EXCLUSIVE: Kris Allen Approves of Steven Tyler as an ‘Idol’ Judge

The debate is on: is Aerosmith front man Steven Tyler a good replacement for Simon Cowell as a judge on “American Idol”? Season 8 winner Kris Allen thinks Tyler can sit in the chair, and perhaps add even more of an intimidation factor to the show’s contestants.

“(Tyler’s) a great singer himself, so, you didn’t have to deal with that with Simon,” Allen noted. “You know, Steven Tyler can go, ‘Hey, I’m better than you.’” You can say, ‘You can’t do that Simon,’ but you can’t say that to Steven Tyler.”

Allen sat next to Tyler once at a concert, and only has high praise for the Hall of Famer.

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“I definitely think he’s been in the business long enough to do it,” said Allen, approving of the notion that Tyler would sit at the table this season. “He’s an interesting person… seemed like a nice guy.”

The “Idol” alum isn’t such a bad guy either – 2010 has seen him travel to both Haiti and Rwanda on charity missions. I informed Allen that Wyclef Jean would probably be running for president of Haiti (he ended up officially declaring his candidacy later in the week).

“I think he cares about it. I think he cares a lot,” said Allen. “Maybe it’d be a really great thing, I mean, I know that their government was really messed up before so, I think he probably has the vote considering his popularity.”

In the States, its Allen’s popularity that has kept him busy this summer – touring with Barenaked Ladies and Keith Urban while promoting his new single, “The Truth”, which features Train lead singer Pat Monahan. Allen informed me on “The Ralphie Radio Show” that he’s been too busy to even commence construction on his new home in Arkansas.

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