May 05, 2008

Paula Abdul's Job Is Safe, 'American Idol' Executive Producer Says

By MTV News staff

Cecile Frot-Coutaz, an executive producer for "American Idol," told The Associated Press on Thursday that Paula Abdul's job is safe.

"Why would we get rid of Paula?" she said when asked if Abdul's slip-up this week, in which she critiqued one of Jason Castro's songs before he'd sung it, had put the judge's future on the show in question. "She's great for the show.

"I love that everyone was talking about it," she continued. "It was so unexpected. It was something that took up two seconds of airtime. You'd think there was no other news on television."

Abdul has blamed the gaffe on a last-minute format switch, and Frot-Coutaz explained the reasoning behind it. "We thought it would be a good opportunity for the judges to give the contestants a good kick in the butt and tell them they were going to have to kick it up a notch for the second song," she said. "That decision happened during the live broadcast. It was at the very last minute, so Paula wasn't planning on doing any judging. It's not her fault."

Frot-Coutaz also told AP that Abdul is a "great team player," and said that there are no plans to replace any of the show's other judges or host Ryan Seacrest. "They're a great cast," she said. "They work very well together. If it's working, don't fix it."

The exec said she's not concerned about the show's recent drop in ratings. Viewership for the Tuesday performance show were reportedly the lowest for "Idol" in five years. According to Nielsen Media Research, more than 22 million viewers tuned in for Wednesday's show, in which Brooke White was eliminated. White called Abdul's mistake one of the show's "human moments."

"Nobody's alarmed by the ratings dip," Frot-Coutaz said. "We're still 7 million viewers ahead of the second-biggest show. And let's face it. TV has taken a huge decline this year. All the networks are down by quite a bit. I think the writers' strike really hurt. A lot of viewers haven't come back. You can't just look at an isolation in the environment."

Frot-Coutaz also said she feels the show has a strong future.

"If we're smart about it, there's no reason why 'Idol' wouldn't keep going. Just look at 'Price Is Right,' " she said, referring to the show produced by FreMantle Media, the company of which she is CEO. "It's been on for over 35 years."