Singer and “American Idol” judge Lionel Richie accepted a pitch from Jimmy Kimmel for who should replace Katy Perry as the third judge on the singing competition show.
When the late night host suggested they narrow it down between Madonna and Cyndi Lauper only to choose Madonna in the end, Richie jumped on the suggestion.
“Wow. Madonna, if you’re listening … call me,” Richie said. “We got to call.”
When Richie was initially asked who he’d like to see replace Perry, he demurred at drumming up a name, but he commented on the powerful experience of coaching younger, up-and-coming musicians.
“You know, they are keeping tight-lipped because I don’t even know, but I’m telling you though, it’s going to be really interesting,” he said. “This is a great show, and what I love most of all is that we are artists, so we know what we’re talking about. And these kids are scared to death. So I love sitting there as the wise pooh-pas of the three of us, and we’re sitting there, and we’re all kind of giving information that we know is real. So whoever is coming on the show has got to be well, [compared to] Katy, you got to be humorous forever. And on top of that, knowledgeable.”
Kimmel also dug into whether or not Richie was upset that Perry was leaving the show, especially because she didn’t warn him before making the announcement on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” earlier in the week.
“No, I’m not mad. It just made me run off the road when my phone blew up. No, we didn’t know about it, but it makes sense,” Richie said. “In other words, the reason I love coming on the show here 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 now, she’s young in the business … The point is, you have to take some time and actually be an artist.”
Richie and Luke Bryan will be joined by a new judge after Season 22 of the reality competition show.
Watch Richie’s full interview with Kimmel in the video above.
