Simon Cowell won’t be returning for American Idol 2011 which means the show will need a new judge if they want to keep the 4-judge panel running next season. There have been many, many rumors on just who would take Simon’s coveted seat and now we have some more answers as Idol narrows the pool of hopefuls.
One of the current options to replace Simon is Harry Connick, Jr. who I thought made it painfully obvious that he was angling for the job during his stint as guest mentor this past season. Connick definitely has the background and ability to actually mentor the rising stars unlike some recent judge additions to the show.
Connick isn’t the only American Idol judge nominee at the moment though as Chris Isaak is being highly considered for the role. I was very surprised to hear that Isaak was one of the leads. Isaak has the ideal skills and background, but how are his mentoring and judging skills? We don’t know too much about how he’d function there, but apparently the suits think he’s got what it takes.
Now my personal favorite for the role: Bret Michaels. The man is awesome and he’s hot right now, way hotter of a commodity than either Isaak or Connick, sorry guys. The problem there could of course be his health conditions. He overcame those, despite doctors’ order, to show up at the Idol 2010 finale and rock it out with Casey James onstage, but maybe that wasn’t enough to convince the suits.
Rocker Bret Michaels was given the once-over and even lobbied for the job last week in an HLN interview (“I would love to do it, I would really bring it to the table,” Michaels told Joy Behar). Sources say, however, that Michaels is out of the running, at least for the “Idol” post.
Well that stinks. I figured he was practically a sure thing for the show, but I guess not. Idol would do well to at least have him as a mentor one week though since he’d be great for the rock ‘n roll theme and spike ratings.
Since Michaels is out and there’s a possibility that we’re down to either Isaak or Connick, I’m hoping they’ll go with the latter. He’s not my top pick, but he’s definitely got the right persona and charm to fill Simon’s seat.
If you could pick anyone to be the new judge, who would you pick?
Source: Hollywood Reporter