Fox just issued a statement confirming that Kara DioGuardi won’t be returning to American Idol next season. News comes as Jennifer Lopez is finalizing a deal to join the Fox series and amid speculation that Idol might be reverting to the original three-judge format. Also closing in on a deal for the reality series is Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler. And executive producer Nigel Lythgoe said last weekend he’s still trying to land Elton John. So Randy Jackson will be the only returning panelist  after Simon Cowell, Ellen DeGeneres, and now DioGuardi have gone.
Kara DioGuardi is stepping down from her role as a judge on AMERICAN IDOL. DioGuardi joined AMERICAN IDOL as a judge in the series’

Michael Ferrel, the new CEO of the American Idol producer, says there are ‘

Due to her “increasing demands” while negotiating a deal, Jennifer Lopez is out of the running to become a judge on American Idol, according to People.com. …read full story

(HMG) – There have been a number of big names from the entertainment field tossed around as potential new judges on “American Idol,” to replace Simon Cowell. Nigel Lythgoe’s return to ‘

Photo Credit: Bauer-Griffin
These were snapped yesterday at the Santa Monica Pier in Cali.

We featured Jayma back in Jan, ’09, so we figured we’d put her through the Bastardly Grinder once again. Here’s more about her:

Jayma Suzette Mays (born July 16, 1979) is an American television and film actress, and singer. Mays plays mysophobic guidance counselor Emma Pillsbury on the American TV show Glee. [Source]

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(HMG) – Wow, the speculation on who will become the new American Idol judges is in high gear.  While recent reports have Elton John, Usher and Paula Abdul, Justin Timberlake, Jessica Simpson, Chris Isaak, Harry Connick Jr.  among celebrity music industry folks under consideration for American Idol, as we mentioned previously, Nigel [...]

Well this is an interesting development. Ellen DeGeneres has decided to leave American Idol. She released the following statement:”A couple months ago, I let FOX and the American Idol producers know that this didn’t feel like the right fit for me,” …read full story

Chris Isaak is one of the top contenders to replace Simon Cowell on this season’s American Idol! …read full story

[HMG] – We reported two weeks ago that America’s Got Talent judge Piers Morgan is reportedly set to take over the chair when Larry King leaves CNN later this year. So it comes as no surprise that American Idol guru, Simon Cowell was involved.
“Piers was under contract to us on ‘America’s Got Talent,’ so he [...]

FRIDAY PM/SATURDAY AM UPDATE: This is shaping up as one of those memorable box office weekends because of the big summer movies so overperforming and underperforming that Hollywood will be talking about it for days. (I just hope Deadline can keep up with the comments because we’re already behind monitoring all of them!) Here’s the Top 10 (numbers refined in the AM):
1. More good news for Pixar and Disney. As expected, Toy Story 3 tops the North American box office for the 2nd straight week. Thanks to higher 3D ticket prices and a wide release into 4,028 theaters, the toon with massive appeal did $18.1M Friday, only a 56% drop following its [...]