“You’re going to Hollywood!” Those words will forever be synonymous with American Idol. After 10 seasons, Idol is still one of the most followed and talked about shows on television. We’ve laughed at the off-key, tone deaf auditions. We’ve cheered as our favorite contestants narrowly made it to the next round, and we’ve come to know and love the judges, Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, and Randy Jackson. Well, we used to.
During Season 8 everything changed. The producers decided to switch things up by adding Latin Grammy award – nominated songwriter, Kara DioGuardi, to the panel of judges. Shortly after that Paula Abdul, the kind-hearted crowd favorite, announced she would be leaving due to a failed contract and comedian, Ellen DeGeneres, would be replacing her. In the midst of America’s shock and wonderment as to how the show would go on, the producers announced more catastrophic news. Cowell was leaving too.
“I lost interest after they changed the original judges. It’s just not the same without Simon, Paula, and Randy,” sophomore Lauren Paton said.
After the many changes to the judge’s panel, Jackson is the only original returning judge for season 10. Fox announced that the new judges will be Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler, leaving many dedicated fans disappointed. This begs the question; will the viewer’s rates decrease because of it?
“I doubt I’ll watch this season. I think that fans probably won’t watch as much now that Simon’s gone too. It was interesting when it first started but it’s getting a little old,” Paton said.
There are still some true blue Idol fans out there that will continue to tune in no matter who the judges are. It’s not clear yet how the viewers will respond to the “newbies” just yet. We’ll just have to see, dawg.