Nigel Lythgoe responds to Adam Levine on American Idol and Gays
In an interview with EW, Nigel Lythgoe responds to Adam Levine’s criticism of American Idol regarding gay contestants. He also openly campaigns for Emmy Awards, and confirms that So You Think You Can Dance has not been renewed yet.
I like a good verbal war between shows, but this is not as simple as Nigel presents it to be.
Nigel has a bad track record when it comes to gays on the programs he is running. On the first season of So You Think You Can Dance, he openly criticized a contestant for “not looking masculine“. A couple of years later, he followed that up with critiquing a same sex couple audition (obviously allowing it to be aired to show how ridiculous it is). And of course, he’s always encouraged the “gay jokes” between Ryan Seacrest and Simon Cowell on American Idol. There is a long list against Nigel. To me, his actions speak louder over the years than his answers in this interview.
From EW:
You probably saw NBC’s The Voice judge Adam Levine saying Idol should show openly gay contestants. What do you think of that and could that change next season?
To be frank, I didn’t understand why we’re talking about contestants being gay or not gay. I don’t go into my dentist and say, “Are you gay?” I don’t say to contestants on So You Think You Can Dance, “Are you gay?” What does it got to do with me? What does it got to do with anybody? When does privacy stop in this country? If somebody wants to say they’re gay, it’s up to them. You don’t expect us to turn around and say, “Are you gay?” Why would we do that? — “By the way, he’s a Catholic and he supports Obama and here’s his sexuality” — what does that have anything to do with singing talent? Maybe it does for Adam Levine, but not for me.
So the reason nobody has been openly gay on Idol is that it’s up to the contestant.
Did [season eight Idol contestant] Adam Lambert come out?
Afterwards, I believe so.
He must have come out before being on Idol, he just didn’t talk about it on Idol. And why should he? Is every actor going on television going to say, “I’m only playing the part of a straight man, I’m really gay”? There’s no reason that I would see why anybody that goes on television should start coming out with who they are, what they are, what they’re sexuality is, who they’re going to vote for or what their religion is.
On So You Think You Can Dance, Cat landed an Emmy nomination and it’s up for competition series as well.
I would prefer, and I apologize for my entire [Dance] team for saying this, I would prefer American Idol to win an Emmy. And I would also like very much for Cat to reciprocate by winning [as best host], and if she doesn’t, then Ryan Seacrest. It’s sad when you’re up against yourself; it’s, “Which one of your children gets the last sweet.”
Dance hasn’t been officially renewed, but my sense is that it’s coming back?
I hope so. You’re right, it’s not official. But I’m told it’s imminent. I certainly like a lot of the stuff we did this year. I enjoyed quite a few of the guest judges, and enjoyed a talented season of dancers.
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I think you meant to say that your opinion was objective..not informed given your gay Asian status. Well, coming from a bisexual 1/2 Asian...I think Nigel is a homophobic tool. Objective or not, that's my opinion :D
I mean, you typed that word above, yet comments won't accept it.
Why can't I type the word s-e-x here, Rickey? What are you afraid of?
I think a couple of you are taking what Nigel says out of context. When you're dancing in pairs, couples, man and woman, there should be a difference between a woman and a man. You don't put a man and a woman together to have two feminine dancers. That's what Nigel was saying, I believe, and I agree with him. A romantic dance between two same sex partners may work in some productions, but right now I don't think America is ready for that on a show such as SYTYCD. I also feel the same as Nigel -why do celebs feel it's everybody's business to know their sexual orientation or religion? I certainly don't care about either. I don't go around broadcasting that I'm a hetero. I don't think people should do this or feel they need to - a reason why I don't see the point in Gay Pride Parades. One's sex life is personal and I think best to be a private matter between the people involved. And that's not saying it should be hidden or covered up. It's called discretion, and self-confidence without the need to have to prove anything.
The gay contestants on American Idol, for the most part, have had to intentionally hide their sexuality for fear of repurcussions such as rejection and bigotry. It has always been acceptable for the straight contestants to mention their boyfriends/girlfriends on the live show and in the packages but not for the gay contestants. It's a double standard and is discriminatory.
I have to say that this made sense. When you are cool with who you are, you do not need to go around talking about it. All you do is live it. You are content.
I think nigel didn't get what adam say I mean he just try to say that they judge stupid things on contestans like the looks and other things that is lame as ass cause this last season the final where just 2 cute teenagers that aren't that good singing at all I will prefer the jazzy girl and the rock n roll guy on the final that the teenagers country singers cause they weren't that good but they get there cause the looks mostly, also like I say before is america's who decide who wins and who can be eliminated not the judges.
This is bad for the show of Adam know I get the feeling that because of him the show will not last that much cause now Nigel will slam the show in any chance he have and stuff cause he's a big producer in the industry of shows like this ones this is bad.
He's against gays and Asians. So typical of a whitey.
I won't watch his shows since what he did to those Asians on SYTYCD. That "public apology" won't give back votes to the supposed winner.
He rigs all of his shows, IMHO.
While Nigel probably skews the results a bit with his comments on SYTYCD, he does not have it against Asians. He usually sticks his foot in his mouth when he says things without properly thinking about his choice of words. Like in season 5 of SYTYCD, where he said that "Brandon and Jeanine were the final 2 as far as he was concerned". It was the same thing that happened to Tadd and Marko, but everyone is blowing this out of proportion because these two contestants happened to be Asian.
And while his comments about same-sex dancing on the show may seem homophobic, but I personally don't believe them to be malicious. His views on dance seem to coincide with the dancing community, where they want masculine and feminine roles to stay how they are traditionally defined. Nigel may say things in the wrong way, but he doesn't mean any harm with his words. He just needs public speaking classes.
BTW, this is coming from a gay Asian so it is an informed opinion.
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