'American Idol' debunks Prince report

LOS ANGELES, April 25 (UPI) -- "American Idol" Executive Producer Ken Warwick has debunked a printed report that Prince was going to perform on the Fox TV talent competition.

"I don't honestly know" where the rumor came from, Warwick told Zap2it.com. "It was kind of something that I heard on the daily buzz through the office but was never actually put under my nose."

The story was first reported by the New Post's Page Six gossip column.

Warwick said the show never initiated talks with Prince and doesn't really need to go looking for stars.

"There's a queue from the record companies, as you can probably imagine because we have 30 million people-plus each week tune in, and so we don't need to go hunting, as it were," he said.

"American Idol's" ratings are up 14 percent over last year, which Warwick attributes to the contestants.

"We've got a soul singer, a rock singer, a country singer, a Barbra Streisand (type), we've got a crooner," he said. "It's that diversity, I think, that keeps people interested. This year more than ever, the public have really hooked into these kids."