A poster at the Offical americanidol.com boards claims to have attended Wednesday’s results show. He’s reporting that when Mandisa was eliminated, 4 teenaged girls stood up and shouted a racial slur at her. Many people are jumping on this theory as an explanation for the apparent awkwardness after Ryan announced that Mandisa was going home.
If this really happened, in front of an audience full of people, don’t you think word of this would have leaked out immediately? If this actually happened, many of those audience members would have rushed home to spread the word to friends, family and local media. There would have immediately been numerous accounts on numerous message boards. The news would have hit the mainstream press very quickly.
Why would somebody make up such a heinous story? Because they felt Mandisa’s elimination was racist and wanted to stir up the pot? Or maybe they’re just old fashioned attention seekers who love to throw folks into a tizzy? Actually, it’s too twisted to contemplate, so I’m going to stop right here.
There was some confusion at the end of the show, but I think the audience was a little stunned and not sure how to react until they were prompted by a show staffer.
I’ve also re-watched this bit several times and don’t hear an obvious audio edit or pause.
ETA: I am on the east coast. The show is probably on a 7 to 15 second tape delay. The editing has to be done really quickly. I think the edit would be really obvious. Something that wouldn’t take repeated listenings to notice. I hear a man say something when they cut to Mandisa’s family, but I can’t make it out. If more witnesses come out of the woodwork to support this claim, I’ll start taking it seriously. For now, I remain skeptical.
ETAA: Guys, check out the comment thread. A big thank you to CL for re-posting a rather lengthy explanation from “Goldberg” who says he’s a white male.
ETAAA: He’s got a detailed explanation of what happened that doesn’t sound unreasonable, but alternate explanations make as much sense. It’s three days later, and nobody has stepped forward to corroborate this account. I find that fishy. Goldberg’s explanation is that “Mandisa must have put it behind her.” Forget Mandisa, what about the rest of that mixed-race audience? The real Whoopie Goldberg would be all over that! Heh. I still remain skeptical.
