Who Will Judge American Idol? Who Cares!

There's nothing shocking about major American Idol news breaking in the middle of the TCA press tour.  It was this time a year ago when FOX sent us reeling with word that Simon Cowell would be peacing out at the end of season nine.  And in hindsight, even that doesn't seem so out of left field, as it was becoming increasingly clear that Cowell had grown too big for his britches and well, bored with being the main attraction on America's most popular TV show.

Since the annoucement, fans, critics and even would-be candidates themselves, have been throwing names in the hat as possible Simon replacements, or in the case of the rumored deal with Jessica Simpson, Paula's replacement.  Now add to the mix, Ellen DeGeneres' departure and the allegeded firing of Kara DioGuardi and we've got a number of empty seats to fill...or not? 

As it stands right now, the only official word from FOX is that Ellen is vacating her Idol seat, reasoning that the show was not the right "fit" for the good natured comedian who had a hard time "judging people and sometimes hurting their feelings."  And we bore witness to Ellen's struggle with her critiques, comparing season nine's Sanjaya, Tim Urban, to assorted fruits and vegetables, leaving the dirty work to her fellow judges.

Ellen's exit is the only move FOX will confirm as of now, but word is Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler are in the final stages of negotiations, meaning the panel will be pared down to the original three.  A smart play, in my opinion.  Why?

Over the past nine seasons, Idol's proven it can yield legitimate talent and more than one superstar in a single season.  The show's early charm - the wacky auditions, the scathing commentary from Simon, the unintentional comedy of Paula Abdul, has given way to showcasing real talent, yet to be packaged and possibily mishapen by overbearing producers and industry execs.  Viewers would rather fall under the unassuming spell of a no-name subway busker than sit through another tiresome season of Simon and insert-fiesty-female-judge-here bickering over whether or not some fifteen year-old should be singing Aretha Franklin.

That's not to say that whoever replaces Simon, Kara and/or Ellen doesn't matter.  But it's not as important to the entertainment value of Idol as it once was.  Since its inception, we've been hit with an onslaught of competition-based reality shows...Top Model, Project Runway, Top Chef and so on.  The celebrity judge thing has been done to death.  Honestly, the most painful part of Idol's last season for me was the tedious judges' feedback.  Corny jokes, veiled insults, rumored "backstage feuds," the whole thing was starting to feel more and more like pro wrestling kayfaybe.

So what do I think of the possibility of Steven Tyler and J.Lo coming in for season ten?  I think it's fine.  They're both accomplished performers, total characters and pop culture icons.  Lopez has experience with reality TV as executive producer on MTV's DanceLife, and her work as a dancer makes her a credible judge of stage presence and persona.  Frankly, she seems like she'd be Paula 2.0 with an edge.

Tyler on the other hand is a terrific showman but it remains to be seen if he can put a sentence together on live TV.  But even if the Aerosmith frontman mumbles and stumbles through his critiques, J.Lo insists on painting the entire set white and Randy continues to hem and haw through every post-mortem, they're celebrities with big enough names to pull in viewers.  It's the people I've never heard of that I'll be watching for.