American Idol (season 10) American Idol (season 10) The tenth season of "American Idol" premiered on January 19, 2011 and concluded on May 25, 2011, on the Fox television network. The show underwent a number of changes from the ninth season, including the return of Nigel Lythgoe as executive producer. Randy Jackson returned as judge for his tenth season while Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler joined the judging panel following the departures of Simon Cowell, Kara DioGuardi and Ellen DeGeneres. Interscope Records, which is part of Universal Music Group, replaced Sony Music Entertainment as "Idol"s official partner record label. Interscope's Chairman Jimmy Iovine, a
Randy Jackson on "American Idol" on the internet radio station Artist Underground. Starting in 2002, Jackson was one of the panel judges on the Fox Network reality television series "American Idol", along with Paula Abdul (2002–2009), Simon Cowell (2002–2010), Kara DioGuardi (2009–2010), Ellen DeGeneres (2010), Jennifer Lopez (2011–2012), Steven Tyler (2011–2012), Nicki Minaj (2013), Mariah Carey (2013) and Keith Urban (2013). As a result of Cowell's departure, Jackson was left as the sole original judge on "American Idol". His role was originally going to be reduced to that of a mentor, so the 2013 season would have all new judges, but it