Music, Reality Show | featured news

Jennifer Lopez is the second judge in two days to say she's leaving "American Idol." Lopez will not be back for a third year on television's top-rated but struggling show, her representative, Mark Young, said Friday. Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler announced Thursday he was exiting. That means the "Idol" panel is down to one, original judge Randy Jackson, and there are reports that he may take a different role when the Fox show returns next January.

Steven Tyler, after just two seasons as the front man -- or one of 'em -- for the "American Idol" judging panel, said Thursday that he's leaving the show... The Aerosmith singer says it's time to return to the band.

Move over Jennifer Lopez, a veteran singing diva is joining the ranks of judges on reality TV: Gladys Knight. BET's sister network Centric announced Wednesday that Knight will work as the "lead judge" on "Apollo Live." The new series is a singing competition at New York's famed Apollo Theater and puts a new spin on the venue's popular "Amateur Night" showcase. It will debut in the fall.

"American Idol" Season 5 winner Taylor Hicks is getting his own short-term show on the Las Vegas Strip.

News broke yesterday that Britney Spears was in final talks to join Simon Cowell on Fox's "The X Factor" as a new judge for Season 2, but now reports are swirling that she's rejected their initial $10 million offer. So the question is: How much is Fox going to have to pony up? Try $20 million.

How many singing competition shows can America watch each week? That’s the question being asked now that NBC’s “The Voice” has started its second season with a bang, while Fox’s long-running “American Idol” has seen its ratings decline. “It’s still very early on for ‘The Voice,' but they got a great start coming out of the Super Bowl with 37.6 million viewers,” media analyst Brad Adgate of Horizon Media told Fox411.com. “The most watched ‘American Idol’ was the finale between Clay Aiken and Ruben Studdard in 2003, with a little over 38 million viewers.”

Nick Cannon is spending the first week of the new year in the hospital, with wife Mariah Carey by his side. Carey tweeted that Cannon is suffering from "mild kidney failure." His representative confirmed Cannon's hospitalization. He is in Aspen, Colo., where he and Carey were vacationing.

The powerful 19-year-old vocalist from Sunrise, Fla., won the Fox talent competition Thursday over soulful 30-year-old singer Josh Krajcik of Wooster, Ohio. Amaro, who was mentored by judge Simon Cowell and was at one point eliminated from the contest, was awarded the grand prize: a $5 million recording contract and a starring role in a Pepsi commercial. "Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God," Amaro repeated after host Steve Jones announced her as the winner.

After a grueling first night of X Factor Boot Hollywood Camp Week, Night 2 opens with host Steve Jones, who we’ve learned from new “X Factor” photos is very tall, informing us we’re in for more groups of hopefuls who still have to perform for the judges. And, in case we’ve forgotten: the finalists picked tonight will be divided into four groups: boys, girls, groups, and “Over 30s,” and each group will head to the home of one judge, where they will live while the judge mentors them and decides which of them makes it to the live competition.

And this season's winner of "America's Got Talent" is ... Landau Eugene Murphy Jr. Just as most of us had predicted, the corn-rowed crooner with a knack for Sinatra carried the day, nabbing not only bragging rights -- though he doesn't really seem the type to brag -- but also, as we were frequently reminded, $1 million and a stint headlining a show in Las Vegas.