Just minutes ago, Ryan Seacrest announced the final three judges of this next season of American Idol. The line-up is what everyone expected: Jennifer Lopez, Steven Tyler, and Randy Jackson. You know what? With those three, I’m going to call it: someone is going to end up pregnant, someone is going to end up overdosing, and someone is going to end up eating a sandwich. Seriously, though, J.Lo will get pegged as “the bitch” or “The Simon” but something tells me Steven Tyler has an inner bitch just dying to get out, and might give J.Lo a run for her money. We’ll see…

It’s official! Jennifer Lopez and Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler will be joining Randy Jackson at the judges’ table when American Idol kicks off season 10 in January.

“I’m looking for the next Michael Jackson,” Lopez said before a screaming crowd at the Los Angeles Forum after Ryan Seacrest introduced her. “We’re looking for the best American Idol ever.”

The announcement was made during a live press conference Wednesday. Seacrest hosted the event, telling the crowd, “We are looking for the next star in music. We usually ask, who will be the next American Idol? We never asked this question, who will be the next judges on American Idol?”

Seacrest then introduced Randy Jackson, who told the crowd, “We found some unbelievable talent and I am calling season 10 the remix, baby!”

Up next, Tyler was introduced as a “rock legend.” The Aerosmith frontman said joining the Idol family feels “fabulous.”

“[It] feels like the perfect feathered nest,” he said. “It’s being a part of something much bigger than yourself. I want to bring some rock to this roller coaster.”

Lopez, who dressed in a silver pant suit, was the last to be introduced.

“I love you guys. I am so excited,” she told the crowd that included Idol hopefuls, there to try out for the show. “It is about concentrating in the moment, do the best you can. Just live! Just live, it’s your moment.”

The announcement comes with little surprise. In weeks leading up to the decision, sources told PEOPLE Lopez signed the deal worth $12 million. And Tyler himself said he would “probably” be a judge when the show returned in the winter.

[From People]

Well, that’s done. Now we don’t have to listen to any more bitchy tabloid stories about Jennifer right? Oh, wait. That’s the only reason she got hired – so that she’ll create scandals and give Idol more press, because even bad press is good press. I hope the battle royale comes down between Jennifer and La Seacrest. Wouldn’t that be amazing? I think Jennifer would win, hands down. She would slap the sh-t out of him and then sit on him, crushing his tiny body. *fingers crossed*

Now that we’ve heard that Jennifer Lopez probably won’t be joining the judges on Idol, allegedly due to her ever-increasing and hard to meet demands, there’s speculation on who will take that spot on the panel. Shania Twain’s name is being mentioned, with Steven Tyler and Randy Jackson rumored to be filling the other two seats. I remember Shania on the show last year and she was great with the contestants and was even brought to tears by an emotional performance of one her songs. (Video of that is below.) She would be a great choice for an empathic, caring judge. Here’s more:

“American Idol” sources tell TMZ … the Jennifer Lopez deal isn’t dead yet, but if it does flatline … “Idol’s” next choice is country star Shania Twain.

Shania was a hit on “Idol” this past season when she served as guest judge and mentor.

We’re told Shania is Plan B.

[From TMZ]

I have a suggestion for a new judge on Idol – Usher! I was impressed with how much he knew about music during his guest mentoring gig and he gave some very good advice. They should ditch Randy and get a whole new panel of well known and established musicians.

There’s a lot of other AI gossip and we’ll report some of it here, but first I’d like to cover this photo that Kaiser pointed me to that Jennifer Lopez recently posted on Twitter. She wrote “Hmmm… what should I wear today?” to go along with this picture. Is she making a joke and/or trying to show us that she’s rolling in it and doesn’t need make more demands? I think the answer is “a little of A, a little of B.”

Lopez also posted this photo last week, and wrote “Everyone on set tonight is calling me “Bronx Barbie”!” Yes, she’s full of herself.

Meanwhile Kara DioGuardi’s dad, a Republican candidate for a US Senate seat in NY, is telling outlets that his daughter was never officially fired from Idol. He said “Would you believe, that she did not hear, and still has not heard anything? She read it the way you did and I did… Her disappointment is that’s the way she’s been treated, and she feels that’s not proper… I think what they’re trying to do is create buzz.” He added that his daughter is an executive VP at Warner Brothers and will be fine even if she’s not asked to stay on AI, as she’s hoping.

