May 12, 2009

By By Catherine Applefeld Olson

Don't expect "American Idol" creator Simon Fuller to fall victim to chatter of " 'Idol' fatigue." Despite a ratings dip overall for the show this year, he discusses why his brainchild still rules the airwaves, why he wants to connect fans more directly with artists, and why there's really no such thing as bad publicity for the show.

There are notable changes with the show this year. How did you want it to change?
I felt we just needed to tweak a few things for this season. I spent a lot of time thinking about it on my own and we had a few meetings with the producers and Fox and Fremantle. Of course, the most major change of all was adding a fourth judge.

At what point did you decide to bring in another judge?
We've been talking about adding a fourth judge for years. The thinking behind that was really just to add another dimension, another voice, another personality. I discussed it with Simon [Cowell] and Simon agreed it was a good idea. And it's been a great addition. Everyone seems to be firing on all cylinders this year.

Was it critical to have Cowell onboard?
Simon and I are friends and he's important to the show, and I'm always keen to hear his opinion. Why would I not have spoken to him? I didn't want it to come out of the blue for everybody and be interpreted as something it wasn't. And with Simon as a key judge on the show it was important to see what he thought because it wasn't meant to disrupt. It was meant to enhance. So when he said, "That's a good idea. I'm in agreement," we thought, "Why not?"

Why is Kara DioGuardi the right person as the newest judge?
We looked at lots of different people in all areas of the music industry, and some people who weren't even in the music industry. But we ended up with Kara because she really has the full package. She's a musician and a songwriter, so she understands songs and what it takes to be a singer and perform. And she has a great understanding of the industry, and she's very intelligent and lively and fun. So it was a relatively easy decision to go for her.

There have been mixed reports about a plan to return to three judges after this season, that perhaps another judge would be leaving.
That's just rumor. We added the fourth judge to have four judges. One of the things we've learned and will address next year is that there were a couple of shows that we didn't have enough time on; we tried to cut to an hour too early. Now everyone is in agreement that next year we'll make those shows hour-and-a-half shows and we'll have more time to benefit from having four judges.

Cowell recently went on record saying he would consider leaving the show after next season. What's your response?
Whatever he does, he'll do with great thought and with good reason. It's something he and I haven't really discussed at great length, but I don't think he's going to be going anytime soon. I do think he wants to evolve and there are many ways for him to evolve with "Idol." I can't imagine Simon not being a part of "Idol" in some way.

What kinds of things would help him-and the role of the judges in general-evolve?
There are many opportunities. It's such a huge franchise globally. It's the biggest TV show on earth. And when you're dealing with the biggest TV show on earth, you can work stuff out.

What about other changes to "Idol" this year? The judges' "save" is new.
The judges' save was, again, an idea we've had up our sleeve for at least two years. But we have to be careful with "Idol." We don't want to make changes just for the sake of it. The thing about [the save] is it's really brought new life to the results show. It adds another bit of drama. We've always looked at the results show as a part of "Idol" we thought we could improve. And now it really feels like a substantial show in its own right. And the ratings have proven that to be the case. We are up most weeks over the ratings we had last year.

The results show has also become such a performance showcase, particularly for former "Idol" contestants.
We support the past Idols, and they continue to support us in other areas. Our stable of artists is pretty damn formidable. When people look at our list of artists in decades to come it will rival any music phenomenon. And we can perpetuate that through the succession and support of having them on the show every week.

What has been the best thing about this season so far?
There are two or three things that have commanded a lot of conversation. I think Kara has made a positive difference. Whether you think it's a good idea to have her or a bad idea, you have an opinion. And the other thing is the talent this year is without question the most varied we've ever had. Things like the save are exciting, and even the conversation about, "Is Simon going to stay or go?" I love all that stuff.

There always seems to be some sort of rumor mill spinning around the show. Is there any such thing as bad publicity for "Idol"?
That kind of publicity is only good. I love the debate. As long as gossiping and chat is based on entertainment and not anything sinister, it's all good stuff. Another debate is about the ratings. They're up, they're down, they're sideways. Even that debate is great because we're the No. 1 show by a mile, and the distance between the No. 1 show and the No. 2 show is greater this year than it has ever been any other year. So if you really want to look at stats, how about that one?

