Luke Bryan Had to Take Drastic Measures to Film ‘American Idol’ During COVID-19 Pandemic
While it may have seemed to the TV-watching audience that much-loved reality show American Idol pulled off its remote episodes (filmed during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic earlier this year) without a hitch, Luke Bryan has something to say about the actual bit of havoc that went on behind the scenes.
As he revealed to Kelly Clarkson during a recent appearance on the Kelly Clarkson Show, Bryan found himself—and his more rural location sheltering as a show judge in Tennessee—caused some unexpected problems for the production as a whole (watch above, where he discusses at around the 9-minute mark).
"We set up big TV screens and monitors and stuff like that, " he told Clarkson. "But the problem was that Lionel [Richie], Katy [Perry] and Ryan [Seacrest] live in L.A. Like, all of their Internet is fiber-optic Internet. It’s like, we used to think dial-up was fast! I live 25 minutes south of Nashville, and our Internet was holding up [everything]...it was creating problems.
"We had this dude in a satellite truck come out, he could not even come inside, he had to sleep in his truck, " he added. "We had to get him a Porta-Potty....this was at the height of COVID. It was the only way we could get good Internet connection!"
Not that Bryan seems to mind that much about the challenges he has faced with the show over the past few months. "The thing about Idol is, it is just a fun gig, " he enthused. "When you are a part of being the first people to see a star being born...working with Lionel, Katy and Ryan, its no drama. I’m not trying to be a bigger star than Katy Perry, and we know well never be a bigger star than Lionel!
"We just all have our own fun little role, and we just focus on the kids."
American Idol is currently taking remote auditions from hopefuls across the country through early September for its next season.
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