Defamer: Carly Smithson

'Idol' Ringer Carly Smithson Fails To Alleviate Simon Cowell's PMS

Seth — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 11:44:33 PST

After witnessing the multi-hued splendor of Tuesday's boys' night, last night's all-girl competition on American Idol was something of a letdown, each contestant virtually indistinguishable from the pageant-ready hopeful who came before her. Even Carly Smithson, the focus of some controversy for having already released a major-label album only to see it flop spectacularly, failed to impress an even-ornerier-than-usual Simon Cowell, who diverged from his two articulation-challenged co-judges to (rightfully) observe, "there's so much hype about you...so much expectation...there's a buzz about you...everything about it for me was a letdown."

Still, if Idol is still clinging to its label as the ultimate manifestation of teenybopper-marshaled democracy in action, then it's not Simon, but We, the Text-Messaging People who shall decide if Smithson's record sales will ever inch above the half-thousand mark. According to the often-accurate voting predictors at DialIdol.com (possible spoilers), at least, it looks as though she'll have another week to prove to America why she deserves to be their next Gaelic Idol.

AmericanIdol.com

'American Idol' Controversies Cresting As Season 7 Begins

Mark Graham — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 14:50:03 PST

While American Idol is still a ratings powerhouse and one of the strongest franchises on television, there is no denying that the brand has taken more than its fair share of lumps since Jordin Sparks was crowned the winner of the show's sixth season. In addition to stillborn debuts from last season's two finalists (Blake Lewis and the aforementioned Miss Sparks), past winners like Taylor Hicks and Ruben Studdard were both recently unceremoniously dropped from their recording deals. So when confronted with waning ratings during this season's tiresome pre-series run of "Hey, Look At That Jackass" moments, it seems that Idol producers turned to a tride and true gimmick in order to get people talking about their show once again. They created a controversy.

It's no secret that a large part of the appeal of American Idol is based on its proven track record of being able to catapault regular Joes (for example, a certain pear-shaped waitress from Texas) off of their couches and onto the top of the charts. However, when it came time to select the Final 24 this season, fearful producers decided that the amateur talent couldn't hack the load and, consequently, to stack the deck with a few ringers. We have already talked a bit about Carly Smithson (née Hennessy), but we just stumbled across some new details about her yesterday over at Vote For The Worst. Namely, they learned that Randy Jackson was working as the Senior VP of A&R when Smithson was signed to the label!

While doing some research for this Today Show piece that ran this morning (starring none other than Defamer's version of Ole Blue Eyes), we also learned another juicy detail about one of the contestants. Kristy Lee Cook, heir (and hair) apparent to Carrie Underwood, was once signed to Arista Nashville by, get this, Britney Spears' production company! And also that another contestant, Michael Johns, once fronted a major label rock act called The Rising (while using the name Michael Lee). Whether or not an "amateur" or one of these experienced pros ends up winning the contest, one thing is certain — people are talking about Idol again. Mission accomplished, producers, mission accomplished.

The Today Show [MSNBC]
Vote For The Worst

Just when you thought that it was finally ...

Mark Graham — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 17:42:11 PST

Just when you thought that it was finally safe not to watch American Idol anymore, another (curiously well-timed) Idol scandal is beginning to break, one that will surely pique everyone's interest in the show once again. Seems that one of Idol's final 24 contestents, Carly Smithson, is a professional singer who recorded an album that was released by a major label back in 2001. With that being the case, you must be curious as to why you've never heard of her. Well, that's because her debut album was recorded under her maiden name (Carly Hennessy) and was a colossal flop! Still, she was a professional, people, which means we have an Official Scandal on our hands. However, if Fox's latest attempt to goose ratings fails to catch on, we're fairly confident that it's only a matter of days before the network begins leaking photos of a wet t-shirt clad Simon Cowell frolicking about in a water fountain to an adoring public. That'll get 'em. [Reuters]