Harry Connick Jr. Is New AMERICAN IDOL Judge?

With auditions already underway for the next season of AMERICAN IDOL, FOX has yet to announce its full lineup of judges who will replace exiting panelists Randy Jackson, Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey. Earlier in the week, music producer Dr. Luke backed out of an offer to join the show's new season.

Now Deadline reports that Harry Connick Jr., who mentored on the last season of the show, may jump into the final judge's seat alongside Keith Urban and Jennifer Lopez. According to the report, Connick Jr. is on the "short list of candidates" to fill the spot.

In May the Broadway vet appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and commented on the possibility of judging. "Well, yeah, I mean I had a really good time!," he shared. "I had a good time mentoring. Judging is a whole different deal, I don't know how good I would be at that."

In addition to his recent starring role in the Broadway revival of On A Clear Day You Can See Forever the actor returned to Broadway during the summer of 2010 for 15 sold-out performances of Harry Connick, Jr. In Concert at the Neil Simon Theatre. His previous Broadway performances include the Tony-nominated turn as Sid Sorokin in the 2006 revival of The Pajama Game.

Photo courtesy of FOX