True Scare or Publicity Hoax?

Minutes before contestant and finalist Lauren Alaina was set to kick off the performance half of this season’s finale of American Idol, TMZ broke the story that Alaina may not be able to perform and will therefore be disqualified, her spot in the finale being taken over by third runner-up Hailey Reinhart.

According to the site, Alaina was reported to be suffering from a lost voice. The Idol hopeful was set to sing three songs in rehearsals earlier that day, but was only able to get through the first and some of the second before having to stop altogether. Alaina was ordered by doctors not to speak, but up until the show began was it uncertain whether she will be able to perform or not. If Alainahad not been able to perform, runner-up Hailey Reinhart wold have been forced (although it probably wouldn’t have taken much forcing to convince her to do it) to fill in to compete in the finals against Alaina’s co-finalist and fellow country-singer Scotty McCreery.

For those who watched, it was clear that Alaina’s voice was a little more strained than usual, and it did appear that genuine concern crossed the judges faces once or twice during her performances. However, it’s hard to believe that just minutes before they’re set to air, the producers of the show would decide to replace the much loved finalist with someone who had already been booted off by millions of Americans. Therefore, this raises a question – was this just a publicity stunt for the show to get more viewers?

Going back to last year’s finale, in what was Simon Cowell’s last episode, the show was down in ratings by 18%. After being taken over by producer Simon Fuller and replacing all the judges but Randy Jackson, however, it quickly rose to the #1 show among adults aged 18-49 on FOX.

Keeping all that in mind, it’s possible to say that this was just another attempt at bringing in more viewers to raise ratings. Nonetheless, it was great to see Lauren up on that stage and giving it her all, not giving up whether she had lost her voice prior or not. And if the story was true, even more so does she deserve as many praises as she could get! We definitely cannot wait to see who will win this.

Do you think Alaina’s voice scare was a hoax or real? Who do you think will win this year’s title as American Idol?

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The two hour finale of “American Idol Season 8” was filled with surprises, including an awards ceremony, special guests and duets.

But the ultimate surprise was left for the end: the crowning of the winner. Kris Allen who was deemed the “dark- horse contestant” and an “underdog” by some of the “Idol” judges emerged as the winner of season eight.

“It feels good, man, but Adam deserves this,”Allen said as he was crowned the “American Idol”. “I don’t know what to feel right now, this is crazy.”

He was referring to Adam Lambert, the glam rocker runner-up of the competition. But there were also plenty of surprises during the beginning of the show, like the many celebrity performers, including Queen Latifah, Fergie, The Black Eyed Peas, Jason Mraz, Kiss, Carlos Santana, Cyndi Lauper, and more.

The show has set a record in voting after 100 million votes were cast to decide who would win “American Idol”.

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