No, I don't think it's real discrimination - but it's just really unfair, and the coincidental aspect of him being the blind guy who didn't get
to sing at all, but was forced to dance looks just terrible. This may not have been an intentional civil rights issue, but I completely see why some of his
fans thought it was.
The fact that Jasmine, Alexis and Jorge got solos is the part where it gets really messy. There's this tacit understanding that the Top Ten have a different status than the people who did not make the tour. If he's been pushed behind them in visibility, there's actually quite a problem here, and it does bear some resemblance to a discrimination issue even if that was not the reason they stuck him in a corner. (Obviously the cameras were not going to focus on him in the group numbers. He can't do them well and he looks extremely awkward.) Matt got a few words of solo to compensate for the Billy Joel mess. It is inexcusable that Scott did not.
Edited to add: Holy crap. This is turning into a minor news story. Access Hollywood reports:
A rep for Billy Joel said the piano man "was never offered to duet with Scott," despite MacIntyre's blog post.
She added that Billy Joel also "never agreed to appear on 'Idol.'"
http://www.accesshollywoo...-after-all_article_18378
Well, the bottom line is that the duet absolutely existed. Scott's put up proof of that. While Billy Joel may have declined to be on Idol, I find it hard to believe he was not asked for the simple reason that Matt and Scott had a real duet and the producers most certainly would have been looking for a celebrity to "legitimize" it.
Just how much trouble has this kid gotten himself into?
The fact that Jasmine, Alexis and Jorge got solos is the part where it gets really messy. There's this tacit understanding that the Top Ten have a different status than the people who did not make the tour. If he's been pushed behind them in visibility, there's actually quite a problem here, and it does bear some resemblance to a discrimination issue even if that was not the reason they stuck him in a corner. (Obviously the cameras were not going to focus on him in the group numbers. He can't do them well and he looks extremely awkward.) Matt got a few words of solo to compensate for the Billy Joel mess. It is inexcusable that Scott did not.
Edited to add: Holy crap. This is turning into a minor news story. Access Hollywood reports:
A rep for Billy Joel said the piano man "was never offered to duet with Scott," despite MacIntyre's blog post.
She added that Billy Joel also "never agreed to appear on 'Idol.'"
http://www.accesshollywoo...-after-all_article_18378
Well, the bottom line is that the duet absolutely existed. Scott's put up proof of that. While Billy Joel may have declined to be on Idol, I find it hard to believe he was not asked for the simple reason that Matt and Scott had a real duet and the producers most certainly would have been looking for a celebrity to "legitimize" it.
Just how much trouble has this kid gotten himself into?
