Jennifer Lopez knows ‘nothing’ about possible American Idol reboot

Is an American Idol reboot out there still possible? Based on some of the comments that are out there in the press, the answer is “yes.” NBC is supposedly considering bringing back the long-running Fox singing competition, and airing it in the place of The Voice in the winter. That certainly makes sense in terms of scheduling, but does it make sense in terms of ratings? That’s what NBC has to figure out. This is a show with a much better pedigree than The Voice in terms of making big stars after the fact; however, it’s not nearly as effective when it comes to generating buzz or ratings. In its peak, it was bigger than The Voice; however, by the end we saw the show consistently losing to the swivel chairs and the blind auditions.

Jennifer Lopez was one of the judges on the final seasons for American Idol; meanwhile, she’s got some great ties to NBC at this point. She’s the star of the drama series Shades of Blue, and she is judging a new competition in World of Dance that is airing new episodes this summer. She was actually promoting the new season at a summer press event this week when she was asked about the American Idol reboot. Her response, per Deadline, was pretty quiet and nondescript:

“I haven’t heard anything about that. So I know nothing about that.”

The site suggested that her tone was such that she’d prepared that answer in advance, but it does make sense if she’s in the dark on the project. Even if American Idol does come back, we have a hard time thinking that the series is at a point right now where they are talking to prospective judges. Right now, there are just conversations to see whether or not the idea of the show could even work on NBC.

Personally, we do think that there is some merit to getting American Idol back on the air and turning The Voice into more of an annual event. Scaling back reality competition shows can be a pretty fantastic way to ensure that you’re not burning out your audience, and it diversifies your portfolio. We’ll see what happens with American Idol as we get closer to upfronts in May.

Do you want to see J.Lo on an American Idol reboot in the event that it happens? Be sure to share some of your thoughts in the comments below! (Photo: Fox.)