While her pop star-frenemy Taylor Swift has gone conspicuously quiet, Katy Perry is about to be everywhere. Her new album, Witness, comes out on June 9, and the first two singles, “Chained To The Rhythm” and “Bon Appétit,” both cracked the Billboard 200. Perry is also going on a nationwide tour that lasts until 2018. But if you’re a recluse who doesn’t listen to the radio, go on YouTube, or drive anywhere, you can still see the “Roar” singer on television.
ABC announced on Tuesday that Perry has joined the American Idol reboot as a judge. No other onscreen talent, not even the original A Ryan Seacrest Type, Ryan Seacrest, has signed up yet. “I am honored and thrilled to be the first judge bringing back the American Idol tradition of making dreams come true for incredible talents with authentic personalities and real stories,” she said in a statement. “I’m always listening to new music, and love discovering diamonds in the rough -– from mentoring young artists on my label, or highlighting new artists on my tours, I want to bring it back to the music.”
Perry isn’t the show’s first celebrity judge — Jennifer Lopez, Mariah Carey, Nicki Minaj, and Keith Urban have all sat alongside Randy Jackson — but she’s probably Idol‘s biggest “get.” The singing competition series, which ran for 15 seasons in its original iteration on Fox, needs to prove it’s still relevant after ratings tanked in later years. Perry, who still has more followers than anyone on Twitter, provides immediate popularity — I know I’ll be watching the first time she has to judge some poor contestant covering T-Swift.
