Ellen DeGeneres says goodbye to “American Idol” after one season, leaving Fox’s hit show with two vacancies on its judging panel. It is rumored the J. Lo may join the panel next season. This has yet to be confirmed.
If the singing contest intends to revamp itself to stem a ratings slide, it has the opportunity to bring in two new faces for season 10 in January.
Fox has yet to announce a replacement for Simon Cowell, who left after the season finale in May to start a new talent show for the network.
“A couple months ago, I let Fox and the ‘American Idol’ producers know that this didn’t feel like the right fit for me,” DeGeneres said in a statement. The comedian-talk show host said she realized that while she “loved discovering, supporting and nurturing young talent, it was hard for me to judge people and sometimes hurt their feelings.”
