‘American Idol XIV’ spoilers: Scott Borchetta officially named mentor

“American Idol” decided that it did not want to wait very long at all before confirming some of the latest news regarding season 14: Scott Borchetta is officially going to be the in-house mentor for the year.

In case you did not read the original report, Borchetta is a record executive responsible for the Big Machine label, and in many ways helped to turn Taylor Swift into one of the biggest names in country music. He has also been a big factor in the careers of the Band Perry, Florida Georgia Line, and other artists.

In a statement today, Borchetta said the following about taking on this gig:

“There’s only one reason I’m doing this: American Idol has proven again and again that it can launch superstars. I believe that working with these young artists the same way we work with new artists at the Big Machine Label Group will help the next [champion] be as prepared as possible to continue the tradition of creating new superstars … The entire label group will be invested and we look forward to bringing our energy, focus and know-how to help develop this young talent at the highest levels.”

While the press release confirming the news today made it clear that Borchetta would be involved with the contestants even after the show, provided that they make it far enough, what we wonder is what happens if the winner is someone with no real interest in country music at all. While we’re sure that Borchetta has a variety of people working for him, Big Machine is known mostly as a country label. If nothing else, though, they can tout that Swift’s latest release through them in “1989” is much more pop-focused, and clearly they marketed that just fine given the sales.

What do you think about the idea of Scott in this role? Is it a major step up from Randy Jackson? Share with a comment, and head over here to get some other TV updates worth singing about via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: Fox.)