Idol Producer: J.Lo Coming Back

'I have a lot of other things happening,' says Jennifer Lopez

(AP) - Jennifer Lopez may come back for a second year as a judge on American Idol. Or she may not. "You know, this is the question of the hour. I don't know, I don't know," Lopez said yesterday in an interview with the BBC. "I had an amazing time doing it and I loved it but I have a lot of other things happening and it's gonna come down to making a choice of really what I want to do for the next year." Lopez and fellow new judge Steven Tyler have been credited with bringing a gentler attitude to the top-rated show following the departure of Simon Cowell. More»

Rumors flying on rearranged Idol judge panel

(NEWSER) - Ellen DeGeneres is off American Idol —and sources tell TMZ Kara DioGuardi is too, though not by choice. DioGuardi has reportedly been fired, and the show will return to its three-judge format...with Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler in talks to join the last remaining judge, Randy Jackson, reports Gossip Cop . All follow-up reports seem to agree Lopez is in, with one source telling People the deal is done and Lopez “is excited about it.” More»

Because she knows how to create a star from modest talent: Jon Caramanica

(NEWSER) - Simon who? Jennifer Lopez has emerged as "the most cogent, sensible, and helpful judge Idol has ever had," writes Jon Caramanica in the New York Times . It makes prefect sense: Lopez, after all, is neither a great singer nor a great actress, but she's famous for both careers, he observes. That's "because she deeply understands the extrinsic factors and strategies that go into creating a star." More»

But ultimately, the show isn't much different, critics say

(NEWSER) - American Idol’s two new high-profile judges debuted last night, and critics, for the most part, yawned:

• “Losing Simon Cowell from American Idol was like losing Alan Alda from MASH,” moans Ken Levine on the Huffington Post . In his place, we have Jennifer Lopez, “a vacuous former movie star/former recording star,” and Steven Tyler, “a walking cautionary tale to not do drugs/alcohol/glue/mushrooms/tobacco/cannabis/electric bananas/sleep deprivation for five weeks in a row.” Between them and original judge Randy Jackson, “there wasn't one insightful comment.”
• The introduction of the new judges was “labored, long, and almost painfully lighthearted, like a divorced husband awkwardly presenting the new wife to his grown but unforgiving children,” writes Alessandra Stanley in the New York Times . And Tyler’s “bad boy reputation” was overplayed with a montage of him “leering and flirting … he looked too much like a long-haired version of Italy’s prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi.”

Now she's just ... Paula Abdul's replacement

(NEWSER) - Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler have finally been confirmed as the newest American Idol judges, but wait a sec before you break out the congratulatory champagne. You might recall that Jennifer Lopez used to be an “international music and movie sensation/fashion icon/business mogul,” writes Ben Barna in BlackBook . Somehow, she went from that … to “Paula Abdul’s replacement. Ouch.” How did this happen? More»