Idol’s executive producer Nigel Lythgoe discussed how instead of just using the mass auditions they tried a few new methods for American Idol 2013.
“American Idol has always gone out to the cities en masse,” Lythgoe told reporters during a conference call Wednesday. For the upcoming season, which premieres next Wednesday and Thursday on Fox, Idol went out in search of contestants who lived farther away from the audition cities. “We’ve actually taken an American Idol bus out to the little towns this year, with a producer on board. … That introduced new talent to us, I must say.”
Not only did the use the Idol bus to search out talent, but they also put a talent hound out on the hunt. A talent dawg if you will. Singers who were nominated and screened, some of which were just too nervous for the mass auditions, had a surprise visit by judge Randy Jackson. If he was impressed enough by what they had to offer then those Idol Hopefuls were given a direct pass to perform for the entire judges panel.
We’ll have to wait and see how these audition tweaks impact the season’s talent pool, but it’s nice to see production trying to seek out new recruiting methods for American Idol 2013.
Source: USA Today Idol Chatter