Lythgoe Tries to Bring Idol Touch to Country

Nigel Lythgoe is plenty busy trying to bring American Idol back to its former glory on Fox, and producing and co-judging his other big success on TV, So You Think You Can Dance — even making appearances on The View. But the king of reality contest shows still has found time to conceive and launch an Idol-style property aimed at creating a new star of country music.

In April, Lythgoe and his son, Simon Lythgoe, will debut CMT’s Next Superstar on the Viacom-owned cable channel CMT, short for Country Music Television. Based in Nashville instead of Hollywood, Superstar will last only 10 episodes and will differ markedly from Idol and Dance in many other ways.

But the basic aim will be the same: Create the same sort of perennial hit in the country-music genre that Idol has become for the music industry overall.Continue reading...