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 American Idol contestant Sanjaya Malakar |
Lythgoe also compared websites such as votefortheworst.com to "a fly buzzing around a cow."
"Can't you understand why little girls vote for Sanjaya? I can," said Lythgoe, one of the key creative minds behind ratings juggernaut American Idol, which airs on Fox in the United States and on CTV in Canada.
"When you're getting 30 million votes, whatever that website can do is just not enough."
Malakar's extended run has become a lightning rod for controversy during this season of American Idol. His cuteness is undeniable; his singing ability, to some ears, is marginal at best.
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IN ON THE ACT
Last weekend, NBC's Saturday Night Live got in on the act, with Andy Samberg impersonating Malakar. As Samberg butchered You Really Got Me, three people were shown crying with glee in the audience -- among them, legendary SNL alumnus Dan Aykroyd. (A young girl had been seen weeping for Sanjaya on Idol during his most-recent performance.)
Does Lythgoe have a thick enough skin to find that funny?
"I don't need the thick skin, Sanjaya needs the thick skin," Lythgoe said.
"I'm old school, so any time my shows are talked about, I'm really happy. Saturday Night Live often has had pot-shots at us. And we've always enjoyed it. I don't mind. Part of our humour here is making fun of ourselves, so it really doesn't worry me if anyone else makes fun of it."
Lythgoe pointed out that America loves all-around performers, and the wild-haired Malakar certainly knows how to work a crowd.
"I think we're going to have this thing called the Sanjaya effect," Lythgoe said. "And I feel as though, myself, last week, I was 'Sanjaya-ed.'
"I don't know what the controversy is, to be frank. He has guts, this kid, and you have to applaud that. If half the people with more talent than him had his guts, we'd be getting better talent all-round. I don't think he's stupid."
Lythgoe isn't stupid, either, and he walks a fine line between cockiness over the continued success of American Idol and awareness that some observers take the show far, far too seriously.
Lythgoe was marginally incredulous yesterday when someone suggested American Idol might be the most important show in the history of TV.
"Only (in terms of) Fox's ratings," Lythgoe said. "Even if we lost 50% of our audience, we still would be in the top three programs in the country.
"It's a really good talent show that appeals to families. It's important as a sort of social glue. But is it the most important show? No, of course not. Let's not lose perspective on what this is. It's phenomenal in its own area. Outside of that, it doesn't really mean anything in real life."
ON TOP
Still, it's fun to be on top.
"It's very nice to be known as the Death Star, and nobody wants to schedule around us," Lythgoe admitted. "That comes with the success of the program. But it's a television show."
Speaking of TV shows, Lythgoe doesn't anticipate World Idol -- a one-off project that pitted Idol winners from various countries against each other in 2003 -- making a return any time soon.
"Once they're idols, they get this star quality to them," Lythgoe said. "And it's very hard to say, 'Okay, now you're going to compete against Kazakhstan, and you're singing against Borat. And you could probably lose.'
"Why would you want to bring down your star of that year? It would be awful to lose to Borat, to be frank. I'd rather wrestle him than sing against him."