No Idol Love for Courtney

Wed., Jan. 31, 2007 2:14 PM PST by Sarah Hall

Unfortunately for Courtney Love, American Idol's not hiring.

Both Love's publicist and Idol executive producer Nigel Lythgoe have denied an Us Weekly report claiming Lythgoe contacted Love about potentially appearing on the show as a judge.

Oddly enough, the source for the report was Love herself, who was quoted as saying that Lythgoe tried to reach her last week with the offer.

"He called. He was wondering if I was interested," Love said on usmagazine.com. "I thought it was kind of weird but brilliant."

Another source purportedly told the magazine that Lythgoe was considering having Love replace Paula Abdul on the show.

However, Love's rep told E! News there was "no truth to it whatsoever," while Lythgoe flatly denied ever placing a call to the former Hole frontwoman.

"I did not call Courtney Love and am afraid someone may have misrepresented me," Lythgoe said in a statement. "Courtney Love is a very talented artist, but the judges for American Idol are Paula, Randy and Simon. We have no plans to add to or replace any of them."

After learning of Lythgoe's denial on Wednesday, Love told Us Weekly it was possible she was duped by a prank caller.

Even if the Idol powers-that-be were trying to find someone to take the place of the increasingly unpredictable Abdul, Love would seem an unlikely choice, given her own background of erratic behavior.

Who could forget the time she was photographed allowing a strange man to suckle her breast in a fast-food restaurant? Or the time she was arrested for attempting to break into her ex-boyfriend's house? Or the time she overdosed in front of her daughter, then 11?

On the other hand, Love has made a concentrated effort to clean up her act in recent months, including a lengthy stint in rehab to treat a "gnarly" drug problem.

Last month, a judge dismissed one misdemeanor assault case and two drug-possession cases against the musician and commended her for successfully completing rehab.

At present, Love is working on a new solo album in Los Angeles, a follow-up to 2004's America's Sweetheart. Though the album does not yet have a release date, it has already been receiving favorable buzz from critics.

Meanwhile, as interesting as it would be to see Love take a seat at the judges' table on American Idol, the show is unlikely to mess with a formula that has already resulted in stratospheric ratings this season.

More than 32 million viewers tuned in each night for last week's audition episodes in Memphis and New York, a feat the show was on track to repeat with this week's auditions in Birmingham and Los Angeles.