Randy Jackson will be leaving the “American Idol” judges panel after 11 seasons to become the In-house mentor. (Photo by FOX)
By: Jacob Elyachar
Multiple media outlets including TMZ, FOX News and the Huffington Post have reported that original judge Randy Jackson will be exiting the Judges’ Desk and transitioning over to being a mentor on the show.
I have had previously speculated that American Idol would do this in an earlier blog post: https://jakes-take.com/2012/08/25/american-idol-season-12-update-jacobs-solutions-to-save-the-show/
In this article, I will go more in-depth on how Randy Jackson’s move will help American Idol with its upcoming season.
Continuity
In the last four years, we have seen multiple judges including Paula Abdul, Simon Cowell, Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez leave the Judges Desk. While Randy’s departure from the desk means a new era of judges, by having the Dawg Master as the In-House mentor will keep the show’s continuity in check.
Experience
Randy has over four decades of musical experience as a musician and a producer. He has worked with music icons including Aretha Franklin, Journey, Keith Richards, Bruce Springsteen and Stevie Nicks as well as current Top 40 hitmakers such as Fergie, Madonna and Mary J. Blige. As a mentor, he will be able to bring his experience with working with different types of genres to the table.
Preparation
For the past couple of seasons, Interscope president Jimmy Iovine has helped each contestant prepare his or her performance for the live shows. With Jimmy possibly out of the picture, Randy will be able to have creative control on how each Idol contestant present themselves vocally to America and to the new judging panel. Fans and contestants can be assured that Randy will take this new responsibility seriously and we will hopefully have great Idol moments such as this one: http://youtu.be/tOYiSffcv9Y in the future.
Randy was very instrumental in getting Mariah Carey on the “American Idol” judging panel. How will Randy’s transition affect how they interact on the FOX talent show? (Photo by Billboard Magazine)
The Mariah Factor
With Jackson’s move over to the mentor position, he may or may not lock horns with his longtime collaborating partner and new Idol judge Mariah Carey. However, considering that Jimmy and Randy had disagreements on the way contestants were prepared for the live shows, it might mean that history could repeat itself.
What do you think about Randy Jackson’s move from judge to mentor?
