‘American Idol’ season 13: Jennifer Hudson signs on; Adam Lambert, Clay Aiken in play

The “American Idol” judging panel for next season may still be in some ways a mystery, but at least one part of it seems to now be set in stone. Jennifer Hudson will be one of the judges overseeing the contestants on the show. According to E! News, the former Oscar-winner has officially agreed to be a part of the show after an incredibly brief period of negotiations … much shorter than what we’ve seen the past few years.

As for who will join her, the answer varies depending on who you talk to. E! insists that Kelly Clarkson is close to a deal, but other sources claim that she’s not interested in the gig. Meanwhile, these same other sources claim that Adam Lambert has not been contacted yet about a gig as a judge, though these same sources say that the decision right now is really between him and Clay Aiken as to who will be the male judge.

We know that all four of these people have pretty big personalities, and if we were to judge the future of the show just based on this alone, you have to say that this could be an exciting, dynamic panel of people who genuinely care about the outcome of the show. However, we don’t know if Fox is doing any screen-testing here at all. The last thing we want is a group of people who don’t bounce off each other well, though the good news here is that Adam, Clay, Kelly, and Jennifer all have a few things in common. They all made it in the music business thanks to this show, and also realize that there is a lot of work that needs to be done afterwards in order to remain stars for years afterwards.

Well, there is at least one thing that everyone can agree on: Mariah Crey’s first post-“American Idol” TV gig today was a train wreck of epic proportions. Watch and be amazed.

Photo: Fox