‘The X Factor’: NOW Who Should Become A Judge?

Back to the drawing board. After the bloodbath of firings that rocked the US edition of The X Factor — Steve Jones, Nicole Scherzinger, and, most surprisingly, Paula Abdul have been cut from the show — there are suddenly a ton of job openings for a new host and two new judges. (Somewhere, Cheryl Cole is laughing at all this mayhem.) After a disappointing inaugural season, it looks like the singing competition is in need of an overhaul, anyway. But who should join the judges’ panel for Season 2? Our Top 5 picks below.

5. Mariah Carey. Simon Cowell cannot stop fawning over Mimi, who kept popping up on predictions lists the last time we went through this judge guessing game. And though she’s busy recording her new album, a job on a reality competition show certainly helped Jennifer Lopez and Christina Aguilera be welcomed back to musical relevancy.

4. Britney Spears. Brit-Brit’s taking a break now that she’s put a bow on Femme Fatale, and don’t tell us you wouldn’t watch this show every single episode just to see what Spears sounds like with no one controlling every word that comes out of her mouth. It was certainly improve the show’s ratings, even if any advice she gives about singing live would ring particularly false.

3. Cher. If you check her Twitter feed, you’ll know she’s loopy enough to be entertaining television. And if Cher tells you to stop being pitchy or engage with the audience more during your performance, you’re sure as hell going to do it. She’s Cher, after all, and she’s been doing this for longer than we’ve all been alive.

2. Ciara. Because what else is she doing?

1. No one. Just cancel the show, as it’s already viewed as an over-hyped disappointment. And it’s not like we’ll really miss one of the five billion singing competition shows currently on TV. LA Reid can put his focus back on running Epic Records, and Simon Cowell can fill the hours developing his DJ show, and continue his gigs on Britain’s Got Talent and the UK edition of The X Factor. Or just spend his days swimming through his various bank vaults filled with massive amounts of gold coins.

Who do you think should become a judge on The X Factor? What other tweaks should be made to the show? Let us know on Facebook, Twitter, or in the comments below.