Idol Chatter & Voice Views

The suspense, what little there was, is over.

Welcome to American Idol, Steven Tyler.

Welcome to the judges’ table, Jennifer Lopez.

At a press conference that began at 1 p.m. our time, Idol made those changes official.

Jo-Lo knows what she’s getting into. She was a guest mentor on Idol back in season six. In fact, after she performed on the results show, she was asked about her judging philosophy by Ryan Seacrest.

“I guess I come from the Paula school of criticism. I really do believe accentuating the positive and concentrating on the rightness brings more rightness,” she said, adding with a laugh. “Not that we don’t need our Simon.” (See the video below.)

As for the Aerosmith frontman, was anyone besides me astonished when his name surfaced as a potential Idol judge?

I’ll tell you this much. He did not hear David Gokey’s screech at the end of “Dream On” during season eight’s rock-and-roll night.

Otherwise, Steven would have run shrieking away from the judges’ table.

As we analyze what this means for American Idol, let’s look beyond the judges at all the changes announced so far for season 10.

* Reducing the panel from four judges back to three: A big plus. Simply put, four judges led to way to much talk on a show that’s supposed to be all about singing.

* Reducing the results shows to one-half hour: Another big plus. I mean, those results shows always felt oh, so bloated. I’m just hoping they subtract the worst of the results shows (like the group numbers) and keep the best (like the return of former contestants and the judges’ save).

* Reducing the age limit to 15: Say it’s not so. Sorry, but for every Allison Iraheta who’s able to excel on the Idol stage at 16, there are lots more who get to Hollywood and can’t. The season eight semifinals were littered with their shattered career dreams. Then there was poor Haeley Vaughn from last year, who looked the part, but needed more time to hone her singing skills before an entire nation heard her off-key rendition of … well, everything she sang.

* And the biggie, the new judges: Look, if you were trading Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler for Ellen DeGeneres and Kara DioGuardi, I’d say you just made an upgrade. I mean, what did we expect from Ellen? A one-liner after every song? She says she wasn’t comfortable doing that. And she didn’t have a background in music. As for Kara, from just about day one, she struck me as an abrasive know-it-all who didn’t. Good riddance.

But that’s Simon’s seat someone will be sitting in. And you can say the show should be about the singing, not the judging, but it’s the judges’ commentary that lends credibility to a reality competition show.

For nine years, Simon brought that credibility. I can’t count the times I’d hear the first two or three judges talk and wonder if they were watching and listening to the same performance I’d just witnessed. Then Simon would speak and critique. And it was clear someone was paying attention.

Who’s going to fill that role now?

Well, it won’t be Randy Jackson and his bag of cliches.

And if Jo-Lo’s the reincarnation of Paula, it won’t be her.

Welcome to the hot seat, Steve Tyler.

My advice to Idol: Find yourself a stellar cast of finalists in season 10, a mix of great singers and intriguing personalties. An Adam Lambert, a David Cook, a Carrie Underwood and a Kelly Clarkson might be needed, all at once. And you’d better throw in a Kellie Pickler and Sanjaya Malakar for good measure.

Editor’s Note: For a blog on what some local Idol fans think of the judging changes, go here.