Katy Perry has officially been named the first judge on American Idol's revival.

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ABC has announced the Grammy-award winning pop icon will serve as a Season 16 American Idol judge when the reality singing competition is revived in early 2018. 

"I am honored and thrilled to be the first judge bringing back the American Idol tradition of making dreams come true for incredible talents with authentic personalities and real stories," Perry said in a statement.

"I'm always listening to new music, and love discovering diamonds in the rough -- from mentoring young artists on my label, or highlighting new artists on my tours, I want to bring it back to the music."

Perry rose to fame in 2008 with the release of her singles "I Kissed a Girl" and "Hot n Cold." She has garnered 12 Grammy nominations, five American Music Awards, 14 People's Choice Awards, and more.

Perry was also named Billboard Magazine's 2012 "Woman of the Year' and has sold over 100 million records throughout her career.

"We are thrilled to be ushering in this new era of American Idol with Katy leading the charge," ABC Entertainment President Channing Dungey added.

"Her incredible accolades speak for themselves. We are so lucky to have this strong and talented woman help inspire and guide the next crop of artists as they pursue their dreams."

Reports Perry was in talks with American Idol producers to join the show surfaced earlier this week.

Perry previously appeared as a guest judge on Season 9 of American Idol when she filled in for Paula Abdul.

Perry has never fully committed to any reality singing competition before and, according to The Hollywood Reporter, she had passed on an offer to join the U.S. version of The X Factor as well as multiple prior $10-plus million salary offers to join The Voice.

Idol reportedly set its sights on Perry after the plan to have Season 1 American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson serve as a judge fell through since she joined The Voice for Season 14 in Spring 2018.

NBC announced Clarkson had signed a deal with The Voice less than a week after ABC publicly confirmed it had picked up American Idol's revival and only a couple of days after rumors circulated Clarkson had been ABC's top choice for an Idol judge.

To ABC's likely dismay, The Voice had also managed to win over Jennifer Hudson, a third-season Idol finalist, who will be serving as a coach for Season 13 this fall with Adam Levine, Blake Shelton and Miley Cyrus.

The other American Idol revival judges will be announced by ABC at a later date, however, Us Weekly recently reported Chris Daughtry has already been chosen as another judge.

Daughtry competed on American Idol's fifth season in 2006, and he finished in fourth place. That year, Taylor Hicks was named the winner and Katharine McPhee finished as the runner-up.

But Daughtry went on to find great success in the rock world. The 37-year-old "It's Not Over" singer has sold the third most records of any contestant that has ever competed on American Idol, which previously aired 15 seasons on Fox although ABC will stage its comeback.

ABC announced earlier this month it had picked up American Idol after Fox had aired the alleged final episode of the ground-breaking series in April 2016.

Trent Harmon was crowned the winner of American Idol's fifteenth season, which was dubbed the series' "farewell season."

Disney executive Ben Sherwood had said in a May 9 statement: "Idol is an entertainment icon, and now it will air where it belongs, in ABC's lineup of addictive fan favorites alongside Dancing with the Stars and The Bachelor. America, get ready for the return of a bigger, bolder and better-than-ever Idol."

Fox initially pulled the plug on Idol because it became too expensive to produce with stars like Jennifer Lopez, Keith Urban and Steven Tyler on the judging panel as well as Ryan Seacrest serving as host.

Perry, however, won't come cheap, and neither would Daughtry and Ryan Seacrest's potential involvement.

Seacrest hosted all previous 15 seasons of American Idol and is known to be the heart of the reality singing competition.

Despite his busy career now that he's co-hosting Live with Kelly and Ryan alongside Kelly Ripa in New York City, TMZ has claimed it's "almost certain" he'll be coming back to Idol, which is filmed in Los Angeles.


About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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