‘American Idol’ season 13: Let’s give Jennifer Lopez, Harry Connick Jr., Keith Urban a chance

For everyone who loves “American Idol” … let’s hope that you still do with this panel. Fox confirmed today that Harry Connick Jr. will join Jennifer Lopez and Keith Urban on the show this fall for taping, which ironically means that outgoing executive producer Nigel Lythgoe basically got what he wanted after the fact.

We suppose from the get-go that there is at least one thing to come out of this: It’s a million times better than anything that features Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj. We don’t see either Harry or Keith as attention-seeking guys, and should try to genuinely help the contestants make the most out of their time on the show. As for Lopez, we couldn’t take her at all her first time on the show, and she improved slightly the second time sitting next to the ghost of Steven Tyler. We just hope that she becomes a little bit more critical; she is popular with casual fans, though, which means the ratings will probably increase at least at first.

At the end of the day, it seems stupid to sit here and dog a group of people when we’ve never seen them in the same room. Are there some people we would rather see as judges? Sure, but maybe the chemistry clicks here, and this group turns out far better than any of us think. Their only real job here is to entertain and provide filler segments in between the performances. We don’t care if they are famous or not; we just want a presence, and a feeling that they are somewhat invested in the process. This means open communication and feedback, but also cognizance that this is a television show, and without us watching, there is no point in even having a show.

The judges may get people excited at first, but by around the time the midway point of the competition hits, that is when the show is more about the contestants. Let’s hope that the pool turns out to be more like season 10, an excellent year with a great mixture of talented girls and guys, than the hit-or-miss season 11 and the completely lopsided and judge-destroyed season 12.

Connick was the last judge to sign on, and did so earlier this week after talks ended up with a variety of other contenders.

Photo: Fox