Brian Damage
01-19-2008, 10:42 AM
'AMERICAN Idol" has always had its share of suspiciously accomplished singers - including Kelly Clarkson, who'd put out a small-scale CD before she found fame as the show's first winner.
But never has "Idol" had a contestant who had a nationally released album with $2.2 million worth of promotion. By all accounts, a contestant who auditions next week in San Diego, and gets sent through to Hollywood, is an Irish singer named Carly Hennessy - who some "Idol" fans are calling "a ringer."
Hennessy was once signed to MCA Records and her album was the beneficiary of a multi-million-dollar marketing push in 2002.
Her album only sold about 378 copies, and Hennessy was quietly dropped from the label, but not before she was featured in a story on the front page of the Wall Street Journal as the poster girl for the excesses of the troubled music industry.
"In many other industries, this would be considered an extraordinary bomb," the newspaper article stated. "But in today's music business it's routine."
Taylor Hicks was another notable "Idol" star who had record deals before appearing on the show.
Fox officials declined to confirm that Hennessy - who is an Irish citizen in the U.S. on a work visa - is among the hopefuls who make it to Hollywood, because the show has not aired yet.
But executive producer Nigel Lythgoe told The Post last year about a singer he considers one of the favorites - who fits Hennessy's resumé.
"There are three girls who are superb, including one girl we saw three years ago who wasn't an American citizen [and is now here legally] and we're happy to have her this year," he told The Post back then.
Simon Cowell alluded to Hennessy's appeal - again without naming names - three years ago just before "Idol" began its fifth season.
The show's rules stipulate only that contestants cannot be signed to a label at the time of their appearance on "Idol."
So technically, Hennessy is an eligible contestant.
There is no indication that the producers don't know about Hennessy's former, big-money record deal. And the judges may even make mention of her accomplished professional background when her audition airs next week.
Still, with some fans, the idea of a singer so far from her amateur roots doesn't sit well.
"This is a terrible idea," writes "Idol" fan site, Idolator.com. ". . .'Idol' [is] a show that people like, and root for, in large part because it can bring people who were outside the music industry . . . into their homes."
Addressing the producers, Idolator wrote, "Please, if you really believe in this chick, just sign her, and don't treat your public like it's too stupid to use the Internet."
http://www.nypost.com/seven/01182008/tv/did_idol_throw_in_a_ringer__964144.htm?page=2
But never has "Idol" had a contestant who had a nationally released album with $2.2 million worth of promotion. By all accounts, a contestant who auditions next week in San Diego, and gets sent through to Hollywood, is an Irish singer named Carly Hennessy - who some "Idol" fans are calling "a ringer."
Hennessy was once signed to MCA Records and her album was the beneficiary of a multi-million-dollar marketing push in 2002.
Her album only sold about 378 copies, and Hennessy was quietly dropped from the label, but not before she was featured in a story on the front page of the Wall Street Journal as the poster girl for the excesses of the troubled music industry.
"In many other industries, this would be considered an extraordinary bomb," the newspaper article stated. "But in today's music business it's routine."
Taylor Hicks was another notable "Idol" star who had record deals before appearing on the show.
Fox officials declined to confirm that Hennessy - who is an Irish citizen in the U.S. on a work visa - is among the hopefuls who make it to Hollywood, because the show has not aired yet.
But executive producer Nigel Lythgoe told The Post last year about a singer he considers one of the favorites - who fits Hennessy's resumé.
"There are three girls who are superb, including one girl we saw three years ago who wasn't an American citizen [and is now here legally] and we're happy to have her this year," he told The Post back then.
Simon Cowell alluded to Hennessy's appeal - again without naming names - three years ago just before "Idol" began its fifth season.
The show's rules stipulate only that contestants cannot be signed to a label at the time of their appearance on "Idol."
So technically, Hennessy is an eligible contestant.
There is no indication that the producers don't know about Hennessy's former, big-money record deal. And the judges may even make mention of her accomplished professional background when her audition airs next week.
Still, with some fans, the idea of a singer so far from her amateur roots doesn't sit well.
"This is a terrible idea," writes "Idol" fan site, Idolator.com. ". . .'Idol' [is] a show that people like, and root for, in large part because it can bring people who were outside the music industry . . . into their homes."
Addressing the producers, Idolator wrote, "Please, if you really believe in this chick, just sign her, and don't treat your public like it's too stupid to use the Internet."
http://www.nypost.com/seven/01182008/tv/did_idol_throw_in_a_ringer__964144.htm?page=2