TV Tattler: Celebrity Interviews

Nigel Lythgoe Sheds Light on the 'Sanjaya Effect'

'American Idol' Executive Producer Also Says He's Never Heard Taylor or Fantasia's Albums

Related Links 'American Idol' News, Photos & Recaps More About Nigel Lythgoe

Nigel Lythgoe is the brains behind the behemoth.

Now in its sixth season, 'American Idol' is firmly entrenched as the No. 1 TV show in the country. And when 'Idol' is over, he produces and serves as a judge on the Fox summer reality hit, 'So You Think You Can Dance.'

During a phone call with TV reporters, including AOL Television editor Geoff Bennett, Lythgoe weighed in about results shockers, 'Idol' conspiracy theories and the strange phenomenon that is Sanjaya Malakar.

Are you disappointed that the show didn't end up with a country singer this year? You've had so much success with country artists in the past. Were you surprised?
We don't think about what we're ending up with, do you know what I mean? I think the top 24 are chosen from what the judges believe are the correct ones and then America brings them down, as you know, to the top 12. So we don't have that much say in it.

Ratings have been down a little bit the past couple of weeks. The performance shows are down about 10 percent and the results show a little bit less. Do you have any theories about why?
I would just like to watch all the other networks thinking, "God, we'd love our ratings to go down as badly as that." Even if we lost 50 percent of our audience, we'd still be in the top three programs in the country, so I'm not really that worried ... To be honest about it, people are saying this is not our greatest year for talent; I don't necessarily agree with them. I think we've got five or six probably of the best singers we've ever had on 'American Idol.' But if it is a bad year for talent, then we do always watch a ratings drop of between three percent and four percent in that area.

Has any particular contestant surprised you so far this season?
Jordin continues to surprise me, to be frank. I'm watching her grow week by week. From this 17-year-old that I saw a number of years ago when she auditioned for 'American Juniors,' I'm watching a young lady come to fruition and a huge talent.

How do you feel about the fact that it still could practically be anyone's game?
It's great for the show; it's great for the audience, as well. I think over the years people have always said, "Oh, it's one of two people." I don't think it's wide open, I think between four or five of them.

What songs do you prefer the contestants to sing?
I love the older songs more because there is more melody and a properly written song, so it's got verse, chorus and a bridge. It just makes it a little more interesting.

Sanjaya has become a bit of a lightning rod. Every year there is somebody, right?
Strange, isn't it? It's all part of the mixture of it. I think we're going to have this thing called the "Sanjaya Effect." I feel as though last week, I was "Sanjayaed" purely and simply because he's got guts and you have to applaud that. If half the people with more talent than him had his guts, we'd get better talent all around.

It doesn't seem that 'Idol' has focused on a non-winning contestant, such as Chris Daughtry, as much before. He's been mentioned a lot by Simon Cowell, and his song is used each week on the results show. Is the attention taking away from Taylor Hicks?
I don't know why Simon Cowell is doing it apart from it's his company, BMG, that has released the record and the record is doing well, so I would imagine Simon is doing it for publicity purposes for him. But we haven't really focused on him apart from the song 'Home,' which I heard long before it was released and thought it would be a good one to send kids home to. But he's not been on the show.

So for the Taylor Hicks conspiracy theorists, the show is not officially favoring Chris Daughtry over Taylor Hicks?
Well, the show has never done anything to show that apart from use that record, as I say, and had Taylor Hicks recorded 'Home' or a piece of music that was what we felt was right to send contestants home to, then we'd have used Taylor; of course not. Taylor Hicks is our 'Idol' this season.

Do you like the Taylor Hicks album?
I haven't heard it, to be honest.

Is that unusual?
No.

Have you heard all the other 'Idol' albums?
No.

You haven't heard any of them?
Kelly Clarkson's I like; I've heard Carrie Underwood's. I haven't heard Fantasia's, haven't heard Ruben's, haven't heard Taylor's and haven't heard an awful lot of the other releases. It's not my type of music, to be frank with you. I like more middle-of-the-road stuff, and when they leave us they sort of go to different genres. I quite like country, which is why I played Carrie; I wanted to see where Kelly was going as she was our first 'Idol.' But I have very little time to listen to outside music. I'm constantly listening to music that we're doing on that week and trying to get everything downloaded to give the kids as wide of spectrum of choice as I can.

This year, Votefortheworst.com, has surfaced more in the media than it has the years before. Do you get surprised by the fact that people take the show so seriously that they're willing to create such a Web site?
Yes, they did that in the U.K. on the first season of 'Pop Idol.' The thing is it's a bit like a fly buzzing around a cow; you want to waft it away with your tail. When you're getting 30 million votes, whatever that Web site can do is just not enough ... Can't you understand why little girls vote for Sanjaya? I can. So I don't even know what the controversy is, to be frank. He's there, he's been in the bottom two for a quite a while. He pulled himself out of the bottom two last week, but there's no controversy for me.

Are there any genres that you would love to see on the show that you haven't yet?
Yes, lots of them. I would love to do the Eagles. I would love to do the music of The Beatles. And then there are a number of songwriters I would love to do. I'd love to do the lyrics of Hal David, the music of Carole King; anything that gives the contestants really good melodic songs to sing and a wide choice.

I've heard some contestants reference that they've learned a lot from watching the past five seasons. Do you think that does give people an advantage?
I don't know if it gives them an advantage. I think for sure they're learning more. I'm sure we're going to get more "I'm a crack baby whose father is in prison, and I'm singing this for my late grandmother who died yesterday." At the end of the day it comes down to talent. It doesn't matter how cute you are, how long your hair is, how gorgeous your eyes are, how wonderful your blonde hair and beautiful body is. It's their voice and the way they perform, and we know that America loves performers as well as good singers.