Adam Lambert Might Judge 'American Idol' Next Season

Is one of the current "American Idol" judges in danger of being fired?

According to E!, quite possibly: rumor has it that former "American Idol" contestant Adam Lambert has been in talks with the show to join up as a judge for the next season. The rumors make sense, too, as this past season, the show's 11th, saw some serious declines in viewership. A shake-up at the judges' table might be what the show needs (according to the producers, who don't realize what the show ACTUALLY needs, like less filler and a better voting system).

That begs the question: if Lambert is hired, would he be replacing one of the current judges? The past two seasons have had Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler, Jennifer Lopez and original "Idol" judge Randy Jackson at the table, which helped rejuvenate the show a couple of years ago, but didn't seem to help much this year.

As of yet, the judges haven't renewed their contracts, so the seats are up in the air. Lopez is notoriously expensive, but she seems to be the most popular one on the panel (and the only woman), so it's unlikely that Lambert would replace her. Tyler provides plenty of fodder for the editors to play with, so they'll likely want to keep him, too.

That just leaves one. Is it finally time, after a decade, for Randy to leave the show? To say that he doesn't contribute much in terms of judging would be fair, but then again, neither do the other judges. What they do have that Randy doesn't is star power, so "Idol" might just be looking to jazz up the table, as long as nobody's giving any honest feedback anyway.

Lambert, for his part, might be the perfect fit for the role. He's popular among "Idol" fans, maintaining a cult following despite not actually having won the competition. Plus, as a former contestant, Lambert might actually have some useful advice to give the current contestants. And if Lambert joins, "Idol" might have to start actually acknowledging that gay people exist, for once, rather than dancing around the subject.

Of course, there's always the possibility that "Idol" attempts a four-person judging panel, as they did briefly in the past. That didn't seem to go over well before, though, so don't count on it.