'Idol' Producer Hopes To Bring All-Stars Back

[Brian Damage]

"American Idol" producer Nigel Lythgoe has proposed a way to bring back a number of favorites from past seasons of the FOX reality hit.

Talking to reporters on Thursday (Feb. 8), Lythgoe gave pat answers to the usual "Idol" hot-button issues -- Paula Abdul? Neither high nor crazy. The judges? Not crueler than usual. The ratings? A testimony to the divine space occupied by "Idol" in the popular culture firmament.

Lythgoe did, however, offer the piece of news that he's proposed augmenting the show's previously announced songwriting competition with a few popular non-winners and possibly milking a special episode out of the stunt.

"They're talking about doing a song competition on the web and have people write songs for the next 'American Idol' finale, because whenever they come out and sing the song at the American finale, the only bloody criticism Randy Jackson can do is 'Oh, I don't like that song.' Well, that's not very helpful. They're gonna be putting it out next week and trying to sell it and there's you saying 'I don't like the song,'" Lythgoe explains.

He continues, "My idea was: OK, give me 10 songs and I will bring back 10 'Idol' finalists to sing them on a special and then America can really see them. Rather than just have them on the web and download them or whatever, let's see Constantine Maroulis again. Let's see Ace Young. Let's see Vonzell and Tamyra Gray and all the great people we voted for over the years. I'd love to do that and with good reason at the end of the day for doing it, which is to produce the song that the next American Idol's gonna sing."

Lythgoe says that while he's pitched the network on the idea, he has yet to hear back.

The veteran "Idol" producer also briefly touched on the variety of controversies involving contestants -- like Akron Watson -- who were highlighted in the audition episodes but denied access to the Hollywood round for "unknown reasons."

"The fact is that we do do background checks," Lythgoe says. "I think it's very essential. We're putting these kids together in a very close environment and we're working them very hard and it's essential that we know that we've got the right people together. So FOX got on with this, along with this private security firm and after that I can't give you any other information, because I don't want to know."

Lythgoe defended the decision to keep Watson and others on the audition shows even knowing that they weren't going to be going any further.

"I cannot show you 174 people's stories," he notes. "As far as I'm concerned, investing in that boy at that point was what I'd like you to do, but I would have liked you to have done that with a lot of other people that are going to disappear in Hollywood week. That's just the way the show goes and it's been like that for six seasons."

In short, just stop your whining and enjoy the "Idol" ride.

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