Randy Jackson hasn’t been on American Idol for two years now, and he last sat behind the judging table in Season 12. But as an original member of the dream team with Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul, his place in Idol history is secured. Whether you loved, hated, or just tolerated him, he played a key role during the show’s golden years and nurtured some excellent talent along the way.

Yahoo Music’s Reality Rocks caught up with The Dawg himself recently at South by Southwest, where he was stationed at Wix’s headquarters to mentor aspiring indie and unsigned artists in Austin. Naturally, with the April 7 American Idol finale only a couple weeks away, the conversation was mostly Idol-focused. But interestingly, Randy also kept bringing up one of SXSW 2016’s biggest showcasing acts: Iggy Pop. According to Jackson, Idol was never all about pitch-perfect singing, and Iggy-esque artists always had their place in the competition, too.

Check out Reality Rocks’ in-depth interview here. When it comes to dishing about Idol, Randy Jackson is clearly still in it to win.

YAHOO MUSIC: So can I assume you will be at the American Idol finale?

RANDY JACKSON: Oh yes. I’ll be there.

And can I assume every judge and every contestant ever will link arms and sing “This Is My Now,” USA for Africa-style?

Look at you! You’re such an Idol aficionado. [laughs] I can’t even remember that song. Whoa. Was that the one that was like, “Moving mountains, swimming oceans, overseas…”

Something like that. How do you feel about the show ending?

Listen, Idol is one of the best shows of its time. Ever. It’s what’s brought us all a lot of fame and a lot of good fortune. I’m sad to see it end, but you know, it’s been 15 years. That’s a long time. And it’s not quite the same show anymore.

Some might say the idea of having to sing well – which is what Idol was always all about – is an antiquated notion, in this Auto-Tuned day and age.

No, you have to be able to sing! How can people judge you, how can we judge you, if you’re being enabled?

But do you think singing’s still that important in order to be a star?

Yes, I think on shows like [Idol and The Voice], singing is still very important. But what I also think is hugely important, that I don’t see much every day, are stars. Where are the stars? So part of the problem with all of these shows is they may find some singing talent, but these people aren’t stars. So stars are the key. Iggy Pop, for instance, is a star. He’s not a follower. Michael Jackson was a star. Elvis was a star. Madonna’s a star.

But come on, Iggy Pop would never get past the first audition on one of these shows, because he’s not a technically great vocalist.

No, he would [get through] — because he’s a star. We’re looking at the whole thing, you gotta remember. We’re not just looking at, “Oh my God, you’re the Mariah Carey or the Pavarotti of vocals.” We’re not just looking at that.

I think that’s why some people would say they didn’t like Idol: that it placed too much emphasis on Mariah-style singing, rather than individuality.

Oh, people would hate on me and hate on the other judges because they weren’t listening to what we were really saying. We were looking for uniqueness. Iggy’s unique. He’s bold. He’s a star. He’s hugely talented. He’s got a good voice. He’s maybe not the best singer in the world, but for what he’s doing, it’s not about that. The way he communicates is incredible, and he’s a true original. There’s nobody like him.

So what makes someone a star?

I believe stars are born. They’re nurtured, yes, but stars are definitely born. That gene that Iggy has, you’re born with it. So you look out for that gene. You know, what most people don’t realize is, before someone’s hand touched the door on Idol, we saw their faces before they opened their mouths. I would see them 40 boxes [on a sheet], and I would go down the faces and start checking them off, before they opened their mouth and started saying a word.

Did anyone ever start singing and then you changed your mind about them?

Of course, of course. I got it wrong sometimes too. I admit that. But I’m saying, you’re looking at all the things. What’s the sense of clothing like? Forget whether you have money or not — whatever you’re wearing, does it even have a vibe to it? Is there any uniqueness? Do you have a great sense of self? And it’s not about the size you are — big, tall, fat, skinny. None of that matters. It’s what you do with it.

Have you been watching this current Idol season at all?

I saw a bit of one episode.

Was there anyone that stood out to you as a star?

I didn’t know many of the contestants. I know I saw a girl with some crazy hair…

You probably mean La’Porsha Renae. She’s great! So what have you missed most about Idol since you left?

