American country singer and songwriter Luke Bryan is being eyed as one of the judges of the newest season of “American Idol.” The male singer has received an offer, but has not responded yet allegedly because of money-related issues, TMZ reported.
According to the entertainment website, Bryan might join the other rumored judges such as Charlie Puth, Keith Urban and Katy Perry. The latter recently graced the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards as the host of the awards show.
Talent fee issues
Producers have reportedly reached out to the country singer, but issues about the talent fees have been raised.
“American Idol” is allegedly giving Perry $25 million as talent fee, according to Blasting News.
TMZ also noted that host Ryan Seacrest is getting $15 million for doing the show. The next pay scale for the highest paid talent is at $6 million. Bryan is also an in-demand singer in the field of country music, and if he will agree to the offer, he just deserves as much as the other judges will have.
Sources told the entertainment website that the way around budget issues is to provide these talents such as Bryan with deals that are high in value, but will not affect the “American Idol” budget in a negative way. Producers have looked at him as the second judge in the line-up.
Keith Urban opens up
Keith Urban has recently broken his silence on his possible return to the show, or his possible exit.
He has graced the reality singing competition as one of the judges for four seasons, but there is no confirmation yet as to whether he is coming back or not.
Urban told Lehigh Valley Music that he is thankful for the opportunity if he will be joining the judging panel for the next season. However, he revealed that he has not yet decided if he will accept the offer.
“There’s been talk about it, yeah, but I’m not quite sure. There's a lot of, an enormous amount of moving parts on everybody’s side, I think, right now,” he said in the interview. He is currently working on a recent album, and his schedule is busy for his tour.
Urban is also a country singer like Bryan, but hails from Australia.
He has previously joined Jennifer Lopez and Randy Jackson on the “American Idol” panel.
The hit reality singing show is coming back on FOX for another season, after bidding goodbye in 2016. The show has produced several artists such as Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Kris Allen, and Jessica Sanchez. Information about the auditions will be released in the next weeks.
