Scott Bomboy's Blog

The blogosphere was aflame this weekend when more "American Idol" fans learned that a current favorite to win this season had a past recording contract - and a $2 million push in Europe.

Carly Smithson was regaled by judges for her strong performance at the Idol tryouts last year, and the show chronicled her past problems with Idol. Smithson has made the cut on Idol years before but had visa problems and couldn't compete.

Now, she is one of 16 female singers competing on the show this week.

Pictured: Carly Hennessy and Carly Smithson




But now comes news that Smithson started her music career in Europe as Carly Hennessy (her maiden name) and was the subject on a $2 million promotional campaign that was later chronicled by The Wall Street Journal. Smithson worked for MCA records, which released the well-promoted CD.

Pictured: Smithson's earlier CD

The CD bombed and sold under 500 copies. Smithson was soon dropped from the label. Reaction on the Web has been strong, with writers taking sides on the "ringer controversy."

On Film.com, Ethan Morris makes the point that Smithson/Hennessy didn't break any rules.

"First of all, it isn't against the rules. American Idol prohibits contestants who have an existing deal, but not a past deal. According to the FAQ on the A.I. website, "...contestants are not permitted to have any CURRENT recording or talent management agreements." Okay, nuff said about that."

Read: Film.com Blog

And the blogs on Television Without Pity took sides with Smithson, saying that her past failure as a recording artist is what Idol is all about.

"This has nothing to do with "she's not undiscovered, and thus we've been snookered." This has to do with the fact that she is exactly the kind of person whose resurgence is so against-the-odds that it's much closer to the actual image of what this show is supposed to be able to accomplish than is the story of some spoiled brat who's been singing in county fairs up until now but has never seen the actual seedy parts of the music business."

blogs.televisionwithoutpity.com

But conspiracy theories abound on the Web. Blogger Rickey.org points out that: "Carly Smitshon was signed to MCA records during the same time period that Randy Jackson was the senior vice president of A&R. Carly Smithson was at MCA in 1999. Randy started at MCA in 1998."

Rickey.org

And Chicago Tribune blogger Maureen Ryan points the finger at Idol. "I still believe what I wrote on Jan. 23: "Why didn’t 'Idol' come clean about Smithson’s past as a major-label singer? It’s borderline deceptive for the program to fail to disclose her past dealings with the industry."

featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com

Idol producer Nigel Lythgoe told reporters on a conference call that Smithson was within the rules.

“Carly Smithson is not breaking any rules of the competition, so I don’t see the logic,” said Lythgoe. He also pointed out that Kelly Clarkson and Bo Bice had records deals before they competed on Idol.

The controversy left fans debating one question: Is Idol more about finding undiscovered talent or is the show about giving people a second chance?