After much speculation* as to whether Katy Perry, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie would be returning to judge “American Idol” on ABC, the network has confirmed the trio will all be back once more to search for the next musical superstar of the U.S.

ABC and series producer Fremantle had been in discussions regarding ways to bring down costs on the show, especially given Perry’s astounding US$25 million a year salary, but the lineup for the show’s third season on the network will remain unchanged.

Perry has been making headlines recently after a jury found that she and her song “Dark Horse” infringed on the copyright of Flame’s song “Joyful Noise” in a US$2.78 million decision. Perry and her co-writers called the decision “a travesty* of justice.”

This will be the singing competition show’s 18th season overall, including the 15 seasons that aired on Fox before the move to ABC in 2018. The new season will premiere in spring 2020.

“‘American Idol’ is the original music competition series,” said ABC Entertainment president Karey Burke. “It was the first of its kind to take everyday singers and catapult them into superstardom, launching the careers of so many amazing artists.”

“We couldn’t be more excited for Katy, Luke, Lionel and Bobby to continue in their roles as ‘American Idol’ searches for the next great music star, with more live episodes and exciting, new creative elements coming this season.”

Auditions for the upcoming season have been under way since July 23, and the network also announced that Bobby Bones will return in the role of in-house mentor.

(SD-Agencies)