(Reuters) – Singer Demi Lovato will return as a judge on TV contest “The X Factor” for a second year, broadcaster Fox announced on Thursday, but there was no word on two more open positions on the celebrity panel.
The 20-year-old former Disney Channel star will be back in her seat when the show returns in the fall of 2013 along with creator Simon Cowell.
“I couldn’t be happier that Demi wants to come back this year,” Cowell said in a statement.
“X Factor” producers however have yet to announce replacements for departing judges Britney Spears and record producer Antonio “L.A.” Reid, who quit at the end of the show’s second season in December.
“There are going to be four judges,” a source close to the show said on Thursday, but gave no details on who they might be or when the two new names would be announced.
Recent speculation on possible new judges for the U.S. version of the show have included singers Katy Perry, John Mayer, Pink and Ne-Yo.
Open auditions for singers hoping for a spot on the third season of “X Factor” are underway in cities across the United States. Auditions before the judges are expected to start in late May or early June.
Audiences for “X Factor” slumped in 2012, losing about three million viewers from its first season despite the hiring of Spears for a reported $15 million salary.
The show is just one of a plethora of singing and talent shows on U.S. television, including Fox television’s long-running “American Idol,” which has also seen a drop in viewers despite new judges Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj, and NBC rivals “The Voice” and “America’s Got Talent.”
Fox is a unit of News Corp and NBC is a unit of Comcast Corp.
(Reporting By Jill Serjeant)
