More than the contestants, fans always anticipate the people who will sit in the panel of judges of American Idol. With the reboot of one of the pioneer American talent competition looming, two seats are still up for grabs.
Variety reported that ABC has not decided yet on who will join Katy Perry in the judging panel. "We don't have to make any decisions immediately so we're taking a lot of meetings because you want to get it right." said ABC head of alternative programming Rob Mills in an interview with Variety.
Earlier reports said recording artist Charlie Puth and vocal power house Lionel Richie are front-runners in grabbing the judging spot.
Puth is not a stranger to reality talent competitions. The 25-year old music artist, who rose to prominence with his songs "One Call Away" and "We Don't Talk Anymore" served as advisor and mentor to Alicia Keys for The Voice in 2016.
The Hollywood Reporter also reported that ABC is thinking of bringing a fourth member to the judging panel — country singer Luke Bryan.
Host Ryan Seacrest was also announced to return and both he and Perry will be involved in the selection of the rest of the panel.
"They know everybody and they've got opinions," said the ABC head. "Katy and Ryan are going to be instrumental in looking. We want to make sure this really feels like a family," Mills said
In the end, more than the star power, ABC is looking to recreate the chemistry of the original judging panel with Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul.
"Simon was wonderful, but if he didn't have Paula or Randy, would he or the show have been as successful? We've got Katy and now it's all about who's going to be good with Katy."
Auditions for the "American Idol" will start this week and the judges' auditions in October. The reboot is expected to premiere next year.
