American Idol Has New Judging Panel For Season 13

The rumors have been out there for a couple of weeks about who will be on the next judging panel for American Idol, this morning Fox confirms those rumors by announcing the new judging panel for season 13 of the singing competition reality show.

In a statement released by Fox, Keith Urban will remain as a judge on the show and will be joined by Jennifer Lopez, who is rejoining the show, and Harry Connick Jr. Randy Jackson will be joining the show, after announcing he was quitting earlier this summer, as the show's mentor to the talent, replacing Jimmy Iovine. The only constant thing in the shows 12 year history is its host, Ryan Seacrest will be returning to emcee the show.

As expected, reactions from the new panel are upbeat and positive. Jennifer Lopez tweeted,

Harry Connick, Jr. tweeted,

While Keith Urban said,

I think this season of Idol is gonna be a blast. New team, new energy and a whole new field of artists to be discovered and given a chance!"

American Idol has a new cast of producers in addition to the judging panel, so we should expect some changes to the shows format when it debuts in January. One of the new changes is already on display, the show's logo and branding are different, the logo will incorporate the Roman numerals for thirteen in it. Auditions for the next season wrapped up last week in North Carolina.