American Idol (season 13) director after having left at the end of the ninth season to go to "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno". In August 2013, Jennifer Lopez's boyfriend Casper Smart stated Lopez would be returning as an "American Idol" judge. On August 22, 2013, it was reported that Jimmy Iovine would not return as the in-house mentor for this season, but he is to be replaced by former judge Randy Jackson. On August 30, 2013, "The Hollywood Reporter" wrote that Harry Connick, Jr. signed a deal to join the panel as the third judge and that Simon Fuller held a party the
Pop Idol the world, including original "Pop Idol" winner Will Young, "American Idol" winner Kelly Clarkson and "Australian Idol" winner Guy Sebastian, competed in a one-off competition, complete with a large judging panel featuring one judge from each country (Simon Cowell officially representing "American Idol", with Pete Waterman the "official" UK judge). The surprise winner was Norway's Kurt Nilsen, who proceeded to minor UK chart success. Cowell was strongly critical of "World Idol", and it is highly unlikely to be staged again. After the second series of "Pop Idol", ITV put the show on indefinite hiatus when in April 2004 judge and