Simon Cowell is clearing house. Or so it seems.
Following last night’s announcement that wooden host Steve Jones would be departing the Fox show, fresh reports have emerged ‘confirming’ judges Nicole Scherzinger and Paula Abdul have also been culled and won’t be returning for season 2.
Details after the jump…
According to Deadline.com, neither lady voluntarily left the show; instead, their lukewarm performances on season 1 saw them officially not asked back for a second outing.
Pre-airing, Cowell ambitiously touted the show as being definite ratings winner, predicting an out-of-the-gate Idol-esque audience of 20 Million. The show went on to average 12 million viewers each week.
By no means disappointing for a “new series”, the music mogul will no doubt be looking for bigger figures next go round; a feat he seems to find unachievable with Scherzinger and Abdul on board.
As at writing, 4th judge LA Reid remains. Something we doubt will change given the close relationship his label Epic Records have with the series.
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Basic and boring, both were ill-equipped to judge on a show which bills itself as the gutsier, edgier Idol. And while Abdul can walk away looking at this as a victory lap of sorts (following her Idol axe), there’s few positive spins one can put on the whole shabang for Scherzinger.
Seen as the knight in shining armour for her flopping US solo career, the show instead showed Nicole to be devoid of (much) personality and zapped time to “work” her ‘Killer Love’ project. Although the latter is debatable, for her stint on the show took her to many a stage – both Stateside and International – with minimal results. Perhaps a testament to folk simply not feeling her?
Whatever the case, if true, it’s yet anther knock-back for the former Pussycat Doll. One that’ll take much vigour, perseverance, and quality material to bounce back from. The latter being her biggest issue.
Still, as the industry has shown over and over, a “comeback” is but one hit away. Given who we’re talking about, though, we won’t hold our breath. Ay, ay.
Randomness: One can only hope this creates avenue for Mariah Carey‘s long-anticipated involvement with the show.
The TGJ jury is still out on whether Kelly Rowland would be better suited to the UK show (where she serves now), or make a crossover to the US version – as has been reported for the last few months. Time will tell…
Your thoughts?