14 DAY TRIAL // The latest edition of American Idol delivered a very unexpected blow when favorite-to-win Pia Toscano was voted off by the public. As the judges and fans are still struggling to come to terms with the elimination, theories on what may have happened are taking over the web.
The Hollywood Reporter has no less than 5 theories on what happened to see Pia go and, as expected, among them is also the conspiracy theory that says AI producers somehow changed the results to force her to leave.
Of course, that one is the least likely of the lot – but it doesn’t mean it’s not possible, THR says.
As the publication also points out, of the remaining AI hopefuls, Pia was considered favorite to win: she had the pipes to wow audiences and she had the looks to be the ultimate, best-selling popstar.
Which only makes it that harder to understand why the American public would vote her off.
One possible explanation for that is to be found in the fact that the AI target audience is mostly female and, as THR says, “girls don’t like girls,” which is why they rarely make it on the big finale.
Simon Cowell’s departure from the show could also explain why audiences chose to vote Pia off, in that the current judges (Randy, JLo and Steven Tyler) are simply too nice with everyone, which means fans at home simply don’t know who to vote for.
“It’s not like the show needs a bully to function, but when you’re faced with the decision of choosing the best in a group of greats, some professional insight is called for and these judges are failing on that front,” THR says.
An even more likely explanation is the PWS (Presumptive Winner Syndrome): everybody was so convinced that Pia would win that they simply forgot to vote for her.
“It’s when everybody is so universally convinced that a contestant will win, that they basically neglect or forget to vote for that finalist. It's been Pia’s problem from the very beginning,” THR says.
In other words, Pia was simply too perfect (if there is such a thing) for American Idol.
Last but not least, THR notes the possibility of fans’ not approving of Pia’s take on Tina Turner’s “River Deep, Mountain High” costing her her shot at fame with AI.
“There were plenty of rumblings around the web about her robotic movements, unattractive outfit, and simply the fact that you don’t touch the mighty Tina Turner,” the e-zine says.
Whether we’ll ever find out how it came that one of the strongest and most promising American Idol contenders got voted off is highly debatable.