Aretha Franklin as new 'Idol' judge?
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This week we saw two celebrity judges leave American Idol, Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez. Both celebrities announced they would not be coming back for the next season due to personal commitments. But things do not look bad for the Fox show as they could very well have The Queen herself, Aretha Franklin!
Aretha Franklin, 18 time Grammy Award winner who is regarded as the greatest female singer of all times, told CNN in an email Saturday that she would be interested in joining the show as a judge.
Franklin, 70, who left the audiences in awe at the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans last week and is currently performing in Las Vegas expressed her interest in Idol saying she has been a fan of the show for a long time. She wants to be part of it now then just see it on the television screen.
And being the Queen of Soul, she has already thought about bringing with her a songstress, Patti LaBelle.
Fox refused to comment on Franklin being the next judge when approached on Saturday night. If Fox manages to rope in Franklin as judge it would significantly boost up their ratings. Recently “Idol” lost its spot as the top show of the year to NBC’s “Sunday Night Football.”
With stiff competition as new shows come up such as X Factor, it makes it even more important for shows like “Idol” to retain their number one spot. Fox’s “X Factor” recently roped in Britney Spears as a judge after judge Paula Abdul and Nicole Scherzinger were made to leave. “The Voice” NBC’s closest competitor has managed to set up an illustrious panel of judges with Cee Lo Green, Adam Levine, Christina Aguilera and Blake Shelton.
If Fox manages to get Aretha Franklin is yet to be seen but if she does come onboard it will be huge for Fox as it is bound to give the ratings a major boost!