When you think of “American Idol,” you automatically think of real Randy Jackson, air-headed Paula Adbul and blunt Simon Cowell. But with all the changing of the judging table, will “American Idol,” one of the most well-known reality shows of this generation, really be the same?

“American Idol” seems to keep the judging panel the same year after year, which was working for them. “Idol” peaked in the sixth season when a whopping 36 million viewers tuned in to watch the show.

During the show’s eighth season, the producers decided to cut Paula Abdul and to add to the judging table songwriter Kara DioGuardi. With the addition of DioGuardi, the show’s ratings declined. Things got even worse for Idol in season nine when  Ellen DeGeneres joined the panel. The ratings for this season were at the show’s lowest since 2004. Is this a sign that viewers aren’t adjusting well to the constant changing of the judging panel?

This season has a mostly new judging panel, which still includes Randy Jackson but  unexpectedly adds  Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler.
But will this change be beneficial?   “American Idol” is getting played out. I believe this season will be its last. A decade of the same show seems like it is surely enough. Taking viewers on a roller coaster of changes can sometimes leave viewers feeling  sick of all these changes.

Multiple shows copied the idea of having someone to “keep it real” like Jackson, someone to make you feel cheerful like Adbul, and someone to nitpick your performance like Cowell. The combination of these three was genius. They complemented each other’s personalities. The viewer always found comic relief in Cowell’s snooty comments toward Adbul, and Randy’s famous saying: “Yo dawg, that was hot.”

But will these two new judges be able to fill the shoes of the original judges? To put it simply, no. It is not easy to find the chemistry these three judges had together, especially with Simon Cowell gone, as everyone seems to have a love-hate relationship with him. He always knows exactly what to say to either upset the whole audience or have the whole crowd on their feet. The fact that he left the show was a devistating blow to all “Idol” fans.

There is nothing that can compare to the original trio of judges. This new season of “Idol” should be interesting; maybe the new combo will be a hit, but it will probably be a miss.