It’s been a week since Simon Cowell made a surprise appearance at the Langham hotel in Pasadena and announced to over 100 TV critics that he was leaving his post as an American Idol judge after this year, leaving many to speculate on his possible replacement.
“Simon is irreplaceable,” said Fox Entertainment Chairman Peter Rice. “But it’s going to be incumbent upon us to make sure the show remains vital and entertaining and compelling.”
So how to do that when the biggest name attached to the franchise is leaving? “I’m going to suggest that Ryan do it,” Cowell quipped at the Fox executive panel. “He can have another job, then.”
When Paula Abdul announced she was leaving last season, the offers began pouring in and Ellen DeGeneres got the gig as a result. This time around the shoes are even bigger to fill.
“There’s a lot of people who want to do the job now, which is why it’s different from years ago,” Cowell said. “Everyone’s talking about judges and this and that. Fundamentally, the most important reason we do this is that we want to find talent.”
While it’s still unconfirmed whether or not the show will even hire another fourth judge to replace the cantankerous one, we thought it would be fun to speculate on potential replacements.
CLICK HERE TO SEE WHO COULD REPLACE SIMON COWELL
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