No judge Jimmy on 'American Idol' ? yet

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Jimmy Iovine says he has no plans to be an "Idol" judge.

By Anna Chan

Tired of all the over-the-top praise that Randy Jackson, Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler dish out every week on "American Idol"? Wish they'd stay in their seats for good but not great performances? Have your fingers crossed for mentor Jimmy Iovine and his always on-point critiques to join the panel instead?

Sorry to break it to you, but the record label honcho doesn't want to be more than a mentor to the hopefuls.

During a conference call with reporters on Monday, Jimmy said that he's not interested right now in becoming a judge on the show. "I like working with musicians, and I like the creative aspect of what I do on the show," he said. "I really enjoy that. It's a lot of fun for me. (Being a judge) would change that."

He also acknowledged that sitting on the panel is no easy task.?

"The judges ... what they do is so difficult," he said. " To go on the road and listen to people sing a cappella -- thousands of them -- I couldn't do that. ... What they do is really extraordinary."

But he didn't praise just their ability to find great talent during the audition rounds and narrow them down to the finalists. He thinks they've been doing a fine job judging as well, despite what fans of the show might think. When asked if thought the judges showed too much favoritism toward recently eliminated Joshua Ledet, he said no.

"They were fans of a lot of the kids on the show," he explained. "Joshua does great work. I can see why you're sitting there getting excited about him. They always liked Jessica and they like Phillip. I feel they spread the love around."?

Besides the job of a judge being harder and less fun for Jimmy, there's also one little reason why he might not do it: According to the record honcho, the show hasn't even asked him to sit on the panel.?

Fans can still hope, right?

Who in the music industry do you think could be as good of a judge as Jimmy Iovine? Share your picks on our Facebook page.

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