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Uh, Buh-Bye. American Idol’s Randy Jackson Calls it Quits After 12 Years

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Uh, Buh-Bye. American Idol’s Randy Jackson Calls it Quits After 12 Years

Over the last few years, according to the ratings, the once number one television show, American Idol, has fallen to the wayside. Since many networks have successfully created Idol-like spinoffs, viewers have lost interest in the singing contest itself but watch the audition shows for kicks and giggles. This is a hiccup the flailing show has yet to bounce back from and in attempt to revamp the show’s viewership and ratings, the last standing original judge, Randy Jackson, has called it quits after a 12-year run.

After more than a decade as a judge on reality singing competition American Idol, Randy Jackson is quitting the show.

The longtime judge confirmed his departure on Thursday, stating:

‘Yo! Yo! Yo! To put all of the speculation to the rest, after 12 years of judging on American Idol I have decided it is time to leave after this season,’ he said.

‘I am very proud of how we forever changed television and the music industry,’ said Jackson. ‘It’s been a life changing opportunity but I am looking forward to focusing on my company Dream Merchant 21 and other business ventures.’

Idol has seen a steady rotation of judges in recent years, but Jackson is the only original judge to have stayed the course with the series.

‘There’s always been chaos with American Idol, but this year it’s been more than ever,’ a source told E!.

Despite recent reports, Fox also isn’t thinking of bringing former judge Jennifer Lopez back onboard to save the flailing show.

Fox Broadcasting chairman Kevin Reilly has been tasked with ‘fixing Idol,’ said the source, and he plans to revamp the show’s format.

It will be completely redesigned and the tribute nights will be done away with.

Longtime producer Nigel Lythgoe, who has been with the show from the beginning, is also expected to be replaced.

The 10-year-old Fox show has seen its popularity wane in recent years.

Idol also dropped 15 percent among the 18- to 49-year-old demographic attractive to advertisers, according to the New York Daily News.

In another bad sign, the coveted adult audience last month turned into a couple of repeats of The Big Bang Theory more than an original airing on Thursday of American Idol, according to a report in Entertainment Weekly.

The Fox singing show peaked in 2006’s season five when Taylor Hicks was named American Idol and the season finale drew a whopping 36.4 million viewers.

Two same-week editions of NBC’s The Voice and ABC’s Dancing With The Stars last month drew larger audiences than Idol.

The show enjoyed its most success with its original panel of three judges that included the acerbic Simon Cowell, pop singer Paula Abdul and music manager Randy Jackson.