There’s a lengthy new feature available from the Hollywood Reporter today looking at the struggle the Idol crew faced while putting together a new judges panel. We also learn about other celebrities they considered for judges.

In this bit, FOX President of Alternative Programming Mike Darnell speaks of what other celebs they considered to judge:

We weren’t sure what direction we were going, so we just kept taking meetings. We had a list: Mariah Carey was on it, Shania Twain, Harry Connick Jr. Cecile and I were the first line of defense, and we met with at least 40 people.

Host Ryan Seacrest spoke about being nervous going into the live shows for this new season:

I was nervous going into the live shows because with all those moving parts and new bodies in those seats — it is a machine, there’s a lot going on to run that show. So I was curious to see how smoothly it would go. And I mean, you watch it now, it’s like they’ve been doing it all their lives; the timing and the cadence is great.

Read the entire seven-page pieces at this link!

Do you think American Idol did a good job selecting new judges?