Given the avalanche of criticism American Idol 2013 judge, Nicki Minaj, has received from many of the show’s viewers, including you, our loyal readers, is it time to replace the controversial judge? And could Jimmy Iovine be that replacement judge?
Jimmy has been permanent mentor to the top 10 contestants since Season 10 of the popular reality show, American Idol.
Jimmy Iovine, Chairman of Interscope Records has brought countless artists into the spotlight over the course of his hugely successful career as a producer. He has been instrumental in launching the careers of Stevie Nicks, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Dire Sraits and U2. More recently, he has produced hit records for Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg (now Lion), Black-Eyed Peas, Eminem and Lady Gaga. The winner of American Idol Season 12 will be signed to a record deal with Jimmy’s company, Interscope or one of its’ offshoots, A&M Records and Geffen.
There can be no question of Jimmy’s expertise or ability to critique the contestants’ performances on a weekly basis, which he basically does now, but would it be a different result if he were to be sitting in one of the judge’s chairs?
Jimmy is not exactly innocent when it comes to making controversial remarks regarding the contestants’ performances and has even directed plenty of them at the judges themselves. During Top 9 week he specifically called out Mariah Carey for not giving a real critique and asked “what does that even mean?” Jimmy’s opinion of the recently departed Top 9 week contestant, Paul Jolley, “He’s not ready for primetime” was apparently taken to heart by the voters last week as they agreed and voted him off.
A recent feud with Nicki Minaj stemmed from her comment, “I wish he would just zip his lips and let America make their own decisions.” But isn’t that at least part of his job, to give informative and helpful reviews? That is what mentoring is. However, on Thursday nights’ American Idol 2013 episode he agreed with her assessment of the guy’s group performance by saying “There’s a new band in town called ‘Wrong Direction’” and “We found out tonite there’s a difference between the women and the boys.”
Women and Boys? Hmm.
Randy Jackson seems to believe that the judge’s should be able to respond to Jimmy’s comments and remarked in a recent interview, “They’ve got to open up our mics so we can come back at him.”
On Thursday night’s one-hour Top 8 elimination episode Mr. Iovine had the following to say about fan favorite Candice Glover, “In my opinion, she’s not going anywhere but the finals.” He has also made flattering remarks about Janelle Arthur including, “she’s my dark horse.”
Unfortunately, for a few of the contestants, Jimmy’s remarks are not always flattering, which is just how it should be in my opinion in his current role as mentor. Last week, when Lazaro Arbos tried to garner sympathy from the voters (which worked by the way) by saying he was given the song to learn only the day before, Jimmy didn’t hesitate to rebuke that statement by saying, “Everyone had the same amount of time to rehearse. I rehearsed that song with him 5 days ago.” On Thursday’s episode, Jimmy went on to say of Lazaro, “He should listen to somebody”. “At least he should listen to the melody.”
Clearly, Jimmy Iovine can be just as contentious as Nicki Minaj, but would the remarks that viewer’s have called sexist, bullying, over the top or just plain dumb be eliminated from the mix?
Let us know what you think. Would Jimmy Iovine make a good judge on American Idol and should he consider switching to that role?
Source: About.com, American Idol Fox Network