‘American Idol’ season 13: Kelly Clarkson confirms she will not judge, ‘Tie It Up’ hits web

Rough news today for fans of Kelly Clarkson, or at least some who wanted to see her on TV this year: The original winner of “American Idol” has confirmed that she will not be staging a return to the Fox singing competition as a judge in the new year.

So what’s her ultimate reason behind not jumping on board? She’s focusing on her career, including hitting the road for an extensive summer tour (where she will probably make just as much money, if not more, than she would have made doing the show to begin with). In a post on Twitter in response to a fan, here is what Kelly had to say on the matter:

“I can’t [join the show] because I’m touring this summer w/Maroon 5. I hope they get some great people though. I’d hate to see my beginning end.”

There were reports last month that Jennifer Hudson had neared a deal to join the panel, but this still have not been confirmed by Fox. Keith Urban has not technically been fired from the show, so he is still in play along with former contestants Adam Lambert and Clay Aiken and some other possibilities that aren’t tied to the show. Considering that you do have a new series boss in Per Blankens and a new bigwig at Fox overseeing the show, it could be a couple of months before they decide for sure what they want to do.

Want to read some more news about what Adam is doing right now while the judging rumors run a muck? You can do so over here. Also, some recordings of Kelly’s new single “Tie It Up” have hit the internet; since we don’t know whether or not these videos will be removed, for now we’re just linking one rather than embedding it.

Photo: Kelly Clarkson