Nigel Lythgoe: 'I don't give a damn who wins the show.'

Michael Slezak from TVLine interviewed Nigel Lythgoe about American Idol Season 11 and Nigel seemed specially peeved when Kevin Reilly, FOX Entertainment President, was mentioned with regards to the decline in ratings. He basically conceded that the ratings dip for Idol was due to The X Factor and The Voice.

Surprisingly, Nigel also reinforced what I've been telling you guys about this show for years: The producers don't care who wins and what happens to their careers after the show. All they care about is producing a "fabulous" show for people to watch. I love it when I'm vindicated.

Furthermore, he says that the "gimmicky" contestants only appear on the show when the show "doesn't have the talent". Which is a shame since they've been airing these contestants with impunity for years -- specially in seasons fans considered "the most talented ever." And for this season, when they didn't air a lot of gimmicky contestants -- fans thought this was one of the weakest batch of talent the show has ever produced for the Top 13.

Here are some highlights:

Fox entertainment president Kevin Reilly recently told reporters that Idol‘s Season 11 ratings dipped “more than anticipated” and that in retrospect the show should’ve made more creative tweaks to stay competitive in the crowded reality singing competition space. How did you feel about those remarks, especially considering that in many ways, Season 11 felt like a genuine creative success?
I’m shocked that he would say we didn’t anticipate that. We always stayed away from [airing] two seasons of American Idol [per calendar year], knowing that ratings would dip, and the public would get tired. It’s just the very nature of offering the audience too much [of a particular thing]. Now, if you’re going to do The X Factor on the same [network] as American Idol, that’s like two American Idols back-to-back. So, yes, I’m shocked that they thought that the ratings wouldn’t dip. Plus, The Voice is in the mix now, too. There’s just a lot more on offer today, and kids don’t always watch the television anymore. The world has changed in the 11 years that we’ve been doing this.

Nobody is drawing 25 million viewers per week.
They’re not. That’s a fact. So, when Kevin says we’ve got to do new things next year, what are the changes? The format is a very simple format. Kids audition for us. Their talent is what brings people in to watch the show. Do we change the format? Maybe we should do it under water while basket weaving? It surprises me that there’s some kind of challenge to the producers to make it more exciting. What do they think we do? Sit on our asses not worrying about the show? I know, let’s watch the ratings dip down, that will be fun, won’t it? I get very annoyed with people, especially executives that should know what they’re talking about, making statements like that, to be frank with you.

Let’s talk about the audition rounds. I thought that they started out really strong this year — front-loaded with talent, and not nearly as many gimmicky contestants.
We had the talent. We only do gimmicky contestants when we haven’t got the talent, in truth. We’ve always tried to veer away from the kids who are playing you along, college students who just want to act stupid to get on the show. Those are different from the singers who are deluded. [I'd argue] there’s nothing wrong with [showing] the kids who just totally believe that they are the best thing since sliced bread. “What do you mean you’re going to say ‘no’ to me? I’m fantastic! My parents told me I’m wonderful!”

This has been a year, at least in my opinion, where the production itself didn’t seem to have noticeably favored any particular contestant. It felt more like an even playing field, if that makes any sense.
You wouldn’t say that if you read my Twitter replies. All the morons attack it. Here’s the thing: The television producers, of which I include myself, don’t give a damn who wins this show. The only thing we’re interested in is turning out a fabulous show for people to watch. We get no money from the record companies or anything else. Thank goodness. Because, you know, there might be every reason to be swayed if that were true. We don’t care who wins. Even our favorites. Other than that, we just want the best people to be there at the end. We get involved with, “Oh, how could America not vote for them?” We’re human too. But at the end of the day, whichever one [of the Season 11 Top 3] won, I’d be really happy for them, and to be frank, the other two — because I think they’ll all get recording contracts.

Read more at TVLine