Why It Doesn't Matter That Idol's Carly Used to Have a Record Deal

I found this little blog....all of this is interesting. Now I have to say that I don't care that she had a record deal. What bugs me is that it seems AI is trying to hide that fact. I wouldn't have as much of a problem with her past deal if they would be upfront about it. Just my Now...read on

In the span of just a couple of hours this morning I got e-mails from 3 different friends alerting me to the fact that American Idol contestant Carly Smithson at one point had a record deal with a major label. I knew this information, of course (I referenced it in my post Eight Burning Questions About the Top 24), but, due to the fact that this information seems to be traveling quickly through the Idol-sphere, I thought I'd give my $.02 on the topic.

I just don't care.

Before I get to why I don't care, a bit of background, in case you don't know the story...

Smithson (or Carly Hennessy, as she was known at the time) got a major record deal around 2000/2001. The label put a lot of money into promoting her as the next big thing (reports indicate it may have been as much as $2 million). The album sold less than 500 copies (ouch!) She was dropped by the label.

Fast forward a few years, and she auditions for American Idol, makes it through to Hollywood, and is disqualified due to Visa restrictions.

Fast forward a couple more years, and here we are, with Smithson in the Top 24 and some Idol folk freaking out.

Now, Smithson is not violating any Idol rules by competing -- in order to be eligible to compete, you simply cannot have a recording contract at the time you audition. Smithson didn't -- so no problem there.

Where some folks do seem to have a problem, however, is that this information seems to have been hidden from the audience. (This is not entirely accurate -- the producers have acknowledged her history in interviews, and have reiterated the rules of eligibility). During the multitude of screen time she's received through the initial stages of the competition, however, there has been no mention of this part of her background. (To be fair, she's not the only one who's had a musical part of their past unaddressed on the show -- there has also been no mention thus far that David Archuleta won Star Search several years back). We heard about Carly's Visa issues, and how much this opportunity means to her, but until now there has been no televised mention of her professional history.

You can read the rest of this blog here.