Another season, another American Idol scandal. According to TMZ and other sites, the "Gentle Giant," booming baritone Jermaine Jones will be disqualified from competing on the show for lying about his criminal past. The announcement will be made on Wednesday's live show.
These scandals really strike of manufactured ploys to grab ratings, especially now that long-in-the-tooth Idol is losing the coveted 18-24 audience to NBC's The Voice. How hard IS it to check the public records on these contestants BEFORE allowing them on camera? WE journalists do this every day when writing stories on subjects.
Apparently Idol plans to send Jones packing on the Wednesday live show. If that's so, that's a low class way to handle the situation. A brief announcement should be made and the show ought to carry on. No, they absolutely should NOT bring back last week's booted contestant Jeremy Rosada. Jones' alleged deception has nothing to do with the fact Rosada was booted by viewers and the judges with cause. No, they shouldn't publicly shame Jones any further, either, because this -- and the previous scandals -- are the producers' fault for allowing these "sudden discoveries" to carry on this far. They hold auditions in the summer, they have SIX months to check public records on each and every person allowed on camera.
Disappointing thing is, Jones, rich, theatrical baritone and Joshua Ledet's gritty soul tone were the only two male voices I liked. It's time to pull the plug on American Idol. The show has lost its spark, it's merely slogging through the paces, the concept has run its course. Ending it after Scotty McCreery's victory last season would have been the best way to go out on the top, with ratings still high and with its first credible winner in six years. Limping into this 11th season with its generic roster of performers -- save the one true vocal talent, Jessica Sanchez -- has been a mistake. Just give Jessica the title tomorrow night and call it an early season.
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