We all like to imagine that the contestants on American Idol are people whose only experience is singing into a hairbrush with the bathroom door closed. And with the majority of the people who turn out at the auditions, that is the case. However, as in season's past, some of the people in the top 24 are actually professional musicians. Some of them have had recording contracts.
According to USA Today, "Carly Smithson recorded for MCA, which lavished more than $2 million on her debut disc, then dumped her when it sold poorly. Kristy Lee Cook signed with Britney Spears' production company. Michael Johns' band, The Rising, was dropped by Madonna's Maverick label."
We also know that Robbie Carrico is no music biz newbie, having been in a Boy Band in the nineties that toured with Britney Spears.
Show creator Nigel Lythgoe asserts that show rules require only that contestants not be currently under contract. Still, many fans of the show are upset that the producers aren't up front about contestants like Smithson, who are industry pro's compared to many of the other Idol hopefuls.
USA Today notes that for most fans, the show's silence on the matter is what rankles.
Li Wright, a fiftysomething fan from Chicago says, "I'd feel a lot better if (Ryan) Seacrest just said to Carly: 'You had a contract. What happened?' "
Li Wright, a fiftysomething fan from Chicago says, "I'd feel a lot better if (Ryan) Seacrest just said to Carly: 'You had a contract. What happened?' "
According to Lythgoe, "We're looking for 'great,' and, yes, those people in all likelihood have had dealings with the industry before."
It does make the show seem a bit dishonest. For me the best part of the show is rooting for the underdog, someone like Kelly Pickler who came from nothing and had her life absolutely changed by appearing on the show. It may be a bit anticlimactic if Carly Smithson wins a recording contract, since she has already been there, done that.
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