American Duos musical number, only to have Nigel, no longer having to force them through the competition, calling it one of the worst performances he ever saw. Star James Roday, who plays Shawn Spencer, co-wrote this episode. It is a send up of "American Idol", and Tim Curry plays the Simon Cowell-esque British judge Nigel St. Nigel. Gina Gershon plays Emilina Saffron, who is a caricature of Paula Abdul. In the episode, Gus says (of Randy Jackson), "That guy's not black, he's Latino. There's a difference," comparing Jackson and the third "Duos" judge, Zapato. According to Roday, "American Duos" has the highest
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