Nigel Lythgoe Returning to American Idol

An official announcement will be made soon.

The head honcho is coming back.

After months of negotiations, Nigel Lythgoe will return as executive producer of American Idol next season, E! News exclusively confirms.

An official announcement will be made soon.

Take that, Simon Cowell! Idol finalist Mandisa shows off 100-pound weight loss!

Due to the prolonged negotiation, a show source tells E! News that production is "way behind normal schedule," and that the first thing on Nigel's to-do list is to "lock in judges."

There have been numerous rumors as to who would join Mariah Carey on Idol.

Recently, Miley Cyrus' name was thrown into the mix, but that has since been taken off. The latest is that Nicki Minaj, Keith Urban and Enrique Iglesias are all still up in the air as potentials for the retooled four-person judging panel.

So who's it going to be Lythgoe?

Let's take a look back at last season's finale

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