Someone very familiar with "American Idol" has her sights set on potentially replacing Katy Perry following the singing competition series' ongoing 22nd season.
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"Oh hiiii ['American Idol']—I hear a seat opened up at the judges table! I'm putting my name in the hat!," Jordin Sparks wrote last Friday (Feb. 16) on Twitter.
Sparks won "American Idol" in 2007. She was 17 at the time and remains the youngest person to ever win the series. She went on to become a pop and R&B star as well as an actor and a philanthropist.
On the Feb. 12 episode of "Jimmy Kimmel Live," Perry shocked the show's host and his viewing audience with news that in all likelihood, she'll be leaving "Idol" after the current season ends.
"I think this probably will be my last show, my last season for 'Idol'," she said. "I mean, I love 'Idol' so much. It's connected me with, like, the heart of America, but I feel like I need to go out and feel that pulse to my own beat, you what I'm saying?"
Three nights later, Lionel Richie appeared on "Kimmel" and reacted to Perry's apparent plans to leave "Idol."
"No, we didn't know about it, but it makes sense," Richie said. "In other words: The reason I love coming on the show with you and the reason I'm doing 'American Idol' is because I have 400 years of stories and a life in the music business. I have things that I've done.
"And so when Katy says, 'I want to go and create some stories,' remember, she's young," Richie continued. "But the point is that you have to take some time and actually be an artist."
Richie also explained the qualities and talents needed by whomever joins him and Luke Bryan on the Season 23 judges panel.
"You know, they are keeping tight-lipped because I don't even know, but I'm telling you... It's going to be really interesting." he explained. "Only because, I'm telling you something, this is a great show. And what I love most of all is that we're artists, so we know what we're talking about, and these kids are scared to death, so I love sitting there as the wise poo-bahs, the three of us, and we're sitting there and we're all kind of giving information that we know is real."
Sparks released her self-titled debut album, featuring the singles "Tattoo" and "No Air" in 2007. She'd go on to release her sophomore album Battlefield, featuring the Top 10 title track, in 2009 and Right Here Right Now in 2015.
Sparks is also an accomplished actor on stage and screen. She made her stage debut as Nina Rosario in the musical "In The Heights" in 2010 and made her feature film debut in the 2012 movie "Sparkle."
