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"&lt;img alt=\"0715_aretha-franklin_tmz\" src=\"http://ll-media.tmz.com/2012/07/15/0715-aretha-franklin-tmz-2.jpg\" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Dry your tears, \"Idol\" fans -- Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez are out, but something even better might be in store for you ... &lt;strong&gt;Aretha Franklin&lt;/strong&gt; is officially putting her hat in the ring to be the next judge.&amp;#160;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Queen of Soul herself sent out an email Saturday saying, \"Yes, I am interested as a judge,\" when asked about a future role in the singing competition. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The 18-time Grammy winner would come as a replacement judge for the next season after both&lt;strong&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/strong&gt;Tyler and&lt;strong&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/strong&gt;Lopez bowed out last week. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Neither Fox, nor Freemantle Media -- the honchos behind \"Idol\" -- have commented on the legendary singer's interest ... yet.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If Aretha does become a judge, all we can say is ... R-E-S-P-E-C-T."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.tmz.com/2012/07/15/aretha-frankin-american-idol-judge/>