It was there last week–but not now. American Idol Season 10 winner, Scotty McCreery’s photo has disappeared from the XIX Entertainment website.
XIX is American Idol creator, Simon Fuller’s, management company. Simon created XIX when he left 19 Entertainment a few years ago. He has chosen to manage the careers of a few Idol winners and runner-ups, including Season 4 winner and country superstar, Carrie Underwood, and Scotty McCreery and Lauren Alaina from Season 11. Simon recently signed on Season 7 winner, David Cook. His photo has been added to the XIX site, while Scotty’s has disappeared. Lauren’s photo is still displayed.
It may or may not be significant, but it’s certainly one of those things that make you go hmm…
In May, around the time of the American Idol finale, the Hollywood Reporter reported that Red Line, who had co-managed several Idol alums with 19 Entertainment, was out and former Miley Cyrus manager, Jason Morey was in.
Curiously, there was no announcement about who would be managing Phillip Phillips and Jessica Sanchez, the newest Idol winner and runner-up. However, around the same time frame, the parent company which owns American Idol, formerly CKx, underwent a major rebranding, re-christening itself as “ore Media Group.
The new company not only planned to conduct a “full scale review” of American Idol in light of the aging show’s significant ratings drop during Season 11, but new president, Marc Graboff said Core would “certainly manage Phillip Phillips and Jessica Sanchez.”
Maybe Simon Fuller didn’t have a crack at the new Idols. There are rumors that the Idol creator will be playing a reduced role with the show going forward. Or maybe he just didn’t want to manage the duo. Could Scotty have defected to Core Media Group? Or is he signing on with a new company altogether? Perhaps a Nashville-based outfit? Or is the XIX webmaster a little ditzy, deleting Scotty’s photo by mistake? Only time will tell.
