I just had to pull this out of today’s Headlines Thread. There’s been very little comment from Idol insiders regarding the sudden 11th hour disqualifaction of Joanna Pacitti from the Top 36.
Yesterday, in the press line of the American Idol Experience VIP celebration, Ryan Seacrest weighed in:
…The producers do the background checks right around [the] Hollywood [round], ” Seacrest said. “When they see something that stands out, they have to address it. And they saw something, and there was apparently some sort of a link that, somewhere along the line, could be construed as one that close to the competition, and they didnt want to risk it.”
From what I understand, the producers do background checks on the contestants before Hollywood week, which typically occurs in November. That’s why there are usually a few lucky golden-ticket holders from the auditions who are told “nevermind” when they don’t check out to the producers’ satisfaction.
Anything negative in Joanna’s past would have been discovered back in the fall. But of course, no background check was necessary to uncover what probably ended Joanna’s Idol run–her close ties to Idol executives Michelle Young and Roger Widynowski.
No, when the tabloid press found out about Joanna’s potential conflict of interest (as if they wouldn’t), I suspect TPTB decided the whole situation was too hot to handle.
So the producers disqualify Joanna, timing a last-minute dismissal for maximum press uproar. But, the producers don’t address the controversy–there’s no press conference from Ken Warwick or Cecile Frot-Coutaz.
Good soldier Ryan Seacrest addresses the issue instead–using the vaguest terms possible to protect the guilty, hinting that this is all news to TPTB–in an interview with Fox News, who are more than happy to carry the message.
Lolz! My eyes can’t roll back far enough into my head.
Meanwhile, Joanna is putting her experience as the one-who-is-dumped-right-before-showtime (at the age of 12, she was fired from the cast of “Annie” weeks before it opened on Broadway) to good use…
