ABC announced at Tuesday’s upfront presentation that Katy Perry will join “American Idol.” The reboot of the highly successful singing competition show has assigned Perry as its first judge. According to The Hollywood Reporter, ABC is being highly selective when it comes to picking judges for the show. Although picking top tier talent was Fox’s strategy as years went by, it proved to be financially straining to the show’s longevity. But ABC has made it clear that they will not lessen the talent selection for the sake of cost. “What you can’t do is come back as bargain-basement Idol,” ABC reality chief Robert Mills recently told The Hollywood Reporter. “We’re going to make sure the talent is right, and we’ll do what we have to [do to] make it bigger and better than ever.” Perry is a megastar and what other judges will accompany her are yet to be announced. As for the host of “American Idol,” Ryan Seacrest is in talks to return even though he is now a full-time co-host alongside Kelly Ripa. American Idol is being produced for ABC by FremantleMedia and Core Media Group. Previous Idol executive producer Trish Kinane is returning as showrunner. In other Katy Perry news… The pop star is currently on a promo run for her forthcoming album, Witness. This is Perry’s fourth album and it will be released on June 9. She’s already released two singles from the project, “Chained to the Rhythm” (featuring Skip Marley) an “Bon Appetit” (featuring Migos). Subsequently, Perry has announced her upcoming tour dates for the North American leg. ‘Witness: The Tour’ will kick off on Sept. 7 at the Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio, and run through a Dec. 20 show at American Airlines Arena in Miami. For more information about the tour, visit www.katyperry.com.
