American Idol Judge Looking Forward To Spending Time With Ellen

Randy Jackson

RockStar Weekly had the pleasure of being part of the conference call with Randy Jackson one of the judges from the hit TV show American Idol. Jackson, a Grammy Award-winning producer, is a 20-year music industry veteran. He started out playing bass guitar at age 13, and got his big break when he joined the band Journey. He spent eight years as vice president of A&R at Columbia Records and four years as senior vice president of A&R at MCA Records.

Jackson has recorded, toured and performed with Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, NSYNC, Madonna, Elton John and Destiny’s Child. He has worked on more than 1,000 gold and multi-platinum albums, and his contributions have helped to sell more than 200 million albums worldwide. With his talent, expertise and experience, Jackson is one of today’s most highly regarded music industry experts.

He told RockStar Weekly in a conference call that he is sad to see co-judge Paula Abdul leave,but is excited to have his good friend Ellen DeGeneres on board as a judge.

"She'll give the expertise from being a fellow entertainer that’s hugely successful where all of these kids want to go. They want to be entertainers, as well as great singers. I think she’ll give that lay person at home view. That somebody sitting there saying I know about entertaining and this, but you guys may think these vocals aren’t good. But I actually thought it was really good. So I think she will give the home viewer a real voice to be on the judge’s panel."

Ellen was not a judge during the auditions on the road , but will join the crew when the show reaches Hollywood. In her place, American Idol features guest judges, including Victoria Beckham, Mary J. Blige, Kristin Chenoweth, Neil Patrick Harris, Joe Jonas, Avril Lavigne,Katy Perry, and Shania Twain.

Randy, after all these years of listening to these auditions the first few weeks, are you growing more inpatient with the contestants who obviously can’t sing but just want their 15 minutes?

So can you just tell us a little about working with Ellen and what that’s been like, maybe give us an anecdote about how her and Simon are getting along.

How was it working with Victoria Beckham?

With all the…guest judges you just referenced, obviously Paula is not going to be among them. What do you miss most about working with her?

I saw a quote in Entertainment Weekly that Ellen was saying that if Simon ever left the show that she would be out, too. I know there are a lot of rumors going around. What’s your take on the rumors about Simon possibly leaving after this season?

Right, and I know you were saying that you loved working with Paula. There’s also talk that Paula might be up for a spot on the U.S. X Factor, one of Simon’s other shows. Would you like to see her back in her judging seat for that?

So we’ve seen on the cover of Entertainment Weekly and Wall Street Journal today that Ellen is calling Simon mean, which is a big surprise. Everyone is calling him mean. But is this going to be new? Is this going to keep going where everyone is calling him mean again? Is he really mean or is he just a big teddy bear behind the scenes? Is this going to be ongoing?

Are they going to have the same relationship and dynamic, do you think, as he and Paula did? Or do you think it’s going to be a little bit different?

Why don’t you tell us a little bit about the kind of contestants so far? Have there been any trends, and what are you eying? I know that you recently were quoted as saying you really hope a girl wins this year. Are there a lot of promising women?

So what kind of musical trend are you seeing? Are there people who are really influenced by Lady Gaga or are they singer/songwriter types?

Talk to us about some of the guest judges that will be on the show this year, specifically Shania, Neil Patrick, Katy, Joe Jonas, what were their strengths as judges?

Getting a little bit more specific, when you say Katy and Avril were different, I’m sure they were different than, say, like Neil Patrick’s style. In one or two words, how would you describe their difference?

Can you just talk a little, was there a particular city that stuck out for you as being just a real hot bed, gave out a lot of golden tickets or conversely one that was maybe was a little thin on the ….?

You mentioned Paula being a friend and the whole Simon speculation stuff. Has that been a distraction at all to you folks as you went through these cities and now even when we’re still talking about Simon?

I wanted to follow up a little bit on the fact that you said Dallas was one of the standout cities. Can you describe some of the people that you saw or why it stands out in your mind?

So when you look back on all your seasons on the show when it rolls around again to start the audition process, do you have to psych yourself up, like here we go again? Or is it always new enough that it’s exciting again?

You were just talking about Boston. I wanted to press you on that if I can get a sense of what we’re going to see in that premiere in Boston here.

Does that mean we’ll see a lot of golden tickets?

So speaking of contestants, how about Adam Lambert and what he has gone on to do, what did you think of his AMA performance and how he’s eclipsed your winner, Kris Allen, there?

Who do you think we’ll be seeing more from in the future from that bunch?

I wanted to get a little more detail about Mary J. Blige. You mentioned the fear factor there. Did you really get a sense, was she really that tough on the contestants or did she just—

It’s interesting, you’re only seeing a small sliver of the people who actually try out. Do you think the producers sometimes just mess with you guys by bringing in ten bad singers in a row just to drive you guys crazy?

Are there any specific themes you’re looking forward to with the new season, any crossover with the kids from Glee or anything crazy like that?

Is there anything that you guys have set as parameters yet or does that go—

Let me ask you a question about someone like a Chris Daughtry, an Adam Lambert and a Carrie Underwood that really becomes a big household name. How early in the competition do you feel like you see them as being standout performers?

I know we’ve been talking a lot about Ellen, but I think one of the concerns that I think a lot of the harder core fans have is what she’s going to bring to the show, actually, as a judge because you obviously have the experience of being a musician. Simon has been in the industry. Kara is songwriter. But what do you think specifically Ellen is going to actually bring to the show?

As the TV ads are showing right now, a number of Idol’s past contestants and winners have really in a short amount of time achieved remarkable, remarkable things. I was watching television with my husband and he wondered out loud whether because some of them are from really small towns, whether these people would have eventually found fame. Or is American Idol is that bottle that captured that lightning at that moment? What is your take on that?

I have a question. This is American Idol’s ninth season now. Its popularity has just been unwavering year after year. But do you think it’s something that can fade or do you see an end to it at least for you at some point?

We’ve learned that Carrie looks for artistry and Simon doesn’t want a karaoke or cheesy nightclub act, but what are you personally looking for in a performance?

By Avril Savoie
RockStar Weekly