And Mike Walker reports in the National Enquirer this week that Ellen DeGeneres didn’t resign from Idol as she claimed, but was fired and given permission to issue a statement making it seem like she left on her own accord. Walker even claims that Ellen “agreed to lower her salary,” but quotes a source who says “they hated her on the show and simply wanted her gone. She begged them to let her handle the announcement her way, and they agreed.” There is so much damn drama over this show!

Here’s Shania on Idol last season. Big Mike’s performance of her song brings her to tears.

And Usher on Idol:

In the wake of Simon Cowell’s departure from Fox’s monster hit, “American Idol,” the show’s producers seem to be scrambling to make the show relevant. Last season’s Ellen Degeneres experiment was an epic fail, and no one seems to be more aware of this than Ellen herself. Ellen announced yesterday that she is not coming back as a judge on the show, citing work conflicts and her inability to say negative things about any of the contestants.

Talk show host Ellen DeGeneres, who became a full-time judge on the show during its ninth season, is bowing out of the series, PEOPLE has learned.

“A couple months ago, I let FOX and the American Idol producers know that this didn’t feel like the right fit for me,” she says in a statement. “I told them I wouldn’t leave them in a bind and that I would hold off on doing anything until they were able to figure out where they wanted to take the panel next. It was a difficult decision to make, but my work schedule became more than I bargained for.”

DeGeneres adds, “I also realized this season that while I love discovering, supporting and nurturing young talent, it was hard for me to judge people and sometimes hurt their feelings. I loved the experience working on Idol and I am very grateful for the year I had, I am a huge fan of the show and will continue to be.”
In the same statement, Idol creator and executive producer Simon Fuller says, “I loved Ellen’s passion for the artists and her nurturing skills. She brought honesty and optimism to our judging panel and I will miss her greatly.”

Peter Rice, the FOX entertainment chairman, says, “We love Ellen and understand and support her decision to bow out of Idol. We were fortunate to receive the humor, energy and love for talent that she brought to the show.”

A longtime fan of Idol, DeGeneres signed on to replace Paula Abdul after Abdul Tweeted about her departure in August 2009. “I’m going to have a day job and a night job,” DeGeneres said at the time. “This is exciting for me.”

In January, Cowell announced he was leaving to concentrate on bringing his U.K. hit The X Factor to the U.S

Well, that didn’t last long. I have to applaud Ellen for realizing that she’s not really cut out for the job. Her presence on the show did nothing for the ratings, and even when the contestants sucked really bad, she couldn’t bring herself to tell them the truth. It also looks like much-hated judge Kara DioGuardi won’t be back at the judge’s table next season, either- but in her case, she didn’t bow out voluntarily. Both TMZ and Deadline Hollywood are reporting that the songwriter has been fired, and that the show is returning to a three-judge format. Rumored to be replacing Kara and Ellen? Jennifer Lopez and…wait for it… Aerosmith front man Steven Tyler!

We’ve just learned the backstory of how Ellen DeGeneres bowed out of American Idol and who will be the new judge taking her place. It’s Jennifer Lopez, whose singing and acting career has been on the skids after her recent movie failed at the box office in the spring and she was dropped by her record company Sony Music Epic Records this past winter. We hear her manager Benny Medina (whom she once fired) orchestrated the meeting with the American Idol producers a month ago, and negotiations have been ongoing ever since. We’ve learned a deal was closed earlier this week under the utmost secrecy. Today’s news came shortly after Nigel Lythgoe returned to Idol as an executive producer. He has vowed to shake up the show’s team of judges in the wake of the departure of Simon Cowell, publicly stating that he always thought a panel of three and not 4 made the most sense.

Still to be decided is who will replace Simon Cowell. Everyone associated with the show wants Elton John, but we hear he’s asking for too much money and has too many touring commitments he can’t get out of.

2ND UPDATE: Tonight, unconfirmed reports say Idol has offered Cowell’s judge seat to Steven Tyler. 3RD UPDATE: And another unconfirmed report claimed judge Kara DioGuardi has been fired to bring the panel count down to just 3, not 4.

