Andy DehnartThe Goo Goo Dolls’ John Rzeznik will appear as one of the three judges on The Next Great American Band, which debuts Friday, but he initially rejected the job. But after talking to producers, he agreed to participate. “I said, ‘Do I get to speak my mind and tell the truth? And not be fed a bunch of crap that I have to say?’ And they said, ‘You just need to be honest,'” he tells the New York Post.
Part of his reluctance came because he dislikes American Idol. “I’m a guy in a band, and I’ve been in a band for 20 years. So of course I turn my nose up at ‘American Idol.’ I worked my way up to the top. I struggled and clawed,” he said.
Rzeznik says he expects but doesn’t care about the inevitable criticism. “I’m sure music critics are going to slam me. Whatever. I’m sick of them. They mean nothing to me or my life. I don’t think I’ve ever sold a record because of something a music critic or music journalist wrote about me. I just want to find a great band,” he said. And he says the show will actually do that: “Here’s my prediction: There are no dud acts. And more than just the winner is going to get a record deal.”