voice Factor: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=WJiCUdLBxuI
Deirdre
September 3rd, 2012
8:10 am
Never ever said Idol is hip. Only said XF isn’t…and one little 16 year old rapper doesn’t change that.
DanJ
September 3rd, 2012
9:37 am
Deirdre, I do disagree with you on this one. X-Factor was more than just Astro. It had Chris Rene, Drew and even the groups like Stereo Hoggz that appealed to the younger vewers. In fact this was one of my favorites on XFactor. Stereo Hoggz singing: Try a little tenderness.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMyhTcbLBJQ
Deirdre
September 3rd, 2012
9:49 am
I did like that performance but it doesn’t exactly prove your point. Try a Little Tenderness is an ancient song…my parents danced to it.
I’ll give you Chris Rene however. A talented young man who had a great deal of difficulty handling some of the assignments given to him by his mentor.
What I mean is that, while XF may have had more modern contestants, it still treated the singing assignments and the production values in a very old-fashioned way almost completely negating, imo, the style of singers like Chris and Astro. Drew turned every song into an Enya style which isn’t exactly new either.
DanJ
September 3rd, 2012
10:28 am
Deirdre, I agree Simon kept Drew under wraps. As for my posting the Stereo Hoggz version of Try a little tenderness it was because it was an old song that was made current. Actually Paula did a good job with the groups. I would agree most of these shows uses old songs and it does get boring however a contestant can put a different spin on them. Joshua Ledet and Jimmy did this with the song: To Love Somebody.
I think both The Voice and X-Factor push the envelope more than Idol. Personally Idol should keep their niche instead of trying to be like the other two shows. The other show HAVE TO push the envelope Idol doesn’t. Based on the judges being considered for Idol and the change from 3 to 4 judges tells me Idol is losing it’s idenity and is trying to keep up with the other shows on their level instead of staying ahead of them.
G
September 3rd, 2012
11:11 am
@DanJ I totally understand where you’re coming from.
Rodney Ho
September 3rd, 2012
11:40 am
New Idol blog entry up! Happy Labor Day! Check out my photos with Phil Phillips.