That’s a no from Clay Aiken, dawg.
The American Idol season two finalist, who lost to Ruben Studdard in 2003, shared his candid thoughts on the show’s approach to judging compared to the criticism he and his fellow competitors got from original panelists Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson, and Paula Abdul.
“They don’t even give them anything constructive,” Aiken exclusively told E! News of the newest generation of Idol judges. “It’s just like, ‘That was great. That was wonderful.’ Well, what are you there for then?”
The most recent set of judges on the music competition show included Katy Perry, Luke Bryan, and Lionel Richie, who have been at the helm since the show was revived on ABC network in 2023.
However, Perry stepped away from the show after the most recent 22nd season, with season four winner Carrie Underwood set to be the first alum to permanently join the judging panel in season 23. For her part, the “Blown Away” singer has previously expressed her hopes to be “honest and constructive but still kind.”
As Aiken sees it, for now, due to the feedback the judges currently give, the show could cut their comments entirely to save on airtime.
“I mean we could save so much time,” he quipped, “And we could sell like 50 more ads if we just cut out the three minutes after every performance where we listen to three people say, ‘That was wonderful. You are a star.’”