But there's also talk this year about " 'Idol' fatigue." Is the show coming close to running its course?
Not at all. If you look at it in the context of other shows in our category, we're doing better than anybody. No. 1 is No. 1 and if you're further ahead of No. 2 than you were last year, that's all I need to know. If you're an advertiser, where are you going to put your money? It's all relative. If more people are on the Internet, then that's the modern world we live in. Or maybe they're going out more, and that's great because they may be going to see the "American Idol" concert or listening to "American Idol" music online or visiting AmericanIdol.com. We're everywhere anyway, so as people migrate from one form of entertainment to another, chances are "American Idol" is still in their life.

How many more years do you expect the series to run?
I wouldn't even think of it in terms of how many years because it's more than five, and you're probably getting into double digits and beyond. I mean, why would it not continue? It's like, "When will people stop watching American football?" I see it in that kind of context.

How has "Idol" benefited from the iTunes relationship?
Has it made "American Idol" bigger? No. Has it given it a seamless relationship with the consumer getting music? It's certainly helped because if we weren't working exclusively with iTunes, we'd probably be doing it on AmericanIdol.com like we have done in previous years, which is not quite as good as iTunes. It's a good relationship, but it's a commercial relationship and iTunes may decide they don't want to spend the money next year. And if that happened that would be a shame, but it wouldn't particularly change anything for us.

Is that a conversation you're having with Apple now?
No. But people watching "American Idol" will always want to engage with those artists and buy their music, and they'll buy it no matter how it's there for them to buy. I don't think there's any particular piece of the jigsaw that's integral to "Idol." It's a great working relationship that should continue. But if it does, it does, and if it doesn't, it doesn't. Some companies suddenly are cutting back and don't want to invest as much money. If that happens tomorrow or next season, it will have minimal effect on us.

Last year you said your real vision is to deliver entertainment directly to consumers. Anything going on in that area?
That's probably top of the list of things I'm working on right now. We're engaged in numerous discussions so there's nothing major to announce. But you can trust that that scenario is absolutely in the forefront of our minds, and you'll probably see it next year. It's bringing the music fan closer to "American Idol" and closer to the artists. We're thinking about how we can get to an artist in a way where the connection is so tight it's almost instantaneous. It's quite difficult now to get to the music you love because there are so many walled gardens. The future is about taking those walls down, and that's something we want to be in the forefront of.

So if that happens next year, does it make sense to continue the iTunes relationship given that iTunes is a middleman?
The relationship with iTunes can evolve into something even better if there's a mind to go down that road. They may be happy to maintain their position as what they are [or] they could very easily be that partner throughout this new journey. But we're on that journey with or without them.

How about the relationship between your management company, 19 Entertainment, and the show's contestants. How has that evolved?
Contractually we have options on all of the contestants. That's always been the case. But at this point, it doesn't mean I will always option those rights. It has to feel right to me. I have to feel there is a relationship there. We will always have the winner signed to 19, so we'll have the recording rights. But as for the management, that is much more of a human element. I feel more emotional about these things now than I ever did before. I want everyone to be focused and excited. I haven't quite got it in me to push water uphill anymore.

So what's next for you?
I'm finding myself getting more drawn to music than I have in recent years. Music has suffered badly for all the reasons we all know, but music is also more powerful and more loved than ever before. So there has to be an opportunity to make it work for everybody: for the music lover, for the artist who creates music, for the businessman. And I would love to be at forefront of the next generation of how music works as an entertainment and as a business. Because if it isn't a business, it's hard for artists to make a career of it, and we're going to lose a lot of great artists . . . I also feel ready to embrace more things outside of the company I am a partner in. I don't want to be an island. I want to mix it up with some other people and do some really big ideas that can have some serious impact. That's sort of where my head's at. I'm in the mood to collaborate.

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