An ‘American Idol’ Contestant Once Said the Producers ‘Don’t Care About Talent’
American Idol is one of the most popular singing competition shows on television. It made stars out of Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Jordin Sparks, and Scotty McCreery. The show might be built on finding amazing singers, but one former contestant recently revealed that the producers are more interested in getting viewers.
‘American Idol’ has been on the air for nearly 20 years
The singing reality show was based on a British version, called Pop Idol. Contestants auditioned for judges to make it into the live shows. Once there, they would perform each week, with the audience voting on who got to stay or go.
American Idol premiered in 2002 and ran until 2016. It was canceled at Fox. But then it came back in 2018 on ABC with a new group of judges that included Katy Perry, Luke Bryan, and Lionel Richie. Ryan Seacrest, who has hosted American Idol since its premiere, also returned for the revival.
A former ‘American Idol’ contestant accuses producers of choosing poor singers to get more views
American Idol is supposed to be all about finding talented singers who could one day be major stars. But some have accused the reality show’s producers of prioritizing crazy moments over actual talent.
One former contestant shared, “I tried out for American Idol, and I literally watched them pass up good singers and put through the s***** ones because they were in costume. They don’t care about talent; it’s about getting viewers” (per BuzzFeed).
Many agree with this accusation, pointing to the dozens of wannabe contestants who make it through multiple auditions for producers before getting to sing in front of the judges. Videos of bizarre auditions frequently go viral on social media, whether it’s for strange behavior, a weird outfit, or just truly terrible singing.
More ‘American Idol’ controversies, from voter fraud to 1 celebrity’s efforts to ‘ruin’ the show
Publicity-seeking producers aren’t the only controversial part of American Idol. The singing competition show has faced all kinds of accusations and scandals over its twenty-year history.
In the show’s early days, American Idol was dogged by rumors of voter cheating. For example, in the first season of the show, it was discovered that some viewers were using auto-dial software to vote thousands of times per night for their preferred contestant (via USA Today).
Another controversy took place in Season 6, when Sanjaya Malakar made it to seventh place on American Idol. The reason this was controversial? Malakar was not liked by the judges, but a campaign by famous radio host Howard Stern pushed him to the finals. Stern encouraged his listeners to vote for Malakar in an effort to “ruin” the show (via Us Weekly).
A former contestant claims he was purposefully ousted from ‘American Idol’ after asking too many questions
Even those that win American Idol have their gripes with the singing competition. Winners sign a contract with 19 Entertainment, which some claim gives the company total control over an artist’s career.
Former contestant Ju’Not Joyner claimed the entire show was “fixed,” and that the show’s producers would offer these controlling “slavetracts” to contestants. If they didn’t agree to the contract’s terms, they would be removed from American Idol.
“Some folks were like, ‘Just shut up and sign on the dotted line,'” Joyner revealed (via Yahoo). “I know better than that. I definitely believed that affected my time on the show. They didn’t like the fact that I wouldn’t sign ‘just anything’ and that other contestants were coming asking me questions. So I think they ousted me the first chance they could get.”
