It’s about that time of year again, when speculation begins about who will fill the seats on the judging panels of the singing competition shows The Voice, The X-Factor and American Idol. The latest news out of the rumor mill is that Jennifer Lopez would be returning to Idol to replace Mariah Carey, although so far her only connection to the show is a possible performance during the finale.
All three hit series have had several A-list celebrity judges and mentors over the last couple of years, but it’s certainly a time consuming and demanding job that not every star is cut out for. While celebs like Blake Shelton and Adam Levine can’t seem to get enough of their positions on The Voice, Britney Spears couldn’t last more than one season on The X-Factor.
After careful consideration of these celebrities’ roles as judges, success on their respective shows, and individual music careers, we’ve ranked 15 of them from best to worst — click through the gallery to check out the list!
Blake is currently in his fourth season as a mentor on ‘The Voice,’ and doesn’t look like he’s backing out anytime soon. The country star currently has the best track record on the show, with a member of his team winning Seasons Two AND Three. He’s become arguably the biggest male country artist since beginning work on ‘The Voice,’ taking home several coveted awards, including CMA’s Entertainer of the Year. (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images) Okay, so Simon isn’t exactly everyone’s favorite TV personality, but he IS the guy who started this whole thing! Known for his brutal honesty, Simon started out on ‘American Idol,’ but then turned his focus to Britain’s ‘The X-Factor,’ which he brought to America in 2011. Simon has signed SEVERAL successful artists as a result of mentoring on these shows, including the popular boyband One Direction. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images) After his contestant Javier Colon won ‘The Voice’ in Season One, Adam has been a dedicated judge and mentor on the hit NBC series. Not only has he won over the hearts of girls all across America because of his good looks, smooth talk and overall talent, but his time on the show has helped launch his band Maroon 5 back into relevancy. Nicki is only in her first season as ‘American Idol’ judge, and while it’s still unclear whether or not she’ll return next year, the fiery rapper seems to have won over fans of the show. The reason Nicki’s made it so high on our list? Because it was an overall surprise to see her taking the show so seriously and becoming invested in the competing artists. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images) Like Simon, Randy has been there since the start of this whole ordeal, and has been a judge on ‘American Idol’ for all 12 seasons. Although he sometimes fails to have his own opinion and merely agrees with the female judges sitting beside him, his dedication to the show and connections in the industry are enough to land him pretty high on the list. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images) New mom Shakira is only in her first season as a mentor on ‘The Voice,’ but she’s already proven she can keep up with vets like Adam and Blake. The Latin singer’s deep appreciation and passion for the show is obvious in every choice she’s made so far, and she’s already seemed to have developed great relationships with the members of her team. (Photo by Dominique Charriau/Getty Images for Sephora) Demi was the first judge of four to have all her contestants voted off ‘The X-Factor’ Season Two, but the singer says she’s learned from her mistakes and is returning to the show for Season Three. The “Heart Attack” singer’s constant banter with Simon provides great entertainment, and her own music career has gotten a lot of hype since she’s taken on the judging position. Plus, she’s the youngest contender on our list, and the fact that she can handle the demands of this job at only 20-years-old is pretty admirable! (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images) L.A. Reid won’t be returning to ‘The X-Factor’ for Season Three, but he did mentor the winning contestant from Season Two! After initially being upset about mentoring the 25+ age category, L.A. used his industry skills to help make country singer Tate Stevens the show’s champion. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images) As a first season judge on ‘The Voice,’ Usher has put up a good fight against veteran judges Adam and Blake so far, and he’s continued to win over the ladies with his smooth moves, good looks and sweet talk. Usher definitely takes the show seriously, but has come off as a more intimidating mentor than his fellow judges, which makes him a bit less relatable to the audience. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images) Keith is an all-around good guy on Season 12 of ‘American Idol,’ but the Australian country star rarely has much to say beyond a positive comment or two. His inability to be totally honest puts Keith on the lower end of the rankings, but there’s probably not a soul out there who doesn’t swoon over his accent! (Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images) Jennifer lasted two seasons as an ‘American Idol’ judge before leaving the show to continue pursuing her own music career. The highlight of every ‘Idol’ episode during Jen’s reign was seeing what sexy outfit she’d be wearing, but beyond that, she was kind of a dud in terms of judging. Jennifer clearly favored male contestants in both of her seasons and rarely gave female contestants credit where it was due. (Photo by Mike Moore/Getty Images for Fight Night) As Jennifer’s replacement, Mariah hasn’t done much better in winning over audiences as a celebrity judge. The singer has been criticized (by the audience AND show producers) for her lack of criticism towards the contestants. It’s understandable that Mariah doesn’t want to come off as the “bad guy,” but in taking this job, she had to be prepared to hurt a few people’s feelings, which it doesn’t seem like she’s quite up for just yet. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images) If there was an award for weirdest comments to contestants, Steven Tyler would win hands down. His eclectic vocabulary made very little sense to viewers, but he was pretty entertaining! (Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images) Christina had the worst track record as a mentor on ‘The Voice,’ coming in third and fourth place, respectively in Seasons One and Two, while being the first to lose all her contestants in Season Three. Christina rarely gave any criticism or negative feedback to her own teammates, but had no problem doing so when it came to those of her fellow judges, particularly Adam Levine. Her sore loser attitude and strange fashion choices made her overall unlikeable as a judge. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images) It’s not that we don’t love Britney, it’s just that she offered absolutely NOTHING as a celebrity judge on ‘The X-Factor.’ Her contestant Carly Rose Sonenclar managed to come in Second Place based on pure talent, and it seems that Britney did very little in terms of guidance. Although Britney did dish out some criticism every once in a while, it’s safe to say we all grew a little tired of hearing her say “That was amazing,” after every. single. performance. Additionally, the pop star didn’t even take advantage of her time on the show to release and promote a new album, and her time on the show hasn’t advanced her career in any way. (Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
Who is your favorite celeb judge/mentor? Let us know in the comments section!
