Sitcom Star Neil Patrick Harris to Guest Judge on American Idol

After Paula Abdul suddenly stepped down from her seat as a judge on hit reality show American Idol, a slew of celebrities have been lining up to fill her shoes (or should I say stillettos?). Guest judges Victoria Beckham, Mary J. Blige, and most recently Joe Jonas have all stepped up to the plate and the next to do so will be sitcom star Neil Patrick Harris. Yup, Doogie Howser himself, although he's more recently known for his stint on "How I Met Your Mother".

Even thouh Harris is better known on the small screen, he does have musical expertise; he actually has Broadway under his belt, and considering how many ex Idols have gone on to star on Broadway, he's probably not too shabby of a choice. Harris is also no stranger to Idol; those who watch the audience closely probably noticed his presence several times last season, both during the semi finals and the finals.

As a huge Idol fan myself, I'm still not wild about these celebrity guest judges; they tried this back in S4 with celebrities like Mark McGrath and Jewel sitting in during the audition rounds and it proved to be a major dud. Word on the street says that Victoria Beckham, who was the guest judge for one of the earlier audition rounds, had very little constructive criticism to add, so it doesn't look like this plan is taking off with flying colors. My fingers are staying permanently crossed in hopes that we do indeed see Paula back on the Idol set at some point next year.

Neil Patrick Harris is set to tape the American Idol auditons today in Dallas. Shania Twain is also scheduled to be a judge at an upcoming audition spot, and rumor has it that Kelly Clarkson and Katy Perry may be joining Simon, Kara and Randy as well. The new season of American Idol will hit the FOX airwaves in mid January.

Source EOnline