STEVEN TYLER
Q: What do you bring to the show?
A: I certainly know music enough. I can't say I know every genre, but 40 years has been good to me. We veni-vidi-vicied — we came, we saw, we conquered — everywhere we went, and it was great and we learned a lot from it.
Q: What's the mood on the panel?
A: I get to sit next to J. Lo every night, her fine personality, and Randy, who's another force to be reckoned with. We have a lot of fun up there. The world will never know what we say in between people, which is a show in and of itself.
Q: What's it like when a contestant sings one of your songs?
A: They'd better be good, but I learned to not say, 'You'd better be good,' because then it's god-awful, and I've got to tell them that was the worst I've ever heard.
Q: Did you watch Idol before?
A: I did not watch the show, because in order to enjoy Idol, you have to watch it five or six times, and I'm always under the hood, either on tour or writing albums (pause) or in rehab — hey, hey! — or trying to find a life somewhere. It's not easy being on tour for four years. So I don't really watch TV.
Q: What do you think of rockers who criticized you for joining Idol?
A: Let them say what they want. Rock stars are like trophies: You never saw a fish on the wall with its mouth shut. I said to Kid Rock, "I hear what you're saying, man, but if I agree with you, we'd both be wrong."
Q: What's Aerosmith up to?
A: Taking a break. Not that doing an album's taking a break. ... I've called most of them and said, "Let's get together in L.A." So, January, February, March, April, May, we're going to be working on the new record, hopefully recording in June, July and August, and then going on tour September, October, November, December, and then doing Idol again.
Q: Would you perform on Idol?
A: I've got a couple of songs from my solo career that I was thinking about letting a couple of kids sing just because, or just grabbing the microphone and doing it. I'm not sure it's in the cards.
JENNIFER LOPEZ
Q: How would you describe your judging style?
A: My whole approach is to be honest, to give my honest impressions and help them either get to the next level or be honest with them with the fact that they're not going to make it to the next level. ... I think the truth can be harsh sometimes, but for me, it's not about breaking spirits. It's about letting people know what they're doing right and if I think or Steven thinks or Randy thinks they have a future in this.
Q: Are you concerned about joining such an established show?
A: No, not really. When they first offered it to me, I wasn't sure whether it was really part of my plans or in my ideas of what I wanted to do. Then I thought on it: This could be fun. It's not forever, it's just for now. I thought, "Why not?" I love it. I love the show, and I think I have something to offer.
Q: Did it bother you that so much rumor and speculation surrounded your potential involvement?
A: No. I've been dealing with that for too many years now, especially when you know what's really going on. I was the one who was calming Fox down. I said, "Don't worry about it. This is going to happen next, and then this will happen, and then we'll do this." And they were like, "You were right."
Q: What's the feeling between you and your fellow judges?
A: It's all love. It's love and fun and respect. ... Everyone has a different perspective and comes from such different backgrounds and came up in a different way in the business.
Q: How would you describe them?
A: Pretty much the same as me, honest and straightforward. Randy still delivers it with his flair. I would describe Steven as sincere and heartfelt and at the same time really fun in the way he delivers his commentary. He has so many sayings that are, like, so off-the-wall. I'm sure they have me looking at him, like, "What did you just say?"
Q: Will you perform on Idol?
A: Maybe. ... If it fits in with things happening with the show but also in my life, then we'll see.
RANDY JACKSON
Q: What kind of chemistry does the judging panel have?
A: We had a dinner probably a little bit after everyone was announced and we got on like a house on fire, dude, in three minutes. I think we all had admiration for each other. What I'm really happy about is both of them are really gung-ho and they really love it and really have this whole nurturing thing for the kids. They really care. It's really cool. Ryan and I were looking at them one day, and we're like, "These guys are really loving this," and I'm like, "Well, why not? It's Idol. It's the remix. Let's go!"
Q: Has Idol had trouble producing recording stars the past few years?
A: I've been saying since Day 1 that for the sale of any record or anything, whether (it's) coffee, salt, shoes or doughnuts, it needs to be great in order for people to put their hands in their pockets and put down money. If the songs aren't great, no one's buying. And that's what you've been seeing the last couple years. These records just haven't been great. People make the misstep of thinking when you win Idol, you win some kind of golden ticket to sell 1 or 2 million records. You win the chance to jump into the ring to compete.
Q: How can you change that?
A: Jimmy Iovine's involved as a mentor, and he's a great record man and he's bringing in some of his hitmaking producers early. And I think the crop of talent we've seen this year is a lot better than what we've seen in past years. So I think you stand to have some great talent with some great artistry and some star potential with a real producing partner. That's maybe going to help it.
Q: Any predictions for this year?
A: I think we've got some girls who can stand up to the test of time.
Q: Do you like going from four judges back to three?
A. (Three is) what really worked best. Timing-wise, to have the talk time is what really worked best. I loved having Kara (DioGuardi), I loved having Ellen (DeGeneres), I loved us trying to move to the four format, but we were so used to (three) for so long, it was hard to get into anything else.
RYAN SEACREST
Q: What's different about the singers this year?
A: The contestants, I've noticed, are more nervous than they have been in the past — not intimidated, but nervous, because they have tremendous respect for one of the greatest rock stars of all time and Jennifer, who's been successful in all aspects of the business. I saw it in Hollywood: There were talented kids, and when they fell short, they were in tears more and were really upset with themselves more than I've ever seen. ... I think (these contestants) weren't thinking about being on a television show but were thinking about being great singers in front of superstars. There were contestants who said they had to focus on the lyrics much more than they thought because they would get dazed and confused and lost when they'd look up and see those faces.
Q: What do you think of lowering the eligibility age from 16 to 15?
A: I've been more impressed with the 15-year-olds than I've been with some of the older kids. I do think technology, access to information —à la the Internet, BlackBerry and iPhone — that's played a role in how smart kids are. The fact you can sit in your room and record a song and put it up on YouTube, I think, has helped cultivate performance skills.
Q: Will you approach hosting any differently?
A: I think we'll break some walls. I don't think you'll see the exact same formulaic live television show. I'm going to cover it more like a sporting event this year. I think it's possible we're going to have some contestants who are fantastic singers but are going to crack under some pressure this year. I think we'll show those moments.
Q: Do you look over your shoulder at Simon Cowell's coming X Factor?
A: The shows are different. It's in the same genre, but it's a different type of show. There is room for both of these shows to coexist as the most popular shows on TV. I hope they do.
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