As for Ellen Degeneres, we’re told she wanted off the show two months ago and complained that Idol producers “couldn’t control Cowell”, one insider tells us. Least of all Cecile Frot-Coutaz, the CEO of FremantleMedia North America. “Cecile is doing X Factor with Simon, so she’s in his back pocket.” DeGeneres and her reps went in to to see Fox Broadcasting’s Entertainment Chairman Peter Rice and Alternative TV President Mike Darnell and asked to be let out of the year left on her contract. “She’s not comfortable. She’s not happy. It’s not been fun,” Fox was told. But Rice and Darnell responded that, with Cowell leaving, “We can’t let you out now because it would be bad for our franchise. Give us a chance to figure out who we could get.” In the end, all the show’s producers — Fox, Fremantle, and 19 Entertainment — worked it out. “Peter Rice was awesome,” an insider tells us. “Ellen is thrilled and relieved.” We’ve learned that serious conversations took place between Idol and Jessica Simpson to replace Ellen. But once Jennifer Lopez was locked in this week, the DeGeneres announcement went out.

…Her replacement JLo badly needs this high-profile boost to her flagging career. The actress had many hits with Sony Music Epic Records, so it was a shock within the recording industry when her longtime label dumped her.

[From Deadline Hollywood]

The J.Lo story doesn’t surprise me all that much – she’s just desperate enough to take this gig in hopes of reviving her music career. But Steven Tyler? Really? Not only does the guy not need the money, but last time I checked, he was kind of a hot mess and is barely out of rehab. But he would probably be a lot of fun to watch. The big question is, can either of them fill the “mean judge” shoes left empty by Simon? The show won’t work without a judge who tells the contestants the brutal truth. I don’t think surviving judge Randy Jackson is up for the job- dawg can barely string more than two or three words together. The big rumor in Hollywood is that J.Lo is a raving bitch, but will she be willing to bare the claws on national TV? I don’t think so. But at least the addition of two people who actually have experience in the music industry is a step up.

Update: This story originated with GossipCop.

Header: Jennifer Lopez on June 15, 2010. Credit: WENN.

It looks like those rumors last month that British judge Simon Cowell might be leaving “American Idol” are true. Reports are coming in that the show’s producers are already making plans for Cowell’s departure after this season. Idol producers are supposedly downplaying Simon’s presence on the show this season, opting instead to focus more on the contestants and new judge Ellen Degeneres.

‘Idol’ Is Downsizing Simon

Sources tell me that producers of ‘American Idol’ have a plan on how to make sure the show survives if Mr. Simon Cowell does in fact leave at the end of this upcoming season.

“Expect to see less and less of Simon this season. The focus is going to be back on the contestants and less on Simon’s harsh criticisms of them,” an insider tells me. “They also will be spending more time focusing on Ellen once she gets through her first few weeks live from Hollywood.”

That might not be such a bad idea. Watching millionaires make fun of kids’ appearances and laughing when they leave the room feels is so last century to me. After all, many shows have not only survived hosts leaving — they have thrived. (Katie Couric, anyone?)

FOX, never one to beat around the bush, tells me: “FOX has no comment.”

The brilliant Adam Hanft, CEO of marketing firm Hanft Projects, agrees. “Ideas outlast their hosts. It was and is true for the ‘Tonight Show’ and ‘The Today Show’ and it’s proved true for ’60 Minutes.’

[From PopEater]

Randy Jackson spilled some beans on the upcoming season in an interview with Billboard magazine. But the “Dawg” remains skeptical on Simon’s departure. Yeah, like anyone tells Randy what’s going on.

Though DeGeneres won’t be part of the “Idol” judging process until the Jan. 12 premiere on Fox, Jackson expects her to be a “fun” addition to the show. He adds that he and returning judges Simon Cowell and Kara DioGuardi enjoyed having guest judges for the regional auditions in June and July and call-backs in August and September, a corps that included Mary J. Blige, Joe Jonas, Shania Twain, Katy Perry, Avril Lavigne, the Spice Girls’ Victoria Beckham, Neil Patrick Harris and Kristin Chenoweth.

“They all really did their thing,” Jackson recalls. “Of course, Mary J. Blige was really amazing. I was impressed with Joe Jonas; I didn’t really know how he would be, but he was great. Shania was brilliant…Even Neil Patrick Harris and Kristin Chenoweth, who were both from the theater world, were really amazing and had great things to say.”

Jackson was also surprised by what he heard in front of the judges table during the audition process. “I think generally what happens is whoever wins that season, you get more and more of that. But this season’s a little different. I would’ve thought you’d have a trillion Adam Lamberts show up, or a trillion Kris Allens. But that’s not what happened. It was very interesting. This is a whole different bunch.”

