American Idol is a dream for many and a reality for few. Over the years we have seen drastic changes in the shows ratings, contestants, and most recently the judges’ panel. American Idol first began twelve seasons ago, with the most infamous judges’ panel filled with Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, and Randy Jackson.

Ratings have been drastically dropping, according to www.huffingtonpost.com. This significant drop in ratings was seen when just last season there was a whopping 21.5 million viewers tuned in for the finale, and this year there were only 14.3 million viewers.

Met with much success its first few season, American Idol was one of the hottest shows on television. However, we have recently seen a decline over the last few seasons. The show started with the three classic judges Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, and Randy Jackson. According to washingtonpost.com season five came with a brand new fourth judge, Kara DioGuardi. Also, according to washingtonpost.com, season nine introduced  new judge Ellen Degeneres. In 2010, season ten started up with new judges Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler. Most recently the judges panel has been filled with Randy Jackson, Keith Urban, Mariah Carey, and Nicki Minaj. The new judges panel hasn’t been so successful, so the show producers find themselves looking for yet again a new panel of judges.

They have finally settled on their newest judge Jennifer Hudson, who is also  expected to join the panel this winter, and an alumni of the show.. Much controversy surrounds this because many agree that she should not be a judge on the show that started her.

According to americanidol.com, Jennifer Hudson began her Idol journey at the age of 22, on season three. Hudson didn’t win the show, but met much success after her debut in the movie DreamGirls. From there her career skyrocketed, and she is most currently known as the famous face of Weight Watchers.

Junior Rachel Tripp said that she feels that Hudson should not be a judge,  “Because she knows the experience and it couldn’t be fair because she could provide insight that other judges couldn’t.” This brings up the point that having Hudson on the judges panel could provide for an unfair advantage. She could tell contestants tips or tricks that could provide some with an edge that would not be fair.
Another reason why Jennifer Hudson is not qualified to be an American Idol judge is because this is the show that gave birth to her career. Jennifer Hudson started her career on this show, and she should simply leave it at that. You should never go back home again to the place that made you. Not to mention, Hudson does not nearly have the same amount of experience and time in the industry that previous judges have had. Only having been in the spotlight for around 10 years compared to the whopping 30 years of Abdul, Hudson cannot have nearly enough wisdom to mentor contestants nearly her own age.

Junior Anna Nielsen said Hudson should not be a judge because, “she doesn’t know how to evaluate people to make them good singers.” Jennifer Hudson does not have nearly the same amount of experience in branding and finding the right singer as previous judges on the panel had.

It looks like this winter will be a new experience for not only Hudson, but for Idol as a show. Be sure to tune in to see how season 13 will turn out.