The judges table of American Idol will once again, look completely different when it returns.

Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez have both announced they will not take a seat as both have decided to move on.

Tyler, 64, said he’s ready to get back to being the lead singer of Aerosmith.

“I’ve decided it’s time for me to let go of my mistress American Idol before she boils my rabbit,” he said, referncing the 1987 film Fatal Attraction.

Lopez hedged her bets on Thursday when she told the Today show it “might” be time to go but then turned to her friend and Idol costar, Ryan Seacrest on Friday, dropping the bomb on his radio show.

“I honestly feel like the time has come where I have to get back to doing the other things that I have to do that I put on hold because I love ‘Idol’ so much,” she told him.

“I could keep doing ‘Idol’ for the rest of my life, but that would be giving up a bunch of other things. And, I don’t know, I feel like we’ve had an amazing run.”

When Tyler and Lopez first joined the show, ratings were up but last year, they dropped almost 30% and some felt it was in part due to the judges.

With the success of NBC‘s The Voice and the other FOX show sure to cause a stir with Britney Spears and Demi Lovato, The X Factor may also take away another chunk of viewers in the ever-crowded singing competition shows.

As Tyler and Lopez announced their departure, it is speculated that Randy Jackson will also leave his judge’s chair behind and become a mentor to the talent.

So who’s on tap to fill those spaces at the table?

They are (overall) much younger.

Adam Lambert, Miley Cyrus, Nicki Minaj, Katy Perry, Fergie, and Mariah Carey are all names tossed about as replacements and under 40 years of age.

Celine Dion and Mary J. Blige are also popular names that are generating internet speculation.

Regardless of age, the chemistry has to be right. Part of what made AI so popular was how Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and Jackson interacted with each other. Tyler, Lopez and Jackson were fine and nice, but rather bland in comparison.

The key will be to find a group of celebrities who have that spark and strike conversations/rivalries like The Voice now has with Adam Levine, Blake Shelton, Christina Aguilera and Cee Lo Green.

[image: WENN]

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