‘American Idol’ Showrunner Reveals Best, Worst Songs for Auditions
ABC/Josh Vertucci Reading Time: 2 minutes
American Idol showrunner Megan Michaels Wolflick was recently a guest on the D23 Inside Disney podcast. Michaels Wolflick shared her honest thoughts about the show, which she’s worked on since 2003. That includes the most overdone song on the series.
‘American Idol’ Showrunner Shares Most Overdone Song
Michaels Wolflick has been with the show since Season 2, so she’s heard a lot of performances over the years. She shared that one song she never gets tired of hearing contestants sing is “Stay” by Rihanna.
“Everyone reinvents it,” Michaels Wolflick shared. “You have a classic version this year. We have a guy who’s made it quite far in the competition, who’s a country male singing act. It’s like this song that’s evergreen. It’s a chameleon of a song. For some reason, it keeps being reinvented over the years.”
As for the song she’s tired of hearing, it’s “Valerie” by Amy Winehouse. Michaels Wolflick said sometimes they warn contestants that a song has been overdone. She realized recently that “Valerie” might not have been done on the show in a while because of this warning, so she embraced someone performing it this season.
The podcast hosts also asked Michaels Wolflick where in the United States they’ve found the best talent, and she said Alabama. She mentioned contestants such as Taylor Hicks, Ruben Studdard, and Bo Bice.
#AmericanIdol's executive producer reveals the most oversung song, why Alabama is her favorite state for talent, and which judge she associates with “Poor Unfortunate Souls”: https://t.co/X3zwSZ11XG
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SEE ALSO: ‘AMERICAN IDOL’ JUDGES PREPARE FOR MOST “COMBATIVE” SEASON YET
Michaels Wolflick Shared Fun Facts About the Judges
Michaels Wolflick also spoke to the podcast hosts about the current American Idol judges — Katy Perry, Lionel Richie, and Luke Bran. She called them “three of the most genuine people you will ever meet” and said they’re “really good friends.”
The showrunner also shared that Luke Bryan was a huge Lionel Richie fan growing up, and both Perry and Bryan are big snack lovers. However, Richie doesn’t care about snacks. Michaels Wolflick said she’s never seen him snack on set.
She went on to talk about host Ryan Seacrest, saying he’s great on live television, comparing him to a mathematician. Michaels Wolflick said it’s because of his experience on the radio. He doesn’t even wear an earpiece when hosting the live shows.
American Idol Season 20 premieres Sunday, February 27, at 8/7c on ABC.
