American Idol (season 12) American Idol (season 12) The twelfth season of "American Idol" premiered on January 16, 2013, as part of the mid-season of the 2012–13 network television season. Ryan Seacrest returned to host. Randy Jackson returned for his twelfth season as judge and was joined by new judges Mariah Carey, Nicki Minaj and Keith Urban, who replaced Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler. The season was the third to have four judges, after the eighth and ninth seasons. It was also the first season in the show's history where all the finalists of one gender (male) were eliminated before any finalists of the
David Jackson (judge) David Jackson (judge) The Honourable Justice David Jackson is a Judge in the Supreme Court of Queensland which is the highest ranking court in the Australian State of Queensland. He was appointed to the Supreme Court of Queensland on 8 October 2012. Jackson was called to the Queensland Bar in 1977 and appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1990. Jackson now sits on the Commercial List of the Supreme Court of Queensland. In August 2014 he was appointed as Chair of the Queensland Law Reform Commission. The appointment of Jackson as a judge was controversial as he was, and is still currently,