I guess I really miss the camaraderie that we had and the chemistry that me, Simon, Ryan [Seacrest], and Paula had. Whether you love each of us, love all of us, or don’t… the acts that we helped, most of them went on to great success. So I guess you can say the proof of concept actually worked. We walked the walk, talked the talk, and did it. What we said we were going do — find the next, would-be superstar in America — we found them. So I’m very happy and proud of that. And a 15-year run is a long time for shows like this.

The show definitely changed after new judges started coming in.

Yeah, you have to remember, Simon and I weren’t famous before the show. It’s different when it’s celebrities [as judges]. Do you think a celebrity is really going to say, “Oh here, let me give you this #1 single, I don’t want it, you can have it. Let me hand you my spot on the charts.” They’re in competition with these people! It’s a whole different thing. But people like me and Simon, we want to help you. We want to help you find that #1 song.

Good point. Anyway, do you think the show could ever come back and be retooled?

Of course. It’s a great show. It’s a great talent-finder. It could go away for a couple of years and come back robust.

Would you want to be involved with it?

Listen, you never say never. You just never know. But a lot of us are prepping what we think is the next, new “Idol” idea in the TV game, because me, Simon, Ryan, and Paula all have production companies now. So we’re all building and crafting shows and crafting things. So you never know what may pop up.

But with YouTube and Vine stars now, do talent shows like Idol even need to exist?

Well, the problem with most of that stuff is that there’s nobody there judging you and telling you: “No, that’s the wrong song. That’s a bad note. Don’t do that again. Play guitar. Don’t stand, sit.” Et cetera. So you know, what people really miss on Idol is how much of a really good critique you are getting… Now I feel like it’s the land of the free. Anybody can put up 500 pieces of music, and it could all be terrible and garbage, but we still could put it up and nobody’s gonna tell us, “No.” So the problem with some of those platforms is there’s no [expert] to say, “No, you can’t put that up. That’s awful.”

So do you think it’s harder now for young artists than it was five, 10, or 20 years ago?

I think it’s as hard as it ever was. In some ways it’s harder. But it’s all about having a great song. You know, with the people that won all these talent shows, I’ve been saying this since the first day I was on Idol: I don’t care what show you came off of, if you have a great song, you will get it done. If you don’t have a great song, then I don’t care what your talent level is. You could be the most talented, but no great song? Later. And that’s what’s hard. It’s hard to write a great song, and it’s hard to find one.

Over the years with Idol, there were certain musicians that would speak out and say that it was ruining the music business. I remember Sting, Don Henley, people like that.

It ain’t about the haters. As I said before, we often had negative people. People used to say to me and Simon when we started the show that we were making a mockery of the music industry. Um, why? Because we’re trying to give kids a chance? Yeah, it’s a rocket ship to the top — but if you can make it to the top and you’re worth it… Kelly Clarkson’s first album sold 7 million copies. You think she’s mad? [laughs] And she’s got a career now. Not just a hit, not a couple albums — a career! This is about launching careers.

And there weren’t just haters of Idol. I have people who hate me. “Oh, the Dawg — he just says ‘dawg’ all the time.” They obviously didn’t hear what I was saying. Obviously they didn’t really care. They’d tweet me and tell me I was fat. I was like, “Dude, I know. You don’t think I have mirrors in my house?” But you know, like it or not, we were successful. You take all the good and bad parts.

You had a long music industry career before Idol came along. Did you ever regret becoming forever associated with it?

Well, I gotta tell you, when we started the show, at least for me — nobody knew this was gonna work like it did. And if they say they knew, then they’re lying. I’m just keepin’ it real. But I think, when I saw Kelly Clarkson at the end [of Season 1], I was like: “Wow, man. This really did work.” I had my doubts all that first season… because movies and TV can sometimes be kind of corny, cheesy. I always wanted to make sure it was cool and somewhat edgy, even in a pop sense, because music is always a lifestyle-generator. Fashion and music kind of lead the culture, so you never want to make it ordinary. It always has to be kind of cool and edgy, a bit. I think we did that… I have no regrets.

So, how do you want American Idol to be remembered?

As the greatest talent show of its kind, in history — because I think it is.

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This article originally ran on Yahoo Music.