Idol producer," according to Kinane, who says she then sorted through the cream of the crop with
Idol executive producer Megan Michaels Wolflick. "It was a really efficient and condensed way of doing the auditions, and we got to see people's homes, their families, their dogs, their grandmas. It had a very different vibe," Wolflick says.
Though last year's third season on ABC -- after 15 on Fox -- featured an abrupt shift to performances from the singer's homes, there was a warmth and intimacy to the rare peek at the contestant's everyday existence that both women say they didn't want to completely abandon as