‘American Idol’ Revival Will Not Showcase ‘Bad’ Auditions

American Idol is set to return for a revival on ABC in March, but there’s one aspect of the original show that viewers won’t’ see.

At ABC’s Television Critics Association press tour on Monday, executive producer Trish Kinane said that the show won’t focus on contestants who have poor auditions as it famously used to do, although she did note that the show had lessened the practice in its later seasons.

“You might have noticed in the past few years, we haven’t really majored on people who are really bad, because one of the key things about the show is it shouldn’t feel manipulated or fake because 15 years ago, nobody had ever seen it and it was funny,” Kinane explained, via Entertainment Tonight. “Viewers know now, they’ve all watched all these shows in 15 years, and it doesn’t feel comfortable to put borderline unstable people up and laugh at them.”

Despite that, Kinane said that the show will still retain its sense of humor.

“But that’s not to say we don’t want humor in Idol,” Kinane continued. “Humor is a very important part of Idol, so if someone’s eccentric, slightly different or if they’ve got a different voice or if they do something we don’t normally hear, we’ll put that up, that’s fun. We want the humor but we don’t want the exploitation.”

The panel — which included host Ryan Seacrest and judges Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan — also addressed what the show is planning on focusing on: finding a star.

“Literally, we are wasting our time if we do not find a star,” Perry said. “America needs another star. They need a real, legit American Idol. It’s a crowded space and I take it really seriously, sometimes to my detriment.”

American Idol premieres on March 11 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

Photo Credit: Twitter / @AmericanIdol