Simon Cowell admits he hasn't watched American Idol for years. Will he return for the final season?
“When I was on holiday last month, I had dinner with Nigel Lythgoe, who used to produce the show” and will be producing the series finale, Simon told AJC.com.
“We were laughing over some of the memories. He said, ‘You’ve got to do something.’ We’re trying to make it work. I want to be there. It’s going to be a big night. All of us should be there.”
Simon said schedule permitting he intends to be at the series finale on April 7th.
Simon also spoke about judging America's Got Talent this year.
"I came up with the idea of the show 12 years ago. One day in my kitchen watching another talent show, some girl was singing so badly, I actually thought to myself, ‘I’d rather watch dogs dancing!’
Looking back all those years ago, it was just a fun idea. It was very difficult to sell. But we were fortunate someone at NBC bought into it. America was the first country to go for it."
When asked who stood out on the show, Simon said "The first winner Terry Fator [the singing comic and ventriloquist, now a staple in Vegas]. It’s incredible. When we narrowed down the finalists,"
Asked if he was looking forward to being back on US TV, Simon said "I’m looking forward to it. I like the guys at NBC. I’ve worked with them for a long time.
I like the panel. When I was doing some production work with them in America, I enjoyed working with them. Hopefully, the difference I can make for the show is that we should and can attract better music talent.
We found one good one in Jackie Evancho. Amazing girl. But it hasn’t been our strong suit. The message we want to send out that this is a credible place for singers to audition compared to some other shows. Take Susan Boyle. She has sold 20 million albums with that audition. That’s what we want to improve."
Simon also revealed they are moving the show back to LA "Change is good. Secondly, logistically, it is way easier to produce the show in L.A. than New York.
Everyone basically has to travel to New York to do it. I don’t think it’s a bad thing taking it to different parts of the country. [There are no plans this year though to do auditions with the judges in different cities like they have in the past. “AGT” has shot episodes at both the Fabulous Fox Theatre and Cobb Energy Centre in past years.]
Simon says he hasn't watched Idol in years " I was so emotionally tied to the show and then I wasn’t. It’s kind of not my business anymore whether they keep it going or not. It doesn’t make a difference to my life.
For me, it was an incredible introduction and a fantastic opportunity to come to work in America and get to know America and Americans.
It was an amazingly positive experience. I loved it. It made me confident about doing this show now because there’s something about “America’s Got Talent” that reminds me of when I used to do “Idol.” There’s still a certain innocence about the show."
"I always thought ‘The X Factor’ is the best show. It’s got more depth. The problem was, it was on in the fall competing with football and baseball. And you’re competing with dancing shows and other reality competition shows.
How much can people take in a year? If the ‘X Factor’ had taken over for the ‘Idol’ slot, it would have been a different story."
