‘American Idol XIV’ spoilers: Aretha Franklin will mentor top 16

For all of those already hungry for news on where “American Idol” is going to go moving into the rest of the competition, we come bearing good news!

Today, it was more or less confirmed that it was none other than the legendary Aretha Franklin who will be coming on board the series starting next week as a guest mentor. The top 16 contestants will continue to perform in Detroit at the Fillmore, and given that she is a Motown icon, there really doesn’t seem to be a better person to put into this position. The only question is whether or not the contestants will be too intimated to really say anything. We feel like we would be!

Also, we should make it known that we’re thrilled to see that the show could be moving towards bringing back more mentors, which is something that we’ve only seen on a few occasions the past few years. We know that Scott Borchetta has really taken on a big role as in-house mentor, but the majority of the work he is doing is behind the scenes. We don’t quite know just how much of an on-camera presence he is really going to have during all of this.

The next time we see “American Idol,” we will get a chance to see the top 24 become the top 16, and the men and women will continue to perform in this format. Eventually, we are going to get down to where the show is only airing one time a week, but the format is a little different this time thanks to “Empire” and Fox’s dream of diversifying.

Head over here in the event that you do want to get our full review of this past “American Idol” episode! Also, be sure to sign up right away in the event you want some further TV updates on everything we cover via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: Fox.)