Katy Perry’s ‘American Idol’ Sweet Deal After Perry’s ‘SNL’ Show With Backpack Boy


Katy Perry just catapulted right back to the stars where the “Swish, Swish” singer has spent most of her career. After lengthy negotiations, Perry is a new American Idol judge with a huge paycheque coming her way, and her SNL season finale “Swish, Swish” performance won back some questioning fans when she asked the Instagram star, Russell Got Barzz, to show off some of his “memorable dance moves.”

Russell Horning, who is now known to millions of Twitter users as the Backpack Boy, wore his trademark backpack to boogie along with Katy onstage and fans love that she gave Backpack Boy his big break. Perry’s dancing fan already has some experience with fame. Rihanna posted one of Russell’s dancing videos last December when she was celebrating eight Grammy nominations.

Perry’s “Swish Swish” dancing fan already has some experience with fame. Entertainment Weekly wrote that Rihanna posted one of Russell’s dancing videos last December when she was celebrating eight Grammy nominations.

That brush with fame appears to have given Russell an extra dose of self-confidence. He didn’t let Perry’s superstar status get in the way of his judgment when he watched her dance.

CTV News wrote that Russell “wasn’t too impressed” with the new American Idol judge’s moves. He posted an Instagram video of Katy Perry “trying to imitate his moves, ” and in the video, Russell couldn’t keep the amused grin off his face as he dances behind Katy. “When your mom tries to look cool,” he captioned it.

For a while, things weren’t looking all that great for Perry as her album sales slumped and her new release got her into trouble with Taylor Swift fans. The singer endured some criticism after fans decided that the “Swish, Swish” lyrics were all about a clap back in response to Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood.”

Katy Perry and Taylor Swift before Perry’s ‘Swish Swish’ release. [Image by Larry Busacca/Getty Images]

Katy wouldn’t admit that her lyrics were about Swift. She said that the song isn’t meant to be taken as referring to any one person and it’s “a great anthem for people whenever someone’s trying to hold you down or bully you.”

Whatever her reasons for writing “Swish Swish,” Katy Perry’s American Idol contract is big enough to make her forget the people who try to hold her down or bully her. Besides, according to Hollywood Life, the American Idol job offer makes it pretty clear to anyone paying attention that Perry isn’t held down at all

TMZ first reported the “colossal” $25 million that will be Katy Perry’s American Idol pay when she joins the show as a judge in the 2018 season. Idol producers have been after Katy for years. Back in 2012, the “Chained to a Rhythm” singer “rejected the network’s $20 mil offer.”

An insider told the outlet that “Katy had all the leverage. If ABC ended up announcing the show without a judge, they’d be screwed.”

Fans are thrilled with the announcement that Idol will return with Katy Perry on the judges’ panel. The announcement that Perry would be the lead American Idol judge came on May 16, and there was no way the network could decide to go with someone else after telling Perry’s fans the news. Katy knew that and it appears she made good out of the deal by taking “them for all they’re worth.”

That $25 million is way out there compared to other judges’ pay. Insider sources say that Ryan Seacrest and Jennifer Lopez never broke $15 million a season as American Idol judges. The network is reportedly “on the verge” of signing Ryan again as host of Idol, but with Katy’s salary out in the open, it’s not likely Seacrest will settle for $10 million less than Perry’s paycheck.

[Featured Image by Rich Fury/Getty Images]

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