Gnarls Barkley frontman Cee-Lo Green was invited to put his name forward to become a judge on American Idol by show regular Randy Jackson.
Fox network executives were left to fill the empty seats vacated by exiting judges Simon Cowell, Ellen DeGeneres and Kara DioGuardi on the show this summer (10) and recently announced Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler would join Jackson on the new three-person judging panel.
Green reveals he toyed with the idea of signing up for the hit reality show following encouragement by good pal Jackson - but decided he wouldn't make for good TV because he refuses to pass judgment on people.
He tells Vibe magazine, "I was asked. (Jackson and I) talked about it very, very casually. (He said), 'Go for it. It's open. Who could really argue with that? I support you.'
"I think we were just kind of joking around. I don't think I would've been up for doing it. I'm not a judge of people. I observe, but I don't judge people."