SET those conspiracy theories aside — “American Idol” wasn’t trying to fake you out with Wednesday night’s Bottom 3 results.
But Adam may not have been one of the Bottom 2, says the show’s former producer.
“They wouldn’t lie about it; they’re always honest with you,” says Nigel Lythgoe, previously the executive producer for the first seven seasons of “Idol” and currently the executive producer and a judge on “So You Think You Can Dance.”
That being said, it doesn’t mean the show won’t take some liberty with the order that the other two low-vote receiving contestants are told to sit down, he says.
After the votes are collected and tabulated by AT&T and the show’s survey firm, Telescope, “all we’re told at the end of the day is, ‘Here are the Bottom 3,’ ” he says. “And we make whatever we can out of that and turn it into a show.”
Fans were shocked to see Adam Lambert, the runaway fave to win this year’s competition, in jeopardy of going home this week. That set rumors flying that maybe producers had fiddled with the outcome for dramatic effect.
Not possible, Lythgoe told The Post yesterday. But that doesn’t mean there is no wiggle room.
Since “Idol” never specifically states who the second- and third-lowest vote getters are, any conclusions that the audience draws from the order that they’re sent to the safe stand is purely “up to the public at home.”
Meanwhile, Lythgoe says he’s been watching how the fourth judge is working this season and says, so far, he isn’t a “huge fan” of the move.
“It takes up too much time, and it puts the spotlight on the judges, not on the talent, which is where I prefer the spotlight,” he says.
That said, Lythgoe likes Kara DioGuardi, who he calls “a terrific judge, fabulous.”
But, he adds, “It must’ve been really tough slotting into the family. It’s a bit like becoming Simon Cowell’s second wife, when the first wife is still sitting there.”