'American Idol' denies pitch correction in wake of 'X Factor' autotuning allegations

Los Angeles: Simon Cowell has gone from American Idol judge to a potential headache for the show.

A furor over whether Cowell's British talent show The X Factor electronically altered contestant voices has prompted American Idol to make a pre-emptive strike.

"We have never, nor would we ever, use Auto-Tuning during the American Idol competition," producers of the Fox show said in a statement Thursday, referring to pitch-correcting technology.

American Idol viewers can attest that contestants have been regularly scolded for "pitchiness."

Cowell left the judge's panel on the top-rated Fox series at the end of last season and is bringing The X Factor, which he created in Britain and is hugely popular there, to Fox in 2011.