It won’t be just the judges changing for American Idol 2011, says Nigel Lythgoe, the returning Executive Producer for Idol. Lythgoe detailed the addition of a music industry giant, Jimmy Iovine, and something I’m very excited about, the end of jamming the square peg through the round hole theme weeks.
Jimmy Iovine, chairman of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, will be a regular presence on the show, helping to coach the Idol hopefuls throughout the competition. To aid him, Iovine will also recruit high-profile music producers, including Timbaland and Polow Da Don, to work behind the scenes with the contestants.
Theme weeks will focus less on specific artists and niche genres. “We are no longer going to get the country singer to sing rock, or the rock singer to sing country,” executive producer Nigel Lythgoe said. “The styles of music will be more about decades, rather than an individual artist’s music.”
The push to have improved singer performance every week screams of preemptive strikes against the upcoming premiere of X Factor where the judges will spend the season actually trying to help the contestants and not just give them sound bits of advice. I can’t wait to see the positive impact this will have on American Idol.
Source: TV Guide