Luke Bryan Is Officially ‘In’ as ‘American Idol’ Judge
Are the rumors true? According to a new report, yes — Luke Bryan has officially signed on to fill one of the judges' seats on the American Idol reboot, Variety reports.
The country star will join pop superstar Katy Perry, whom Fox previouly confirmed as a judge on the singing show, leaving one seat yet to be filled. The announcement comes one week before auditions are set to begin and follows a report from TMZ stating that Bryan had been offered a deal in early September.
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ABC still has one seat left to fill, and while rumors swirled that Lionel Richie and Charlie Puth were asked to judge, neither one will be joining the panel. Bryan's country music peers Keith Urban — who was a judge on the show from 2013 until its series finale in 2016 — and Season 4 winner Carrie Underwood were also reportedly in talks to join the show.
“There’s a lot of moving parts. That’s a good political answer, isn’t it?” Urban told CMT this summer. “But it’s also quite true of the state of it right now. There’s a lot of moving parts in everybody’s camps. We’ll see what happens.”
Ryan Seacrest will return as host when the American Idol revival launches in March of 2018. He's set to earn around $15 million for the gig, with Perry making $25 million. Bryan is a prime candidate for the judges position, scoring 17 No. 1 singles on Billboard's Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay charts combined, along with multiple chart-topping albums.
Bryan was recenty named as one of the honorees for the 2017 CMT Artists of the Year alongside Jason Aldean, Florida Georgia Line, Chris Stapleton and Urban.
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