Aretha Franklin wants to judge American Idol

Los Angeles: Soul diva Aretha Franklin has expressed an interest in joining the judging panel on American Idol after the exit of Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez. Lopez and Tyler quit after two seasons on the Fox show amid speculation that Randy Jackson may also bow out of the show. The 70-year-old Franklin is keen to fill one of the vacant seats on the singing reality show, a website has reported. "Yes, I am interested as a judge," she said. People at Fox are yet to make an announcement regarding the new judges. It is said that the bosses want revamp the show after suffering poor ratings. Lopez bid farewell to the show saying she wanted to focus on other things but fresh reports suggest she could have been dropped by TV bosses over her pay demands. Apparently the singer wanted a USD 2 million pay rise on top of her USD 15 million deal for the last season. PTI