American Idol season 16: Could Keith Urban return?

Is it possible that you could see Keith Urban become a judge on American Idol season 16? It may sound unlikely in theory, but in practice it does feel like Fox and the producers liked what they got from the country singer. He was likable, he offered decent advice, and he never came across as mean or disengaged. He wasn’t necessarily someone who drew a ton of headlines, but maybe with Katy Perry on board as a judge you don’t need that.

For now, what Urban is saying is that a judging position on the show is something he’ll consider. Speaking in a new interview with CMT, Urban made it clear that nothing is tied up just yet with anyone (other than Perry, at least):

“There’s a lot of moving parts … That’s a good political answer, isn’t it? But it’s also quite true of the state of it right now. There’s a lot of moving parts in everybody’s camps. We’ll see what happens.”

The appeal of getting Keith is that with this show, you do want a mixture of the familiar and the new. You’ve got the new with Katy, and maybe you bring in a recording executive or someone else from that side of the business as the third judge. If you get Keith, you do have someone who appeals to the country crowd, though we’ve also heard the name Luke Bryan thrown around by some on the internet. (That’s just speculation, though, so don’t take it as fact.)

Personally, we like the idea of having someone with show experience on the panel, whether it be as a former contestant or a judge. It does feel fair to write off the other two most-recent judges, mostly because Jennifer Lopez is basically now all over NBC and Harry Connick Jr. has a daytime talk show. Maybe he could do it in theory because Ellen DeGeneres did, but that was only for the live shows. She wasn’t a part of anything that was taking place before that. (Ironically, Perry was one of the guest judges in her seat that season.)

Do you want to see Urban become an American Idol judge, or be involved in some other way? Share now in the attached comments below!

Meanwhile, head over here to get some more of the latest rumors on American Idol and what could be coming next. (Photo: Fox.)