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.

Yes, you read that right. I got to go through all the rigorous stages of Randy’s boot camp — I was the unofficial 32nd contestant, if you will — and while you will definitely not be seeing me on the live shows (except maybe sitting in the studio audience), I do feel like I learned some valuable “Idol” lessons from this unique experience. Such as…

1. Song selection is important, dawg.

Upon finding out with a mix of excitement and horror (mostly horror) that I’d have to sing in front of “Idol’s” musical director Michael Orland and vocal coach Dorian Holley, I nervously went with my go-to karaoke song: the Divinyls’ “I Touch Myself.” Of course. But Michael wasn’t feeling it.

There were several reasons to steer clear of the self-love anthem, Michael explained. It wouldn’t work well with his piano accompaniment. It quite possibly wasn’t one of the 400 cleared songs stored on his iPad. And he didn’t say this outright, but maybe it just wasn’t an appropriate song for a family-friendly show like “Idol.” Come on, no tween girl or thirty/forty-something mom (i.e., the people who make up “Idol’s” core fanbase) would vote for anyone who sang that song, unless it was Adam Lambert.

So now I had to come up with a last-minute alternate — a predicament that has felled many an “Idol” contestant in past seasons. I wanted an ’80s tune that I knew well, preferably by a female artist. “How about some Heart?” Michael suggested, trying to be helpful.

OH NO. Stop right there. After years of “Idol”-blogging, I knew better. I knew that pretty much anyone but Carrie Underwood should avoid Heart songs on “Idol.” Even on my, shall we say, most festive karaoke nights in the past, I never attempted to belt out something as advanced as “Alone.”

Finally, we all settled on Cyndi Lauper’s “True Colors”: an empowerment anthem for the ages, that people of all ages know and love. Now, I just had to sing it in front of a roomful of strangers, while being filmed, without sounding like William Hung…

2. “Don’t forget the lyrics” is easier said than done, dawg.

For years, I have watched in frustration as one Hollywood Week hopeful after another has ruined his or her chances by committing the cardinal “Idol” sin according to Simon Cowell: flubbing the lyrics to even the most memorable and ubiquitous songs in the “Idol” catalog. How could that guy forget the words to “Forget You”? After rehearsing it for six hours straight in a hotel hallway? Sheesh.

But when it came time for me to perform “True Colors” — a song I have sung in karaoke, more than once — I suddenly developed the memory retention of a very small fish. (Remember, in karaoke, the words are displayed on a convenient video screen. There was no such screen at Randy’s boot camp.)

“I finally understand now!” I said, as I practiced the song for the seventh time, struggling so much that I finally resorted to reading the lyrics off my iPhone. (There was just something about the line “the darkness inside you can make you feel so small” that Would. Not. Stick. In. My. Brain.) “You get it now,” said Michael, smiling. “Now you realize how easy it is to forget. I’m glad you did this.”

And then he handed me a CD-R recording of my rehearsal. Track 2 was titled “Mistake.” Ouch.

3. “American Idol” is emotional, dawg.

Next, it was time for me to hit the staging room and work on my sure-to-be-awesome, Freddie Mercury-esque stage moves with coach Melissa Garcia. At this point I finally had the “True Colors” lyrics fully memorized, which meant I now had time to absorb and ponder their poignant meaning. This was both a good and bad thing.

Melissa instructed me to sing the sweet ballad directly to a giant mirror on the opposite wall, dig into the emotion of the song, keep my eyes open (apparently I have a tendency to shut them tight when I’m really feeling the music/really feeling embarrassed), and just go for it.

And then I started crying. For real.

Dang, I just could not get through that “like a raiiiiiinbow” line without choking up. I knew I should have done “I Touch Myself.” I never cry during “I Touch Myself”!

But Melissa offered me some sound advice about tapping into one’s acting skills to keep one’s waterworks under control. And again, this truly helped me grasp what it’s like to be a young, frightened “Idol” contestant laying it all on the line. Now I totally understand why Brooke White cried all the time in Season 7.

4. Some people just aren’t in it to win it, dawg.

Everyone at Randy’s workshop was incredibly kind to me — kinder, I imagine/assume, than they were to the actual top 31 contestants going through the program that day. No one gave me any tough love. Michael told me I had “perfect pitch” and praised my lack of shyness. Melissa said I had good stage presence. Dorian actually exclaimed, “Pretty!” during my session, said my love of performing came shining through (just like my true colors, I guess), and suggested that I join a choir or community theater group. Those guys really pumped me up. Seriously, by the day’s end, I was considering auditioning for Season 14.

And then…I hopped in my car, popped my souvenir CD-R in my stereo, fast-forwarded to Track 3 (the one after “Mistake”), and listened to my final take of “True Colors.” Oh dear. It was not good. William Hung, all is forgiven.

I could’ve blamed my subpar performance on the Venti latte I chugged right before I sang. (Another thing I learned from Michael and Dorian: Both caffeine and dairy can hamper the ol’ vocal cords.) I could’ve blamed it on nerves, or inexperience, or song choice (why didn’t I do that Divinyls song???). I could’ve blamed it on some imaginary mystery illness, even though Harry Connick Jr. hates that excuse.

But really, the sad fact of the matter was, no amount of pep-talking, stage-coaching, or hair-and-makeup-tutoring was going to turn me into an American Idol. There was a reason why Dorian told me I should be active in community theater. That was his nice way of saying I should never sing professionally.

And so I embarked on my homeward drive of shame, not through to Hollywood, no golden ticket in hand, but definitely wiser for my workshop experience. What these top 31 kids have to go through is not easy. Which of them will survive and make it to the live shows? We’ll find out in the coming weeks, but hopefully all of their true colors will come shining through.

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This article originally ran on Yahoo Music.