Jackson says he’ll miss Paula Abdul this year — “She started this thing with us. It’s a sad thing…not to have her there.” — but noted that DioGuardi seems more comfortable after having an “Idol” year under her belt. “I think she’s got a different grasp on understanding what it is and what happens and how to do it,” he says. “It’s one of those things, like golf or tennis; it looks easy on the outside, then when you try and actually hit the ball you go, ‘Whoa, OK, it’s a little different than what I thought.’ But, yeah, she’s having a good time.”

As for rumors about Cowell leaving “Idol” to bring his British “X-Factor” to the U.S., Jackson says that “I won’t believe it ’til I see it. I haven’t spoken to him about it. You just never really know; there are a lot of alleged things going on, but who knows, right? We’ll see what happens.”

[From Billboard]

I think we’re witnessing the beginning of the end of American Idol. While the departure of Paula Abdul was probably a good thing- the woman was strung out on some kind of chemical and could barely utter a sentence half the time – the addition of Kara DioGuardi and the loss of Simon might be too much for the show to recover. At the end of the day, the show should be all about finding the best talent, but even that aspect is becoming increasingly mediocre. Isn’t last year’s winner, Kriss Allen, pretty much a watered-down version of John Mayer? I predict that this year’s ratings will be high, at first, and then plummet as the season goes on. People will tune in to see Ellen Degeneres debut as a judge, but quickly lose interest.

Simon Cowell in London on December 13, 2009. Credit: WENN.

Former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice is enjoying quite the media blitz post-job. She’s taken a turn as a sports writer, and appeared on several talk shows- even proclaimed her love for rock music, saying her favorite band is Led Zeppelin. For years, she rubbed elbows with the most powerful leaders in the world, and now, she’s holding court with pop culture icons all over Hollywood. One of those is “American Idol” judge, Randy “Dawg” Jackson. The former Journey bass player and Rice had a secret meeting back in March, at Rice’s request, to discuss music.

Former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice thinks Randy Jackson is top dawg!

When the classically trained pianist, 54, was in L.A. for her March 24 appearance on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno, she arranged to meet the American Idol judge, 52, for a private sit-down at the Beverly Wilshire hotel.

Rice’s spokesman tells the new issue of Us Weekly (on newsstands today): “She’s a longtime admirer of Randy and enjoyed the opportunity to meet him in person and talk about their common passion for music.”

When Jackson (who’s been married since 1995) learned Rice wanted to meet him, “he was sort of mystified,” a source tells Us, “but he went.”

And they had plenty to talk about during their 90-minute meeting.

Says an insider, “She found him to be absolutely intriguing.”

[From Us Weekly]

There are many adjectives I’d use to describe Randy Jackson – intriguing is not one of them. The guy has about a 5-word vocabulary. What on earth could he have talked about for 90 minutes? Maybe she played some piano for him? I can hear it now: “Yo, Condi, dawg, that was pitchy, but you worked it out, you did yo’ thing, yo!”

I have a theory that Randy’s entire “dawg” persona it 100% fake. In private, the guy probably speaks like Tom Brokaw. I mean, come on- he played for Journey! No street cred there, Dawg. Anyway, I have to say, Condi has really surprised me since leaving office with her cool attitude and many hidden talents. Do you think she’ll ever go back to public office?

Bikini girl video

American Idol’s eighth season had its two hour premiere on Fox last night with auditions from Phoenix. It featured new judge Kara DioGuardi as the fourth addition to the panel. The show was the same formula we’re used to and it was entertaining if a bit slow in parts. I found singer songwriter DioGuardi a little underwhelming. She fit in unobtrusively, which is probably what they were going for, but I couldn’t get a clear read on her personality. She was nice like Paula but without the sincerity. I found myself fixated on her bad hair extensions and wondering if she thought they looked ok.

Kara’s mini feud with “bikini girl”
At one point DioGuardi insisted on singing the same song, “Treated Me Kind,” “Vision of Love” as a much-talked about contestant dressed in a bikini, showing that she should put some swing in it and looking surprisingly competitive. It seemed kind of immature and aggressive coming from a grown woman and the audition went downhill from there. Paula got up to defend DioGuardi when the skinny contestant insisted she sang it better. The girl could sing pretty well but I just couldn’t get over the ferret faces she was making along with her attitude. Randy and Simon voted her through despite Paula and Kara’s objections.

