We knew Steven Tyler was under a multi-year contract, and Randy Jackson has already told the media he would be back, and we all knew Ryan Seacrest wasn't going anywhere.
The only hold-out seemed to be Jennifer Lopez.
She had recently told reporters that she was “on the fence” about returning for season 11 and had not made up her mind yet saying,
"I had an amazing time doing it and I loved it, but I have a lot of other things happening, and it's going to come down to making a choice of really what I want to do for the next year. We're not really at the breaking point of 'You have to make a decision right now!' So I'm not.”
But today, E! News Online is reporting that Lopez will be making an announcement as soon as this week that she will be returning as a judge on American Idol season 11.
That’s good news.
Jennifer was a great addition as was Steven Tyler, and losing her after just a year would have been a blow to the show.
But all you have to do is look at her schedule to see that this woman is as busy as it gets and fitting Idol into her schedule really is going to be difficult.
Lopez and her husband Marc Anthony are producing a Latin American singing competition show called Que Viva that has consumed a great amount of her time this summer.
She has also just been cast alongside Cameron Diaz in the romantic comedy “What to Expect When You’re Expecting”.
The movie is scheduled to start filming in 2011 with a 2012 Mother’s Day release date and will follow the lives of four couples as they prepare to become parents.
Lopez is also currently filming the animated comedy “Ice Age: Continental Drift” with Ray Romano, Queen Latifah, Denis Leary, John Leguizamo, Aziz Ansari, and comedian Wanda Sykes.
The movie is currently being filmed and has a projected release date of July 13, 2012. Plot details are top secret but producers have released the following “Ice Age 4” trailer.
Watch Ice Age Continental Drift Movie Trailer
And if those projects aren’t enough to keep J-Lo busy she is also preparing to star alongside Jason Statham in the movie “Parker” - a crime thriller centered on a thief who lives by a code of honor that includes never stealing money from people who need it.
While "Parker", with a $25 million production budget is still in pre-production, it is slated for release sometime on 2012 which means Lopez will need to find time over the next 10 months for filming.
And don't forget, Lopez also has a very active singing career going full tilt.
Whew… Now I can see why she was on the fence!
We’re glad she decided to come back for another season of American Idol and look forward to another year as exciting as last year’s revamped improvement.
Funny, we didn’t miss Simon Cowell for a minute.
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