Chris Isaak in talks to replace Simon Cowell on 'American Idol', report says

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Chris Isaak, singer of the 1989 ballad "Wicked Game", is reportedly in talks to replace Simon Cowell as the fourth judge of American Idol, while rocker Bret Michaels is no longer in the running.

Chris Isaak has met twice with the show's network, FOX, The Hollywood Reporter said, quoting the network's entertainment chairman as saying he expects the new judge to join American Idol by early September. Harry Connick Jr has also been considered for the job, the trade publication says.

Isaak, FOX and production companies FremantleMedia and 19 Entertainment have not commented on the report.

Isaak has appeared on television in shows such as Cold Case and Eastwick. He also had his own cable series, The Chris Issak Show, on Showtime. Isaak is currently touring the United States and Canada until mid-October.

Michaels had said in June he "would love to be a judge on American Idol. I think I would bring a lot to the table. Bring Bret Michaels in to be original to who and what I am. Bring someone who can bring a little grit, true grit back to the show."

Michaels, singer of glam rock group Poison and winner of the previous season of Donald Trump's reality show Celebrity Apprentice, had been endorsed as a possible candidate to replace Cowell according to recent fan polls, made while he dominated entertainment headlines after he survived a brain hemorrhage and stroke earlier this year.

Cowell has said he began to become bored with American Idol about two years ago and is set to launch in the fall of 2011 a new show, X Factor - the U.S. version of a talent competition series he judged and developed in the United Kingdom.

The ratings for the American Idol finale in May were the lowest recorded among its season ending episodes. General ratings for American Idol have more than tripled since the series debuted in 2002 but have declined slowly during the past few years. Peak ratings were recorded in about 2006, or the fifth season.

"I'd be lying if I said that I like numbers when they go down," Simon Cowell, who recently left as the most popular judge on the series, said on The Oprah Winfrey Show in May. "I just don't like it."

Auditions for the tenth season of American Idol are set to begin in July 17 in Nashville, Tennessee and the minimum age eligibility of contestants has been lowered from 16 to 15, while the maximum age stands at 28.

The American Idol judges table currently consists of Randy Jackson, who has been on the singing contest series since it began in 2002, Kara DioGuardi, who joined the series in 2009 and talk show host Ellen Degeneres, who replaced Paula Abdul earlier this year.

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