Big event promised on new season of ‘Idol’

“American Idol” executive producer Cecile Frot-Coutaz promises a big event midway through the coming season of the red-hot talent show – but she won’t say what it is.

It’s hard to believe the folks behind “Idol,” which returns with two-hour editions on Jan. 16 and 17 at 8 p.m., can get the show any bigger than it already is.

When it’s on – and it’s only around 19 weeks a year – the show is the biggest thing on the small screen, generating huge Nielsen ratings and daily water-cooler buzz.

Each season the show rolls around, there are gentle warnings that the audience level will drop. And, each year, the show does better.

Last season, the Tuesday edition of “Idol” was watched by an average of 31.02 million people to rank No. 1 for the season. That’s up 3 million from the 27.44 million the season before.

Few shows have had the run “American Idol” has and remained as strong. But Frot-Coutaz said a drop is not out of the realm of possibility.

“Look,” she said, “it’s always in the back of your mind. The only thing we can do is make the best show we can and find the best talent as possible. The rest, some of it is up to Fox and how they promoted it. The rest is the competitive landscape. If we keep giving (viewers) something entertaining, it will be fine.”

Fox’s competitors treat the show like it’s radioactive. For instance, ABC recently announced it would move “Lost” to 10 p.m. on Wednesdays to get it away from “Idol” at 9.

The upcoming season’s early episodes are “great,” Frotz-Coutaz says, with some of the best audition shows ever. They key, she says, is mixing the good people with the truly bad ones, like, say, William Hung.

“There’s some great talent out there,” she says. “But there’s also some people who are delusional about their talent, too. That’s the beauty of an open call – everybody comes. Everybody thinks they’ve got a great voice.”