Kara’s would-be stalker
Given the tragic suicide of a stalker outside Paula Abdul’s house, producers should be wary of letting anyone audition who seems unstable and is fixated on one of the judges. There was a young girl dressed in a cowboy hat and short skirt who said she was a huge fan of Kara’s. She brought in a big binder full of songs she wrote and went on at length about how she wanted a singing career. The girl couldn’t sing and was wacky to say the least. These auditions were taped before Paula’s “fan” committed suicide, but it seemed thoughtless that the scenes featuring that contestant were included. Producers should have learned their lesson after letting Paula’s stalker through. Maybe this girl was harmless, but those type of contestants shouldn’t be encouraged.

Other highlights of the show included a super deep-voiced guy, an intelligent nerdy guy who could sing that Simon didn’t want to get through for some reason, an effeminate guy with a surprisingly good voice, and a guy with a misspelled “Sexual Chocolate” tattoo on his back. There was also a rockabilly chick with incredible talent, and a blond woman who came to the auditions alone and had a strong unique voice with a warble. A bubbly normal-looking contestant who sang just as well as the bikini girl, in my opinion, was told by Simon that she must have been let through based on her personality. She ultimately got a pass to the next round after a tense few moments.

The night ended with a somewhat inspiring tale of a blind guy who taught himself music. The way that contestant was hyped seemed kind of hackneyed, but that’s how Idol does it. The guy was a talented singer, but he picked the slow Billy Joel song, “And So it Goes” and you couldn’t really tell from that single sample if he had enough chops to make it through. He was given a golden ticket and made it to Hollywood, though.

American Idol continues tonight with another two hour audition special. We’ll be watching, even as we roll our eyes like Simon.

Simon Cowell’s public statements show that sexual harassment in entertainment isn’t confined to the boardroom or set. He made an obnoxious comment meant to be funny that he initiated the new American Idol judge, attractive songwriter Kara DioGuardi, 37, with a pajama party that included negligees for “the girls,” which presumably also means his coworker Paula Abdul, 46.

“It’s already a big happy family,” Abdul said Tuesday at the American Idol season 8 auditions held in New York. “We are so happy to have her.”

In fact, DioGuardi has already had quality bonding time with all three judges, says Simon Cowell. “We had a picnic last night. I wore jammies and the girls wore negligees and we kind of broke the ice,” Cowell joked. “We had cake until two in the morning.”

Joking aside, DioGuardi says the judges have welcomed her with open arms–yes, even Simon. “You were nice to me,” DioGuardi said to Cowell on the red carpet about their initial meeting. “You were actually OK.”

[From People]

That was a throwaway comment that Simon meant as a joke, but those are the type of jokes that intimidate and tell “girls” where their place is at work and in Hollywood – even if Simon didn’t consciously mean anything by it. It figures that Simon would say something like that, and it’s pretty telling that big dawg Randy Jackson didn’t make an appearance in his fantasy meet and greet with the new judge.

DioGuardi is largely considered to be a sane counterbalance to Paula Abdul’s often slurry, sometimes incoherent comments on the judges’ panel. Abdul says she’s thrilled to have her, though, and that there is no competition there.

“It’s about time another girl joined,” Abdul told PEOPLE Monday at the U.S. Open opening night celebration in Flushing, N.Y. “More girl power.”

Abdul, 46, who has been an Idol judge for the past seven seasons, says DioGuardi’s songwriter and producer experience will bring a different mix to the table. “She’s going to be a little more different and more from the industry standpoint.”

This isn’t the first time the pop singer has worked with DioGuardi. The two wrote a song for Kylie Minogue called “Spinning Around.”

Despite initial reports of a dustup after Abdul told a Phoeniz, Ariz., radio station Monday, “I am concerned about the audience and their acceptance … time will tell,” both Abdul and DioGuardi say there are no hard feelings.

“Anybody with the right brain would say something like that,” DioGuardi told reporters yesterday.

But will adding another female judge take the spotlight away from Abdul? “No,” says the singer. “This is great for the show. I’ve been waiting for this. I really have and people will love her. She’s great!”

[From People]

Now that Simon is all focused on getting DioGuardi naked he’ll stop bugging the crap out of Paula while they’re shooting Idol. She probably considers another woman a buffer from Simon’s obnoxious taunting. No wonder she’s so happy to welcome her on.

Here are photos of AI introducing Kara DioGuardi at NYC tryouts at Chelsea Piers yesterday. Ryan Seacrest and Cowell’s hapless girlfriend, Terri Seymour, are also shown.

Credit: Janet Mayer / PR Photos

Megahit producer Timbaland hints at a rift with Britney in a new interview with MTV. He says he would work with her again,but only if she apologizes. He won’t say what happened, just that “She knows what she’s sorry about.”

