‘American Idol,’ Jennifer Lopez, and one of the craziest stories yet
Are you ready for one of the more bizarre “American Idol”-related stories we have heard in some time? If so, be sure to read on … but also be sure to do with a pretty big grain of salt. It’s hard to know just how truthful the “source” who is speaking out here is really being, especially since they are not even revealing their full name. Plus, it is also clearly stated that this is a work of fiction and is likely blown out of proportion for effect.
According to a New York Post, there is a novel floating around out there (at least in some form) called “Elimination Night” that is a pretty brutal re-telling of the show’s tenth season, won by Scotty McCreery and featuring the debut of Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler. There are a number of interesting details filtered through this story of a singing competition, and we’ve included some of the “highlights” below.
-The book’s version of Jennifer Lopez is painted as a massive diva, who bans crew members from even looking at her (which seems like an exaggeration) and has a $1 billion insurance policy on her body.
-The narrator here is a production worker, which to us suggests that the writer here is probably a former show staffer that should not be hard for producers to track down now.
-Apparently, the book’s version of Scotty McCreery is gay, but we get no indication of that being true for the real singer at all.
-This is the part that’s interesting from a reality TV perspective: good contestants are often persuaded to audition with gifts, and are filtered through several categories, whether it be having a good voice, a great story, or if they are just complete and total trainwrecks who will be good for air time. In the world of the book, contestants are often built up to think that their ultimate fate will be the opposite of what it ends up being, that way they are genuinely surprised on camera.
-The book’s version of Ryan Seacrest is basically a robot on thrives on the nerves of others.
We don’t think this book was written by a former contestant, mostly because they sell their soul away to this show and would probably not know all of the production details, anyway. Our guess? The author here is someone who is ridiculous bitter over what went down on the show either on camera or behind the scenes, and is choosing to take it out in the only way they now how: by telling an exaggerated story. Are the judges divas? Sure. Do producers sort the contestants? Without a doubt, but we also have sources who say that the show’s experience is nothing this harsh, and the goal is to celebrate good talent.
What do you think about this report? If you want to read some more “American Idol” news about some past champions, you can do so over at the link here.
Photo: Fox
