Crooner Harry Connick Jr. will be American Idol's 11th judge when season 13 airs in January, Fox Broadcasting confirmed Tuesday morning. Fox's singing competition also will bring back former judge Jennifer Lopez, who was on the panel for seasons 10 and 11, to join the only returning judge from season 12's panel, Keith Urban.
Veteran judge Randy Jackson, who has been on the judges panel for every season since the show launched in 2002, will return as an "in-house," off-panel mentor.
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Last season judges Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj aren't returning in any capacity. Idol has had 10 judges in its previous 12 seasons, including the original trio of Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and Jackson. Ellen DeGeneres, Kara DioGuardi, Steven Tyler, Lopez and Urban also have had judging stints. Connick Jr. has served as a guest mentor in the past.
Urban already knew he'd be on the panel, expressing in August his anticipation on Twitter for Fox to announce the other judges who will sit alongside him:
Thrilled to be back on @AmericanIdol with my pal @RyanSeacrest and dying to know who the other judges will be!!!! -KU
— Keith Urban (@KeithUrban) August 1, 2013
Connick Jr. and Lopez also used tweets Tuesday morning to show their excitement:
so excited to be on @AmericanIdol!!! i've already judged my wife and daughters like three times this morning. do they sell gavels on amazon?
— Harry Connick, Jr. (@HarryConnickJR) September 3, 2013
#IDOL2014TheRemix ...see ya soon
— Jennifer Lopez (@JLo) September 3, 2013
The trio will judge Idol contestants during auditions in Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Detroit, Omaha, Salt Lake City and San Francisco. The new season will broadcast on Fox in 2014.
Fox Broadcasting notes that past Idol finalists "have released more than 200 albums, scored 396 No.1 billboard hits, garnered more than 250 million iTunes downloads and have been certified with 88 Gold and 71 Platinum records."
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