He says Britney doesn’t have a comeback story yet, that she hasn’t really let enough people help her and has royally screwed herself by trying to go it alone. It sounds to me like she told him she didn’t need his help and wasn’t nice about it.

Now Timbo has even more advice to give her about getting her career back on track. “She needs a story,” he said. “She has no comeback story. That’s the problem. She has to have a team. She needs to come back with Justin doing records; [then we'd see headlines like,] ‘She went back to her ex and she’s making smashes.’ [But instead she got] so big-headed and [was] like, ‘Screw you, screw you, I don’t need nobody.’ ”

So is there any chance for Spears to rectify the situation and possibly work with Timberlake and Timbaland? Yes, says the super-producer — if she apologizes.

“She should humble herself and make a phone call and say, ‘I’m sorry.’ She knows what she’s sorry about,” Tim said. “She needs to say, ‘I was wrong,’ and it’ll definitely move forward. … That’s all she has to say.”

[MTV.com via WeSmirch]

That’s good of the guy to say he’ll work with her, but he knows that Britney will make him a lot of money so it’s not like it’s all about charity.

Meanwhile the American Idol judges say they want to help Britney too. Yesterday Simon was talking smack about her, but today they’re extending a hand to get some free publicity:

“We have decided we can bring Britney back,” the normally caustic Cowell confirmed. “We are serious. We plan to buy her underpants, get her bigger shorts to perform in and get her away from her stupid friends.”

[Fox News]

That’s nice that they’re not telling her to work out, and are just talking about covering up properly. Of course Cowell outlined his comeback program for Britney yesterday and it involved hitting the gym, so it sounds like he lightened up a little when giving Brit this public appeal that she’s never going to take.

Britney is said to have stayed out until 6am the night before the VMAs, not 4am as was previously reported. Those extra two hours of sleep wouldn’t have made her able to magically dance and lipsynch properly, though.

And in related unsurprising news, her abs were tan airbrushed on before her VMA performance. I find it hard to believe she even let someone airbrush them on, considering how over-confident she was in her appearance. I imagine her saying “Ma stomach looks gud. Don’t point that gun at me.” I was wondering how she looked so cut with a normal stomach, but it didn’t occur to me that her abs were painted on. Someone did a good job, unlike Britney.

Britney is shown outside her lawyer’s office yesterday, where she had a four hour meeting with K-Fed which was said to be about custody of their boys. Thanks to Splash News for these pictures.

I hate American Idol. Fortunately, the country I live in isn’t a fan either, so last year’s NZ Idol winner didn’t even get a recording contract, just a car. Which was probably more useful to them, since no one was going to buy that album anyway. Then all the rejects from the previous two series, from when NZ Idol way in its heyday, got together and fought it out for $50,000. Unfortunately it wasn’t a Gladiator-style fight.

Anyway, it seems American Idol might finally have sucked the talent out of the pool, and is scraping the mildew at the bottom, according to Ryan Seacrest.

TMZ cameras caught the “Idol” host before his jog outside the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in NYC on Sunday — sporting an iPod and an inconspicuous Ed Hardy hat. When asked about the upcoming season of the juggernaut that is “American Idol,” Ryan said they “weren’t great … for 20,000 people, we only found a few good ones.” Is that a change?

TMZ

Actually, the bad auditions are the best part, so maybe things are looking up for the show.

Another sign American Idol is on the way out – low ticket sales for its Idols Live shows.

Reports of attendance and gross receipts for the first 30 of the 57 shows scheduled for the tour, as recorded by Billboard Boxscore, show this year’s crop of 10 Idol finalists is falling short of last year’s concert performance.

No sellouts were reported for the first 30 shows, and only one topped the 93% of capacity mark. (That was the show in Glendale, Ariz., Idol winner Jordin Sparks’ home turf.) Of the 2006 tour’s first 30 shows, 17 were sellouts and another 10 exceeded 93% of capacity.

Nearly half (14) of the shows were below 60% of capacity. (Lowest was 38.9% in Birmingham, Ala., hometown of 2006 winner Taylor Hicks and 2003 champ Ruben Studdard.) In 2006, the lowest-capacity figure in the first 30 shows was 89.3%.

The 2006 tour was the most successful to date, but 2005′s was a lot healthier than the current version. Of the first 29 dates of 2005, 11 were sellouts and four more topped 93%.

USA Today

What will happen if the whole enterprise shuts down? How will record companies find talent? What will Paula Abdul do for a living?