Hours after she tweeted to the world that she was leaving "American Idol," Paula Abdul was in discussions this morning for her possible new gig: as a judge and choreographer on "So You Think You Can Dance," which is produced by Nigel Lythgoe, her former boss on "Idol."
Lythgoe took a break from rehearsals for the season finale of "SYTYCD," which airs tonight and Thursday, to discuss Abdul's departure from the Fox show that gave her career a second wind. Abdul, he said, will join him and the other judges this weekend in Las Vegas, where they are filming the final rounds of auditions for the next season of "Dance," to discuss her potential future with the show. Lythgoe was the producer of "Idol" until last season. [Updated at 3:25 p.m.: An earlier version of this post incorrectly said the judges are in Vegas for the final rounds of competition for the next season.]
"We discussed the possibility of her now being available to come on 'So You Think You Can Dance,'" he said. "She's on the East Coast at this moment in time and hopefully we're going to meet this weekend in Vegas. We go out to do our Vegas Week this week and Paula's gonna come out there and we'll sit down and talk about what opportunities are available. If I can afford her."
"With Paula's background as a dancer, choreographer and reality judge now, I don't know anyone more qualified than Paula Abdul," he added.
Lythgoe said he didn't discuss the "Idol" negotiations with Abdul but thinks it's a mistake for the show to have let her go.
"I think that's too personal," he said. "That's what she must sort out for herself. All we discussed is that, yes, this is the situation at the moment, and she may well be free to come and join us on 'SYTYCD.'"
Lythgoe said that it's shameful that "American Idol" judge Simon Cowell's salary and host Ryan Seacrest's recent negotiations were made public, because "that would have aggrieved anybody else and you'd want more money, I would think, when you see those numbers. Negotiations should be held behind closed doors, not discussed, and no embarrassment on either party."
Fox and the producers were criticized last season for losing control of the production; several episodes ran long and interfered with other programming. Lythgoe blames those issues on the addition of the fourth judge, Kara DioGuardi, whose contract has been renewed.
"I'm not a fan of four judges," Lythgoe said. "I don't mind it as guest judges. But when it's every week, you run out of time as you well know. My TiVo didn't like the fact there were four judges. I also didn't like the fact that on some weeks Simon didn't get to critique some of the singers. And to be frank I wanted to hear what he's got to say about everybody. So it made no sense to me put a fourth judge in there.
"Plus, without question, for me, it lost some of its chemistry," he added. "I believe that [Randy Jackson], Paula and Simon are the true ingredients of great judging. They're historic now. Whenever judges are discussed on reality shows, they are the ones you want to emulate. They're the ones whose names will be written in history books of television."
Additionally, Abdul and Cowell's chemistry, he said, cannot be duplicated.
"There is no one else I know that can slap Simon around," he said. "I don't think Kara can do that. The chemistry isn't right. She hasn't been castigated by Simon. If that starts to occur, it will all be fake. When Paula smacked Simon, you never felt that was put on for the cameras. That was her true emotion coming out, a true passion."
-- Maria Elena Fernandez
Photo credit: Associated Press
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