Patti LaBelle: Some 'Idol' judges aren't qualified

by Mesfin Fekadu

NEW YORK — Patti LaBelle thinks some people shouldn't be on "American Idol" — and she's not talking about the contestants.

"Some of the judges, I don't think they're qualified to even judge," she said in an interview Wednesday.

The veteran R&B diva wouldn't say which judge she thought was lacking on the hit Fox show, which has Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson, Kara DioGuardi and Ellen DeGeneres picking America's top singers. Tuesday's "Idol" episode saw 12 female semifinalists competing during "Hollywood Week."

LaBelle said she was asked to be a judge on the series before Paula Abdul; a rep for the show had no comment on whether she was. LaBelle feels like the judges' comments to the contestants are too mean.

"The comments that were made, they could make you like wanna kill yourself," the 65-year-old singer said.

LaBelle's advice to singing hopefuls: "If you believe in yourself, just go for it. What do you have to lose? And when people tell you 'You can't,' you have to say, 'I can.'"