The biggest election story on the horizon isn’t President Obama vs. Mitt Romney—it’s the campaign to see who will next be sitting at the judges’ table on American Idol.
After she and Steven Tyler announced that the duo would be leaving the show, Jennifer Lopez gave her view on who should replace her. Either the pop diva from the Bronx thinks very highly of where she ranks in the music pantheon of greatness, or she was just joshing with ABC News. Asked who should fill her and Tyler’s shoes, Lopez said, “I think like Bono or Bon Jovi or Mick Jagger. You know me, I think big!”
Uh, the odds of any of those three rock legends sitting behind a desk at Fox are quite small—no many how many millions Fox might wave in their face. After all, U2 grossed an estimated $700 million on their last tour two years ago, while the Rolling Stones and Bon Jovi have both had tours that grossed well over $100 million—the Stones had a tour in the early 2000s that grossed more than $300 million. U2’s food bill on tour was probably higher than the $15 million that Lopez reportedly got from Idol.
With rumors popping up that Randy Jackson also might be leaving the Idol desk, the show might be looking at a complete revamping, which might be just the elixir for the show’s slumping ratings.
The number of boldfaced names that have been bandied about as possible Idol judges could fill 10 gossip columns—Mariah Carey, Katy Perry, Aretha Franklin, even Charlie Sheen.
Sheen recently addressed the rumors on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
“I had never thought about it, and I heard it on the news, so I thought I’d better respond to that,” the noted Hollywood bad boy said. “I came up with my terms … and I’m waiting to hear back.”
Leno asked the crowd if they would like to see Sheen as judge and the audience cheered and applauded.
Sheen saidt he doesn’t critique the show while watching at home—though he noted he does play air guitar and drums—but still thinks he’d be a good judge.
“I could be helpful and give these kids some guidance without leading them to suicide,” he joked.
Leno joked in response: “If I had a child that needed guidance, I would send that child to Charlie Sheen.”
