A new judge for “American Idol”
When I first heard that “American Idol” producers wanted Howard Stern to replace Simon Cowell, I thought “That can’t be true. Once I found out the truth, I thought to myself, “Howard Stern would never do something like that”. Howard Stern is the man who left mainstream radio for satellite radio because he felt he was censored too much.
Howard Stern, however, has already confirmed that Fox is indeed trying to persuade him to take the position. More interestingly, it just might work. So what would it take for a guy to go from having the freedom to say whatever he wants to being on a Fox program – neverending payroll loans ^(http://www.indiefilmhouse.com/goto/http://personalmoneystore.com/cash-advance/payroll-loans/)?
Tons of money in salary
Following his usual routine, Howard Stern isn’t being discreet about exactly the salary he’d like “American Idol” to pay him. He would like something similar to the $ 100 million a year he made from his radio show contract. A year of “American Idol”, of course, does not equal a year of work. Stern said on his show:
“$100 million to judge a karaoke contest? Yeah, I think I would do that show for $100 million,” Stern said. “It would be the best thing that happened to me. What a cush job: $100 million for four months. Who wouldn’t take that?”
Howard Stern also said he believes he is the best person for the job. However, if producers actually pay that much for Howard Stern, they might have to up the salaries of the other judges in order to avoid another Paula-Abdul-style dispute.
Thoughts on Howard Stern replacing Simon Cowell
It is true that Howard Stern will be able to be just as feisty of a judge as Simon Cowell. Yet, I can’t believe “American Idol” would agree to pay Howard Stern that much for his first appearance on the show. And I can’t picture Stern being on Fox or any kind of television program that’s deemed “a family show”.
On the other hand, the newest “American Idol” judge, Ellen DeGeneres, is not so thrilled. The Chicago Sun-Times writes that “Ellen has told just about anyone who will listen that she’s totally opposed to the [Howard Stern] idea.”