American Idol

I haven't watched American Idol since Jordin Sparks beat out Blake Lewis for the title in season six. Idol had been an okay show up until then, and occasionally gave us the occasional talented artists (Lewis, Taylor Hicks, Elliott Yamin), but it had grown repetitive and I simply didn't have time to watch it anymore.

From what I've read, the show has continued to remain mostly repetitive, but with a big difference: the changing cast of judges. First, they brought in Kara DioGuardi for last year's show, and then they booted Paula from behind the table, replacing her with television personality Ellen DeGeneres. Now, Simon is slated to leave after his contract expires to create another one of these terrible behemoths for FOX, which has been trying to wipe out all its good scripted programs for the past several years and replace them with reality television. Cowell's The X-Factor is set to premiere sometime within the next year.

So who replaces Simon, the most iconic character to ever come from American Idol? That's a tough question, but FOX thinks that its found the answer in radio personality Howard Stern, one of the few people that could be more extreme of a judge than Simon is. "Idol bosses think he'd be even nastier than Simon," the New York Post claims. "They know he would be great TV and would clash with the other judges such as Ellen DeGeneres and the contestants. Idol will do what it takes to sign him." Idol will need someone extreme like Stern, whose radio contract with Sirius XM expires in 2011, to keep the ratings that will inevitably sink once Cowell departs.

Does that mean Stern will take the deal? Maybe not. "I was approached by a major TV network to take over a TV show and leave here and do that next year -- and I did turn it down ... I'm not even sure if I want to be working. I'm waiting to see what happens," Stern subtlety commented on his show.

How do you think this will go? Will you watch a Simon-free, Stern-ful Idol? Or will you be moving to the X-Factor next year?