New American Idol judges officially announced

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After almost two months of no commenting, Fox officially announced 9/22 what we’ve been reporting — who will replace Simon Cowell, Ellen DeGeneres and Kara DioGuardi at the judges’ table in the show’s 10th season. Who will sit next to Randy Jackson? In a press conference at The Forum in LA, where the last round of auditions were being held, Ryan Seacrest announced  Jennifer Lopez and Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler are the show’s new judges.


In addition, Jimmy Iovine, chairman of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, co-founder of Beats Audio and one of the world’s most successful and prolific music producers, will join American Idol as an in-house mentor. Throughout the season, Idol will go behind-the-scenes to feature Iovine working with and lending his expertise to the contestants as they compete to become the next American Idol. As part of Universal Music Group’s long-term alliance with Idol, Interscope Geffen A&M will market, promote and distribute albums globally from Idol finalists and winning contestants across a broad array of retail and new media platforms.

About 3000 Idol hopefuls are at the Forum to audition and hear the news from Seacrest himself. Randy Jackson told the crowd: “I’m calling ‘Idol’ season 10 the remix, baby!”

Tyler said he wanted to be a “part of something bigger” than himself. “I wanna bring some rock to this roller coaster.”

Lopez said she was very excited “to work with you and watch you grow.”

“Jennifer is a true entertainment powerhouse who has made a tremendous impact on pop culture,” said Jim Gianopulos and Tom Rothman, Chairmen and CEOs, Fox Filmed Entertainment. “Whether as an actress, singer, songwriter or producer, she is a fantastic creative talent, and we’re thrilled to be in business with her.”

Said Peter Rice, chairman of Entertainment for Fox Networks Group in a release:  “We’re incredibly excited to have Jennifer join the Fox family. From the worlds of dance and music to television, films and fashion, she is a global superstar with iconic and captivating style, along with impressive insight on how to reach and move audiences worldwide.”

The new judges will have their work cut out for them.  Although ratings slipped this past season, tens of thousands of hopefuls have turned out for the auditions, according to The LA Times.