Producer Nigel Lythgoe says pretaping will continue for several weeks as new judges and director get up to speed. By Gil Kaufman Casey Abrams Photo: FOX If you were looking forward to watching the “American Idol” top 13 perform live for the first time on Wednesday night (March 9), well, you’ll have to just keep waiting. The singers pretaped their performances on Tuesday night after the Fox network confirmed that the show is not quite ready to go fully live. A network representative told People magazine, “we have pretaped shows at this stage of the competition before … although it’s rare.” Among the reasons the network cited for pretaping the show is to make sure that all 13 contestants’ performances make it into the two-hour broadcast. It is only the second time in “Idol” history that there have been 13 finalists, and even with 12 singers in the past, producers have sometimes struggled to get all the songs in without running over . Because some “Idol” fans are conspiracy-minded by nature, executive producer Nigel Lythgoe launched a preemptive strike on Twitter on Sunday to explain and defend the decision to keep the performances taped for the next few weeks. “We are pretaping for 2 weeks as we have a new Director & new judges. It has nothing to do with manipulation you morons.” That comment, of course, led to some spirited back-and-forth between Lythgoe and said “morons,” some of whom needled Lythgoe about the alleged manipulation. “I love you all getting riled up. The Tweet was directed at the MORONS who said we are pretaping to manipulate the show. Not the TRUE fans!” wrote Lythgoe, who eventually threw his hands up and added, “Sorry I can’t play anymore I have to go to work. There’s manipulating to be done. xox.” He updated the situation on Tuesday, lamenting , “It’s been a tough day trying to get the sound right. With a mix of live band, Jimmy Iovine’s amazing producer’s tracks and live vocals.” He also revealed later in the day that the top 13 had recorded vocals for full-length tracks, which he believes will be available on iTunes after the show airs on Wednesday. Thursday night’s elimination show will air live. Don’t miss “Idol Party Live” at 10 p.m. Thursday on MTV.com, following the “American Idol” results show, for analysis, celebrity guests and even some karaoke — get in the conversation by tweeting with the hashtag #idolparty ! In the meantime, get your “Idol” fix on MTV News’ “American Idol” page , where you’ll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions. Related Photos ‘American Idol’ Season 10 Performances ‘American Idol’ Season 10 Top 24

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‘American Idol’ Top 13 Performance Show Will Be Pretaped