According to US Weekly, former teen idol Nick Jonas and rapper/producer Pharrell Williams are frontrunners to join Mariah Carey at the judging table on the next season of American Idol. According to “multiple insiders,” they are in serious consideration to take over for Steven Tyler — who left so he could ostensibly return to Aerosmith — and Randy Jackson, who will remain on the show but in a new capacity (a “mentoring role,” says an unnamed source).
Us Weekly quotes an anonymous insider as saying, “Nick is pretty close to signing to be the Idol judge. They flew him in to L.A. last week for final meetings.”
As for Williams — a top producer for the lies of Britney Spears, Gwen Stefani and Justin Timberlake — an insider says his participation is practically a done deal, and he’s ironing out the fine print on his Idol contract. “Everything is looking good,” says the insider, “but they’re still working out details.”
