by Jen Connors

With the departure of three-quarters of the judge’s panel at the end of the last season of American Idol, there were many unanswered questions as to how producers would handle the tenth season of the ratings juggernaut. Would they keep the four-judge panel that was incorporated during the eighth season, or revert back to the original three judge format? Was Jessica Simpson or Mariah Carey going to be on the panel? What was going to happen to Randy Jackson, the only judge remaining from the original panel?

Those questions and more were answered at a press conference on September 22nd in Los Angeles. After months of speculation, Ryan Seacrest took the stage to announce that Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez would be joining Randy Jackson for the new season, premiering January 12th. Judging by comments made during his first interviews as an official member of the Idol team, Tyler seems to be gearing up to resume Paula Abdul’s job as the nice judge, a position left vacant since her departure in 2009. Lopez appears to be going along the Kara DioGuardi-Ellen DeGeneres route, calling “tough love” and “artistry” as key things she will be using in her new position. Jackson has not made many public comments on his new colleagues, but is probably thankful to still have a job. Producer Nigel Lithgow wanted to revamp the entire judge’s table, with all-new talent.

As a longtime viewer of the show, I can’t help but think that maybe the show would have been better off ending last May with the departure of Simon Cowell. Cowell, from what I have found, was a big part of the reason why the show still had viewers, not the contestants. Over the last few seasons, both the winners and runners-up have underperformed from years past. Last year’s winner, Lee DeWyze, spent one week on the chart with his debut single at number twenty-four. Kris Allen, the 2009 winner, had one of the lowest-charting debuts of any winner yet. Without strong sales and with their dwindling number of weekly viewers, one can only wonder when the Powers That Be at Fox will decide to pull the show before it gets to be too drawn out. Hopefully Lopez and Tyler will be good for the show, but if not I would hope the network seriously considers cancellation before it becomes just another cliche.