Predicto

Simon Cowell is exiting American Idol once the current season wraps in May. He’ll be taking his shtick to his own Idol-like show, The X Factor, in which solo and group contestants will compete for the chance to become pop’s next superstar.

But back to Idol. The show introduced us to the British destroyer of dreams, who held nothing back in the way of honest criticism. He often offended contestants, had a short fuse for bad singing and crushed the spirit of anyone who utilized a gimmick to get on TV.

For many, Simon is the reason they watch American Idol: he says what so many in the television audience wanted to say, but was bold enough to actually say it. With ever-happy Ellen DeGeneres replacing the often dazed and confused Paula Abdul in a move that seems to be pleasing fans, who could possibly take the place of the king of mean?

One name that is floating around is that of the king of all media, Howard Stern. The shock jock has been known to speak his mind on any and all topics. He even ditched his syndicated terrestrial radio gig to move to Sirius Satellite Radio back in 2004 in order to escape the rules and regulations of the FCC.

No stranger to controversy himself, Stern seems like he would have no problem upstaging Idol’s contestants with his opinionated and straight-for-the-jugular thoughts on their singing abilities.

Though it’s not really the type of gig we’d expect from Howie, is it out of the realm of possibility? Stern has recently talked about leaving Sirius and his contract with the satellite broadcaster ends in January 2011 — the month in which Idol would begin its 10th season.

We asked the Predicto Mobile community, and the votes and opinions came out in droves — nearly 64% of voting members think Stern will NOT join the judging panel of American Idol.

“I feel his reputation would precede him. American Idol is watched by all ages. Families wouldn’t want to risk him making any inappropriate comments,” says member “mswf6696.”

“Comi5030” disagreed with that statement, saying “they’ll get someone radical and unafraid to be outspoken!”

“I would think he’s way too controversial and egotistical to judge the contestants,” says “rpxy2438.”

“He should stick to what he’s been doing for quite sometime now, he’s good at it,” says “obye6830.”

Although it could be sometime before Fox makes its final verdict, what do you think will happen? Tune in to Predicto.com and register for the text message-based mobile game that has everyone predicting the outcome of sports, pop culture, news and entertainment events. Along with being able to vote on surveys — including this one — you’ll get updates when the answers are revealed.

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