Posted by | Ray Cornelius
Say it ain’t so!
Indie Wire is reporting that American Idol has fired all of this season’s judges including Randy Jackson.
According to TheWrap, Fox is not renewing the contracts of current judges: Randy Jackson, Mariah Carey, Nicki Minaj and Keith Urban. “All four are gone,” the insider told TheWrap. “They feel they’ve lost their core audience and they want it back. No more big checks for divas.”
Also gone are the big salaries for big name talent. As previously stated, Carey received $18 million and Minaj was given $12 million for this season. Fox is also putting the show’s tribute nights on the chopping block with the hopes of reformatting the overall look and feel of the show. Reportedly, Idol’s rating have dropped this season overall by 25% and they’re getting wiped out by the show’s competition, NBC’s The Voice.
Fox is also looking to get rid of long time Idol executive producer Nigel Lythgoe and find someone else to reboot the show. The only one who will remain on the show is host Ryan Seacrest. Hmmm?
RC will keep you posted as more of this story develops.
What are your thoughts? Have you been tuning in this season? Do you think Fox needs to start from scratch?