'Dr. Luke' Gottwald Will Not Judge AMERICAN IDOL For Season 13

The Hollywood Reporter writes that Lukasz 'Dr. Luke' Gottwald will not be judging AMERICAN IDOOL season 13 after all.

"He really loves his artists and wants to build up the label [Kiimosabe]," an insider told THR. "Luke wants to build an entertainment company.. after a lot of conversations, both Luke and Sony Music CEO Doug Morris came to the mutual agreement that taking Dr. Luke out of the IDOL running 'was the best thing for all parties.'"

Read the original report here.

Dr. Luke is also backing out of the deal due to his connections with Sony Music. The company signed the songwriter and producer to his label deal in 2011 for its imprint Kemosabe.

Unfortunately for Luke, Universal Music Group owns the rights to American Idol performers' recordings. If Luke judged for the show, he would be developing talent for Sony's competition.

Time is quickly running out to find a third judge to join Keith Urban and Jennifer Lopez on FOX's long-running reality singing competition show. Auditions usually begin in September. IDOL hopefuls will meet Emmy Award-nominated host Ryan Seacrest and the judges, including Urban, when the auditions travel to Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Detroit, Omaha, Salt Lake City and San Francisco.

Dr. Luke began his career as the lead guitarist for the "Saturday Night Live" house band and became well-known as the songwriter/producer behind Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone." His other hits include "I Kissed a Girl," "Dynamite," "Who Knew" and "Tik Tok."

"American Idol" returns Jan. 15, 2014 on FOX.

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