American Idol

The revolving door keeps swinging on American Idol. An A.I. original, Randy Jackson, is out as a judge. Jackson has been with Idol since it started and has gone through numerous partners at the judges table. Just a few weeks ago, reports said that he was most likely coming back next year. Not the case. Randy Jackson will not disappear entirely from A.I., however. He has been asked to stay on as a mentor, sort of like what Jimmy does on the show.

I'm a big Randy Jackson fan. Hey Dawg...we are going to miss you A LOT. Jackson added a classiness to Idol and his comments about the contestants were always spot on. I almost always agreed with his critiques and his interaction with Ryan Seacrest and the other judges was great.

So who's left? Well, Seacrest is coming back as the host, we know that. Mariah Carey is the only signed judge at the moment. Nicki Minaj's deal is about 99% done. But according to sources, Mariah Carey is not Nicki's biggest fan. So expect sparks between those two if she does sign on to be a judge. That leavse two other vacant spots, since Idol producers have said that they want 4 judges for the upcoming season. One judge chair is reportedly going to a "country star" and the 4th chair is open.

A.I. supposedly offered Katy Perry $20 million for one year to be a judge, but she turned them down. Other names circulating include Diddy and Snoop Dogg (Lion).

Will Johnson