Certain formats should never be forgotten, 'Blind Date' for instance, because 'Britain's Got Talent' is really 'New Faces' or 'The Gong Show,' whilst we're basically 'Opportunity Knocks.' Nigel Lythgoe More Quotes by Nigel Lythgoe More Quotes From Nigel Lythgoe Since I've been in the U.S. I've lost the back of my heart, 15 ft. of intestine and my marriage - and God, I miss my intestine. Nigel Lythgoe missing heart lost If you don't know the right people or have the right connections, you may never be discovered. With 'Opening Act,' we are democratizing a notoriously impossible process, pulling back the curtains on a consistently fascinating industry, and affording aspiring artists the chance of a lifetime. Nigel Lythgoe connections artist people The minute you take away somebody the public's voting for, you're screwing with the program. There's no logic to it. Nigel Lythgoe program logic voting I don't think rap really fits in to 'American Idol' in the sense that I believe rap is an art form in itself more akin to poetry, more akin to drama, if you will. Nigel Lythgoe drama believe art And what is a stage dad, or a stage mom? It's someone who's protective. That's all. Nigel Lythgoe stage dad mom That makes entertaining television. That is the circus of American Idol . We go for the very, very best and the very, very worst. It's the boring people that we don't want to see on television. Nigel Lythgoe idols people television Since we launched the original 'Pop Idol' in England, I've remained close with Simon Fuller. Working as executive producer on 'American idol' for its first seven years not only was an inspirational journey into the heart of American pop culture, it opened my eyes to the untapped potential of the incredibly dynamic young people in this world. Nigel Lythgoe eye heart inspirational In my day everything wasn't so PC. Nigel Lythgoe There's no question 'Amazing Race' is a beautifully produced show. Nigel Lythgoe race shows Tap dancers find it very difficult to do anything other than tap if that is all they have been trained in because, again, it's a whole different ballgame that you're constantly working on - bent legs, loose ankles - which you cannot afford to do when you're doing jumps or anything else. Nigel Lythgoe find doing you difficult With dancing, so much is about sexuality and sensuality and without life experience it becomes much more of a performance, rather than a living, breathing entity from the soul. Nigel Lythgoe performance experience soul life I've never believed that 'Idol' as a franchise is beholden to any individual because everybody said it would die the minute Simon Cowell left, and it hasn't. Nigel Lythgoe idol die never said I put the heart attack down to 66 cigarettes a day. Nigel Lythgoe attack down day heart In my lifetime, I've discovered a great many incredibly talented individuals. Some have achieved stardom. Simultaneously, I've seen many dreams shattered, egos destroyed and lives changed forever. The end destination may well be fame and fortune, but the road to stardom is littered with broken hearts. Nigel Lythgoe dreams great destination broken So many people report to be contemporary dancers, and they're not. They are sort of jazz dancers that feel like they're throwing a bit of classical in there. I mean, a true contemporary dancer has got ballet as their base and classical ballet, and that is their base. And then they choose to extemporize on that and go into a contemporary world. Nigel Lythgoe true feel people world We put too much on contemporary dancers. A lot of them cannot change styles; a lot of them can't do anything else other than run around the stage reaching and stretching in anguish to somebody off camera that I never understand who it is. But it's the teenage angst they have to live with. Nigel Lythgoe camera live understand change Adam Shankman has got such love and passion for dance. Nigel Lythgoe got passion dance love 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? Nigel Lythgoe me you gay dance Everybody I've ever seen live sings out of tune, even the greatest singers in the world. And of course if you make a single nowadays, they'll autotune it anyway. Nigel Lythgoe live you single world Dancing is my passion. I started as a dancer. Nigel Lythgoe started dancer passion dancing