TVSquad

American Idol's executive producers, Nigel Lythgoe and Ken Warwick, will NOT be bringing their innovative or creative golden touch to the Emmys this year as previously reported. According to the TV academy, Lythgoe and Warwick have backed out of producing the Emmy telecast because of a demanding schedule.

"After we wrapped the enormous effort of Idol Gives Back, we looked at our upcoming slate of projects including the American Idol finale and the additional shows we will be involved in this summer, and realized that we could not devote the creative energy and time necessary to make the Emmys outstanding for the Television Academy and FOX," Lythgoe and Warwick said.

TV academy chairman Dick Askin stated, ''We respect Nigel and Ken's decision and are fortunate that Ken Ehrlich has agreed to return.'' Ken Ehrlich is a veteran producer of several Emmy and Grammy telecasts.

The 59th Primetime Emmy Awards will be televised live September 16 on FOX from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. Emmy nominations will be announced July 19.

American Idol probably won't be holding a songwriting contest this year. Executive producer Ken Warwick recently told TV Week that the competition has been put on the back burner for the moment, because the launch of the Idol Gives Back charity has apparently made things a bit too hectic.

Last August, producers announced that a contest would be held to select an original song for the sixth season finalists to perform. This contest would have given one very talented and lucky songwriter the chance to have his or her tune heard by millions of Idol's fans.

Now it looks like struggling songwriters are going to have to put their American Idol dreams on hold, at least for this year. It's too bad, really. I guess now we can expect the same old bland and generic first single from this season's Idol winner.

It's time to talk about the latest Idol Conspiracy Theory. This one goes a little like this: the phone lines are blocked (possibly intentionally, probably not). But text messages get through no matter what. Cingular has an exclusive deal with Idol, which allows only their customers to vote by text message. Cingular customers, therefore, may have an unfair impact on this contest.

Text messaging has become increasingly popular in the last couple of years. And this trend is reflected in Idol voting. In three years of Cingular-sponsorship, the number of text message votes has risen from 7.5 million (in 2004) to 41.5 million (in 2006).

As long as phone problems persist, and text message participation continues to rise, this controversy over the voting process will only fester and grow each year.

American Idol is a powerhouse of ratings. The Emmy telecast -- not so much. In fact, last year's show was down 13 percent in viewers from the previous year. How can Emmy grab a little of that Idol magic? Perhaps by hiring the guys behind Idol. Which is just what FOX has done.

Idol producers Nigel Lythgoe and Ken Warwick have been tapped to executive produce the telecast for The 59th Annual Emmy Awards, which will air on Sunday, September 16 (8-11 PM ET) from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.

FOX Entertainment President Peter Liguori said, "Nigel and Ken have consistently raised the creative bar with their innovative work on American Idol and we believe they will continue to do so during their first Emmy telecast."

By now, unless you live under a rock, you've probably heard that Idol producers and judges have been criticized for publicly and cruelly humiliating earnest, yet physically or mentally-challenged contestants during Idol's two-part Season Premiere. Simon Cowell and Idol producer, Ken Warwick, denied cruelty and defended their inclusion of "challenged" auditioners in last week's telecast, stating "everybody has the right to audition."

Sweet sentiment, guys. Do you really believe this bullshit? Does this help you sleep at night? Because, honestly, you sound as self-deluded as the hapless wannabes you routinely ridicule.

Despite the presence of Seth McFarlane, Matt Groening, David Kelley, and Tim Minear, every critic in the room knew what the biggest panel of the day was going to be at FOX's press tour day: American Idol. Between the charges that Simon and the other judges are being meaner than ever this year, and Paula is being loopier than ever, it promised to be a lively session. The tension built as we waited. And waited. And waited.

When the session finally started, 45 minutes late (Simon apologized for that; he flew in late from London), the tired and cranky critics began clapping in unison, prompting Peter Liguiori to say, "I feel like I'm at a Black Sabbath concert." Then the big guns came out: Paula Abdul, Randy Jackson, Simon Cowell, and Ryan Seacrest, accompanied by the show's executive producer, Ken Warwick.

I just saw this story that a new show is going to debut tonight. It's from the people behind American Idol, and it's titled Corkscrewed: The Wrath of Grapes. It's a reality show set in the world of wine. Yes, a reality show set in the world of wine. Maybe I didn't hear about it because it's on the FOX Reality Channel, and I think I'd rather have nothing but Oxygen and the Style Channel on 24 hours a day than watch that.

The show will follow two executive producers (Nigel Lythgoe and Ken Warwick) as they go through the trials and tribulations of dealing with a new vineyard that they've bought together. The first episode will have cameos from Simon Cowell, Ryan Seacrest, and Randy Jackson, but no Paula Abdul. Maybe she was zoned out busy that day.

Actually, a documentary-style series about the world of wine might be kind of interesting, but since it's on a reality channel and from the makers of American Idol, it's probably going to be more reality show-ish than documentary.

We reported last week that the Lifetime biopic on American Idol contestant Fantasia Barrino shows that the producers of the hit reality show actually pushed Barrino to quit the show after news of the baby she had as a teen and her educational background came out. Now a producer of the show calls the allegation "absolutely and totally untrue."

Ken Warwick tells the NY Post that they knew all about Fantasia's background from the very first day she was on the show, and they never asked her to quit. He calls it a "complete fabrication."

It's interesting because not only is this scene in the movie, it's the opening scene, and serves as a jumping off point for the rest of the movie and is shown again at the end, to frame the pic. It's also interesting because the movie uses actual footage from the show, including her audition, her performances, and the reactions of Simon, Paula, and Randy. So Idol must have OK'd the film.

Hmmm...