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Add the andPOP Facebook Application(andPOP) - ABC has abruptly cancelled its American Idol-esque talent competition, "The One: Making of a Music Star," barely over a week after the series debuted. Its first episode scored the second-lowest rating ever for a premiere on a major American network.
"There were a lot of problems with the publicity of the show," Kara DioGuardi, one of the show's talent judges, told andPOP on Friday, just hours after ABC canned the show. "Before I got hired, I thought it was a dance show."
DioGuardi also says that the debut episode -- which often makes or breaks a new show -- suffered from crippling sound problems.
"I was listening to things that were not what the American public was listening to, so my comments were off," she said. "The first show was quite a disaster."
The hit songwriter -- who's penned tracks like Enrique Iglesias' "Escape" and Kelly Osbourne's "Shut Up" -- also wasn't pleased with the way ABC handled the cancellation.
Because of the low ratings, the fact that the show was cancelled was no surprise, but DioGuardi says the show's contestants, whom she formed close relationships with, were literally left in the dark.
"When ABC cancels a show, the lights start going off 20 minutes later," she said. "Luckily we had a big party at my house last night. Because otherwise, that would've just been so cold."
ABC posted a message on the show's official web site, saying, "There are no plans for additional episodes. Thanks to all who participated in and supported The One!"
Though DioGuardi's career didn't rely on the show's success (she's currently promoting Platinum Weird, her new project with Eurythmics' Dave Stewart), she knows The One's contestants aren't as lucky.
"My heart goes out to the kids," she said. "My career will go on, my thing goes on. Not them."
Another person involved with the show who will soon be returning to his regular day job is Canadian host George Stroumboulopoulos -- and DioGuardi had nothing but praise for him.
"George did a really good job. You have to imagine, you've got two weeks of the show running. The first week is a live show with people who have never done a music based show," she explained. "You're going to run into a lot of problems, but the guy rose to the occasion. It's sad, because you could tell that he was great."
