Nigel Lythgoe on American Idol Season 12: "Nicki Minaj Is One of the Best Judges I've Ever Worked With"

Nigel Lythgoe said it plainly: "Nicki Minaj is one of the best judges I've ever worked with. What makes a good judge is somebody who is honest — honest …" — and Premier Guide Miami was in the room when it happened.

On January 9, 2013, Fox Broadcasting hosted a press conference call with American Idol executive producer Nigel Lythgoe ahead of the Season 12 two-night premiere — Wednesday, January 16 (New York auditions) and Thursday, January 17 (Chicago auditions) at 8/7c on Fox. The new judging panel of Mariah Carey, Nicki Minaj, Keith Urban, and Randy Jackson had already generated significant pre-season press. Lythgoe addressed the panel dynamics, structural changes to the competition, and what he believes separates Idol from every other talent show on television.

On the biggest structural changes to Season 12:

We've taken an American Idol bus out to the little towns this year with a producer on board who brought kids back in to the audition — kids that wouldn't necessarily be close enough to one of the cities we were at or even have the financial means to get to one of the big cities. Plus we did a thing called 'I Nominate' where friends and family who thought someone had a great voice but were too nervous to audition — Randy Jackson actually went out and we did some hidden camera stuff and shocked them, then gave them an audition number so they skipped the lines and came straight in to see the judges. And in Hollywood Week, for the first time ever, we split the weeks and gave a week to the boys and then a week to the girls, which gave us an awful lot more focus on our talent.

On why American Idol is the only competition producing bonafide stars:

In fairness, other shows really haven't been on the air that long yet to qualify against American Idol. I do think that other shows tend to concentrate a little more on gimmicks, maybe their judges a little too much. The amount of votes that people cast — once you've invested in somebody you want to see them successful after the show as well. Phillip Phillips' song 'Home' was just tremendous. We've had success and we want to continue having success.

On the new top-ten format and eliminating wild card picks:

Personally I have never liked a top 11 or a top 12 or a top 13. It was always created in order to fill the transmission times that Fox wanted so we created top 13s and gave them a wild card here and let's bring somebody back. As we've always done with So You Think You Can Dance — there's your top ten. It's a knockout competition, that simple, and this year we've finally found a way to do it.

On Keith Urban's role on the panel:

He is the scratching post between Mariah and Nicki. He sometimes looks like he's watching a tennis match with his head bobbing between the two girls, but when it's his turn to speak he gives his mind and he won't put up with anybody else knocking him down. He's had rounds with Mariah, Randy, and Nicki. Keith isn't just looking for a country star — he's looking for an instrumentalist, a good singer, and somebody that can capture that magic charisma and connect with the public. Keith is a great addition this year.

On what makes a good judge — and why Nicki Minaj surprised him:

Nicki Minaj is one of the best judges I've ever worked with. What makes a good judge is somebody who is honest — honest with integrity, not just telling somebody they suck and go home and pack your suitcase. Honest in the fact that you are good but you can improve by doing this. Any information that can help the kids in that short period of time is great. Is there more that we should be discussing rather than 'you were pitchy'? I'm so sick of that remark. I think this panel is doing that.

On Randy Jackson as the toughest voice on the panel:

Randy, when other people couch their 'No you were crap' — Randy says it. 'Give up singing. You're never going to be a singer; give it up.' The other three judges wouldn't, because although they may agree with that outright sentiment they feel like they're not there to hurt anybody. Where possible they will try and send them away with either a good comment of how they can improve or a suggestion of what they move on into. Randy, in truth, is the tough one.

On Phillip Phillips as a springboard — not a destination:

Phillip's still got to prove himself. We can't just jump up and down and go, 'Wow, he's a major star now.' There's a long way to go to be the next Carrie Underwood or Kelly Clarkson who've sustained so well. We are a springboard. One record does not make a career. We are extremely lucky that a record like 'Home' sells over three million records, but it was picked up by the Olympic Games, picked up by a movie. It's astounding how successful that's been, and now hopefully we'll use that as a springboard to get the attention for this year's American Idol.

On revealing vote rankings during results shows — and why he's been fighting for it for years:

It's something that we've wanted to do for eight, nine years. We did it in England with Pop Idol and I've always been stopped doing it in this country with people saying, 'Oh no, people will stop voting if you show that one person is winning.' We always fought that back and said, 'Just because my soccer team is number four in the league doesn't mean I'm going to stop supporting them — I'm going to support them more.' All of a sudden they managed to do it on The X Factor so I was a little 'damn it, now it looks like we're going to be copying them.' The one thing I believe about American Idol is everybody else copies American Idol. But yes — I thought it was a good move from when we first came here.

On whether hip hop could ever produce an Idol winner:

I don't believe so. I don't think rap really fits in to American Idol in the sense that rap is an art form in itself — more akin to poetry, more akin to drama. Hip hop is a way of life. It isn't a genre in truth in American Idol. What we'll get is a lot of good R&B kids. It's really difficult now days to get songs that have got a verse, a chorus, a middle eight, and a melody. Once you get them those are the songs kids sing — and we all go 'ugh' and then you give them a whole list of 9,200 songs and they sing Etta James's 'At Last.' We can't win sometimes with the music.

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