News from American Idol Exec Producer in December

Executive Producer of American Idol Ken Warwick spoke to the media yesterday regarding the exciting new changes for season eight, and he made sure to separate fact from fiction. The goal, as always, is to keep the core aspects of everyone's favorite show in tact while providing elements that give it a fresh feel each season. One way this is done, according to Ken, is smart coverage of the hopefuls during the audition process. After seven seasons, many of them have become what he calls "camera savvy," even developing an idea for what they think they should say. Ken said that they tried to shy away from covering these folks this year, as he thinks it looks fairly obvious, and the judges don't like to see that either. There will also be more coverage of the social interactions during Hollywood Week, much like there was a few seasons ago. Appealing to the viewer's sense of curiosity, we will, once again, be able to find out when some auditioners did things like playing in the pool instead of spending the time rehearsing with their groups. The Wild Card is another thing that will be returning this year, and Ken explained the thought process behind its reinstatement. As he puts it, by the time the show is down to its Top 12, the fans have been seeing these same faces for weeks and weeks, which can make it a bit boring. The Wild Card "keeps it fresher for longer," according to Ken, and gives us a chance to get to know all 36 hopefuls. Ken addressed some of the concerns about the prior experience that some of these hopefuls have when auditioning for AI. While he understands the love of the notion of finding a previously undiscovered star, he says that it's just not going to happen all the time. In fact, he says that he looks at it a different way, and some of these folks have seen record deals come and go without success. They come to AI feeling a bit bruised and battered, but the show ends up restoring their faith in the music business. As long as they have no management now, that's all Ken says should matter. Ken also talked extensively about the decision to add Kara DioGuardi as a fourth judge this season and, to him, it simply made sense. Not only did the Idol concept begin with four judges, but Kara adds even more legitimacy to the panel with her background. As Ken explained, in past seasons, Kara would move in once the new Idol was crowned and she would take a pivotal role in his or her music career--writing, producing, making an album. As he said, "So she's probably the best qualified person to know what we're looking for, which we thought was a good idea. She's young, she's opinionated, she's incredibly talented, and she's a really good singer." In the past, when the judges would rate the singing, the critique would come by way of a verbal review. With Kara, she is able to tell the auditioner, "This is how you should have sung that," and she actually sings it! According to Ken, this happens in a couple of the audition shows. Another interesting element she provides is one of empathy. Apparently, there are instances in which she gangs up with Paula Abdul against Simon Cowell in allowing the kids another chance to overcome their nerves. Ken explains how sometimes the stress of the situation can take over: "It's just one of those things. You've been sitting there all day, and you're frightened to death, and you know you're a bit tired or you've driven 500 miles to get there and you're not going to be great." Unlike Simon, Kara and Paula would pick up on this, and give them a little more "leeway" to try and improve. Simon does not react well to this, as one can imagine, which makes for great TV, according to Ken! As many have probably heard, Ken confirmed that Idol Gives Back will not return this year. In addition to this being a tough economical time for the nation, Ken admits to the fact that it's also a grueling preparation process, calling it a "heavy workload on everybody." He says that it's also challenging to keep the quality of the "main show" up when preparing for such an extensive event, not to mention the finale comes only weeks later. However, all this doesn't mean that IGB won't ultimately return. As Ken said, they'll take a look again next year and decide at that point whether to do it. We just released the new schedule for this season as well--visit our News Blog for the highly anticipated information!