‘American Idol’ season 13: Are Adam Lambert, Jennifer Hudson now out of the running?

It’s possible that if you are a longtime “American Idol” fan and griped about what the biggest problem with the show is these days, you may facepalm so hard in reading this story that you knock yourself onto the floor. The show brings in a new executive producer in Per Blankens, and he seems to be interested in focusing on the same problems along with Fox that plagued the show for the past two years: Judges that were unnatural, wooden in their critique, and could not properly relate to the singers.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Jennifer Lopez has (ugh) been in discussions about a return to the panel, though there is an unsurprising hangup in money. J.Lo was paid $15 million or so the last time she was on the show, and there’s no way that her or almost any other judge under the sun is worth that. Keith Urban, meanwhile, seems to still be in talks to return, and we’re all right with that given that he was likable enough, and could do well on a panel that actually likes each other.

To us, there are really two major qualifications, and a judge on this show should have at least one of them:

1. History in some form as a music producer, that way there is a level of comfort in giving honest opinions.

2. A history with being on some sort of talent competition, where you know a thing or two about going through something like this and can relate. Even Paula Abdul had to do plenty of auditioning in her early years.

Will.i.am is a name mentioned in the report, and we’re actually excited somewhat about that prospect. Why? He’s a producer and a very smart guy, and we totally dig his style on “The Voice” UK. With that being said, we doubt he will draw many new viewers, since that show in Britain is hardly a hit.

As for the one-time dream of an all-alumni panel, it seems to be fading away slowly and surely. Adam Lambert was reportedly still in talks two weeks ago, but the rise in some other names cloud his chances; meanwhile, Jennifer Hudson may not even be a lock as much as she once was during the waning days of the Mike Darnell – Nigel Lythgoe era. We almost feel like Fox should have left these people in power if the replacements were just going to go for stars; while these two had their problems, their direction suggested that they were learning from mistakes.

We wish we knew how to make you feel better after reading some of this; perhaps checking out on what some former “American Idol” contestants are up to now will help?

Photo: Fox