American Idol Season 10 Judges Interview

January 6th, 2011 -- by Idol-Mania-Eric -> · No Comments

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American Idol Season 10 Judges Interview

It’s a New Year, It’s a New Idol. The new Idol judges were recently interviewed by Entertianment weekly for the magazine coming out friday Jan 7. Here is a sneak peak from the Interview

No Simon? No problem! So say the judges and host of the revamped American Idol. In an exclusive roundtable chat, Randy Jackson, Steven Tyler, Jennifer Lopez, and Ryan Seacrest discuss big voices, big expectations, and what it will take to keep their show on top. Idol is suddenly in its most precarious position since its June 2002 debut. It’s no surprise, then, that producers are injecting a battery of changes to revitalize the show when it returns Jan. 19 on Fox. Entertainment Weekly sat down with Randy, Jennifer, Steven, and Ryan for a lively and candid roundtable discussion about the changing face (and faces) of Idol, and what fans can expect from Life After Simon.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Jennifer and Steven, what do you feel you can bring to the table as judges?
LOPEZ: I want to show who I am as a person, as an artist, what I love about music, what I love about other artists, and have all of that come out when judging. You get to share all of the experience that you have with these kids who are just starting out.
TYLER: After going through the career I’ve had with [Aerosmith], the one thing I’m proud of the most is that I was a part of something. This is the perfect way to pass the torch.

EW: Of course, Simon is no longer here. He was such a massive part of Idol’s identity. How will the show continue without him? Ryan and Randy, what’s it been like on the audition tour without Simon?
SEACREST: It’s aged the show down a bit. [Randy laughs.] There are less clouds of smoke. We start earlier. There’s less—what is that English dish he always ordered for lunch? Shepherd’s pie? He loves shepherd’s pie.
JACKSON: No, it’s the blood pudding.
TYLER: And Marmite.
JACKSON: Look, it’s definitely been interesting. He’s our friend for life. I don’t know if Steven knows him much, but Jennifer definitely knows him. We’ve all hung out together. So, listen, we definitely miss him, but it’s a different kind of vibe. It’s a different kind of energy now. And I think in season 10 the show actually really needed it.
SEACREST: He’d done this in England before we started. So we learned a lot from him. We all grew a lot together. The show had a certain tone and flavor to it. But it’s got a new flavor and a new tone to it, an evolution this year that’s refreshing and exciting.

EW: Randy, you’re now in the Simon Cowell seat, as the last person to speak. Has that changed the kind of critique that you’re giving?
JACKSON: Look, he’s irreplaceable. It’s not about replacing him or any of the others: Paula, Ellen, Kara, anybody else. People have been saying to us, “Who’s mean?” We’ve all traded off on that because I think you have to always give people the truth, no matter what.

EW: You all appear to get along more easily than the old panel sometimes did. Simon really enjoyed picking at people and provoking them. You guys don’t seem so interested in that.
LOPEZ: We’re more of a collaborative judging group. We’re always leaning over to each other and saying, “Oh my God, I think she’s good.” “Oof, I don’t get it.” “You don’t like it?” I mean, not in a way where it becomes disrespectful to [the contestant’s] moment, but we discuss things. We just have a totally different style than any of the past judging tables.

EW: Since season 5, some of the Idol winners and runners-up have gone on to do well, but no one has reached the real superstar status of Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, and Chris Daughtry. Has that entered your thinking for the sorts of contestants you are looking for this year?
LOPEZ: I don’t know that that is such a fair statement. You named three [superstars] in nine years— that’s pretty amazing, that’s 33 percent. We all know that in this business, a 1 percent chance is huge, so I think this show is doing pretty well in that arena. So with addressing that comment, what are we looking for? We’re looking for a recording artist, a pop star, someone who’s a real artist. You can tell that when they walk in, the ones that have that special thing.

EW: Of course, the show’s ratings were highest when it was a competition of big voices. But since its peak in season 5, as the show became more focused on singer-songwriter types, the season-finale ratings have dwindled by more than 12 million viewers. So are you looking for more big voices now?
LOPEZ: You know, now that you say that, I love hearing a big voice too. We have several [this season].
TYLER: That one girl took the sticks out of my head. [Gets shivers] Oooh.
LOPEZ: I think it’s about exciting performances. One of my favorite moments ever on Idol was not a big-voice moment but a beautiful-song moment, which was David Archuleta singing “Imagine.” That was something I’ll never forget for the rest of my life, that little kid at that little age taking that classic song and singing it in such a way that it changed my everything, like Steven loves to say all the time. That’s what we need to focus on getting: not big voices, not singer-songwriters, just what makes us feel something. I think that is gonna be what makes people come back every week.

EW: Steven, Kid Rock told EW that your choosing to do American Idol was the stupidest thing you’d ever done in your entire life. What did you think of that?
TYLER: I just went with my heart. Kid Rock—he has an album coming out. He’s a good friend of mine. I went to a picnic with him and he taught me how to fry a turkey. I only hope that he’s not frying his own turkey with [that comment]. It’s his opinion.

EW: Your Aerosmith bandmate Joe Perry was also quite vocal about being ambivalent at best about your coming on the show. At one point I believe he called Idol one step above Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
SEACREST: That’s giving us credit.
JACKSON: That’s giving us a lot of credit.
TYLER: You know, uh, he wishes he could have got this gig [laughter]. All I’m doing here is being a musician and reflecting what my career has been. That’s all that’s really going on here.

EW: Ryan, a lot of the fun of watching the show was your repartee with Simon. Can you develop a relationship with these judges that has that kind of spark?
SEACREST: I think the reason that Simon and I had that dynamic is that he was just so jealous of me. From day one, he was envious of my career at such a young age. So I tried to make it as fun as possible and as lighthearted as possible. It’s just something that happens in a live television show. But with all of us, we have very good senses of humor; we don’t take ourselves too seriously. We like to wind each other up.

EW: Steven and Jennifer, would you consider performing on the show yourselves?
TYLER: In fact, I’ve got a couple of songs.
LOPEZ: They have let us know that is something we are welcome to do at any time.
SEACREST: You’re in talks?
LOPEZ: We’re not in talks!
TYLER: Urine talks? Are you talking about pee-pee again? Urine talks, I like that. So life’s a pisser.
LOPEZ: There’s no plans for that now, that’s all I’m going to say.
SEACREST: We’ll lobby for that all year.

EW: I want a bold prediction from each of you about what we can expect from season 10 of Idol.
SEACREST: I think you’ll see some of the youngest talent we’ve ever had compete with some of the oldest talent we’ve ever had.
LOPEZ: You may have the youngest winner ever.
JACKSON: I’m going to go out on a limb.
SE ACREST: Careful.
JACKSON: I think a girl’s going to win the show.

EW: Steven, you’ve been very quiet. Any predictions?
TYLER: It’s just astounding; some of them are 15 and look like they’re 30, and some of them are 30 and look like they’re 15. It’s just amazing how the youngest of them all came out with bravado, came out with moxie, came out with balls and chutzpah and felt like they’ve been around here for 30 years. So we throw the drift net out and look what comes up? Gold. [I’m] crying, honestly, from someone who hit the notes so sweetly and beautifully, not just that it’s the end of the day and thank God this motherf—er is the last one. Not that.
SEACREST: See? It’s going to be an all-new show.

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