The reality TV veteran is the latest rumored judge.
Time is running short for American Idol to get around to finalizing its judging panel for Season 12. The latest star to enter the mix: the artist-producer of many names who for now goes by Diddy.
Page Six claims that Idol producers have made inquiries about the availability of Diddy (aka Sean Combs), though neither he nor the show have commented publicly.
At first blush, this rumor seems questionable, if only because Diddy is already crazy rich in a way that even new judge Mariah Carey and former judge Jennifer Lopez (one of his exes) are not. A job on Idol, while not exactly 9-to-5, requires judges to travel to the occasional non-glamorous city for auditions, and keeps them mostly tied down in L.A. between February and May. Also, Idol has never been friendly towards hip-hop, a stance that isn’t likely to change as long as Nigel Lythgoe has anything to say about it. Carey has frequently worked with rappers – would Idolreally want another judge representing the genre?
On the other hand: Diddy might well decide that the small time commitment now could pay off big down the road, as it has for Lopez, and for Adam Levine of The Voice. He’s now 42, and both he and his numerous protégés aren’t nearly as dominant on the charts as they used to be, so he might see Idol as a way to reintroduce himself. Diddy has a son who will be attending UCLA on football scholarship, so he already has a reason to spend more time in Hollywood. Finally, there’s the matter of his past track record with reality TV, on the various editions ofMaking the Band. Combs was able to get a few hits out of the almost completely untalented Danity Kane, so he has some credibility in that department that Idolcould use.
We’re going to rate this rumor as “unlikely, but intriguing.” Would you be more likely to watch a Diddyfied Idol?
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- MamaMandee
on Aug. 9, 2012 at 6:23 PM