American Idol’s Lee DeWyze Feuds with Creator Nigel Lythgoe. Snubbed During Finale?

Last week’s American Idol finale showed ratings climbed almost twenty percent over last year.

The winner and runner-up may already be in love.

But there was another matter happening behind the scenes that nobody ever saw, or new about – until now.

Last year’s Idol winner Lee DeWyze and creator Nigel Lythgoe were embraced in a bitter feud.

What started the war?

It seems that moments after the finale taping was over, creator and Executive Producer Nigel Lythgoe took to twitter saying,

"I was so upset Lee DeWyze wouldn't present the winner’s trophy to Scotty. Especially as he'd been on the show this season. I guess he was shy."

It has become somewhat of a tradition for the previous year’s winner to be on stage and present the new winner with the American Idol trophy. But last year’s winner Lee DeWyze was nowhere to be seen.

In fact, while DeWyze was in the audience for the taping, he was never shown on camera and host Ryan Seacrest actually stood in front of him at one point blocking him from the shot. Seacrest never mentioned Lee or pointed him out to the viewers.

So what really went down?

Lee says he was never asked to be part of the final show until the very last minute – about two minutes before country singer Scotty McCreery was crowned champion.

Lee informed his fans by tweeting,

"Hey guys, no I'm not performing at the Finale. I wasn't asked to. A lot of questions so I thought I'd fill you in. Talk to you soon,"

DeWyze elaborated later when asked by reporters what was happening saying,

"I was not asked to be involved in the finale. It wasn't until about two minutes before they announced the winner that Nigel approached me and asked if he could 'borrow' me for a second. I didn't feel a last-second jump on stage was appropriate. It was Scotty's moment."

But Lee’s brother Michael was not as politically correct about the matter and took to twitter to voice is opinion saying,

"American idol producers have no respect... that is all... serious b.s., Nigel Lythgoe a no soul scumbag."

Michael later apologized tweeting,

“People may think I'm being rude but it’s just very obvious when someone is being treated disrespectfully... sorry bout angry tweets. Heat of moment,"

DeWyze did perform earlier in the season but says it was rehearsed and very formal and he had no problem with that appearance.

At the end of the day, Lee seemed to have gotten over his initial unhappiness and sent one final tweet on the matter saying,

"I appreciate American Idol and the opportunity it has given me. And the people who have made that show possible. I am not angry or bitter etc. It was an amazing finale, and I would have loved to be a part of it. I just wasn't asked."

Both Kris Allen and Adam Lambert who were the winner and runner-up during season 8 were in the audience but did not take the stage during the evening either.

Related: Adam Lambert sports some bizarre facial hair

It’s not unusual, and almost customary, for previous contestants and winners to be part of the final show. Most contestants that participated in this year’s competition were in the audience with the one notable exception of Chris Medina.

Related: Chris Medina snubbed at Idol finale

One reason producers may not have wanted Lee onstage is that his debut album “Live it up” flopped. Not only were sales well below expectations but reviews were also negative.

Entertainment Weekly said the album suffers from vague production that strips his Adam Duritz-y growl of all humor, anger, and sexuality.

We may never know exactly what went down. But we suspect it was a heat-of-the-moment situation that was taken out of context by all involved.

We should just be happy for Scotty “The Body” McCreery and look forward to his first album.

Because after all, the real question on everybody’s mind is if Scotty and Lauren are in love.

Related: American Idol's Scotty McCreery - "I Fell in Love"

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Scotty McCreery Wins American Idol 2011 Crown - Video

We’ve seen some of the best go home.

We’ve met two new judges this season.

We’ve learned we don’t miss Simon after all.

And now we know the winner of American Idol 2011 season 10.

17-Year-old country crooner Scotty McCreery took home the gold tonight and is the new American Idol 2011 winner.

Even after last night’s last minute scare, 30 minutes before going live, that Lauren Alaina had lost her voice and Haley Reinhart would be his new competitor.

Scotty made his hometown of Garner North Carolina proud by winning the tenth season’s top prize after a record breaking 122 million votes put him over the top. 

“Scotty had what it took to go the distance and everybody in Garner is very proud of him. The entire town went into shock when we heard that Scotty had won.”

Scotty beat out 17-year-old country singer Lauren Alaina, and emerged as a frontrunner after the eliminations of Jacob Lusk, Haley Reinhart, James Durbin, Stefano Langone, Casey Abrams, Paul McDonald, and Pia Toscano.



So what prize does the winner of American Idol get?

The winner receives a record deal with a major recording label for up to six albums. All previous winners have reportedly earned at least $1 million in their first year after being named winner. Several have gone on to become superstars.

In addition, the top ten finalists go on the road with the “American Idol Summer Tour” kicking off this June and making each contestant a nice six-figure income.

This season of American Idol was a vast improvement over prior seasons. The ousting of bad guy Simon Cowell and the addition of Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez ignited a fresh fire under the show.

Not that this season was without problems and drama.

Related: Was Idol’s James Durbin Arrested?

Things got a bit rocky when Pia Toscano was voted off before smooth operator Stefano Langone. Fans revolted and started a grass roots effort to have her reinstated - but ultimately failed in their attempt.

Fans were ecstatic when Pia announced she had signed a record deal only two days after being voted off the show.

Related: The Pia Toscano and Stefano Langone Drama

And fans cheered when alt-rock sensation Casey Abrams was welcomed back after the judges used their one “save” of the season.

However, some viewers felt that the addition of famous record producer Jimmy Iovine may have led some Idols astray by giving bad advice or pushing them towards a particular song.

Jacob Lusk for example, criticized Iovine for giving him bad advice that Jacob felt ultimately cost him his chance at winning. 

Related: AI’s Jacob Lusk Arrested in L.A. – Mug Shot

And Chris Medina lashed out at producers when he was not invited to the finale live show. He felt that the show really played up his sad story about his fiancée, who suffered a debilitating brain injury, and then dumped him after he was eliminated.

Related: Chris Medina not invited to Idol Finale?

But all-in-all it was a great season. We really believe the changing of the guard propelled American Idol back to what it was in the early days.
And we congratulate Scotty for going the distance and bringing home the win.

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Survivor “Redemption Island” Winner – Rob Mariano - Video

It took him four attempts to finally win the Survivor crown.

He has spent over 115 days playing the game.

And last night Boston Rob Mariano finally smelled the sweet taste of victory on Survivor Redemption Island.

In what host Jeff Probst called the closest thing to a perfect game he’d ever seen, Boston Rob took home the $1 million dollar prize.

On top of that, he also won Sprint’s $100,000 award for best player selected by fans voting online. Not bad for the 35-year-old who married another Survivor winner - Amber.

In the end it came down to Rob and crazy Phillip Sheppard the “Special Agent” with Rob getting all but one vote for the win. He told Jeff Probst,

"You don't know for sure until the votes are read, but I had a pretty good feeling. I played my heart out. I love this game, but you've got to get lucky along the way, too. I know what it takes. It's really, really difficult. I'm really, really happy things happened the way they did this time."

And for anyone who watched Survivor this season, we got to see the new redemption island concept. It was a nice twist but it seemed that at one point there were more contestants on Redemption Island than there were back at camp. All-in-all it was a great season with a great cast.

The best part for us was watching veteran Russell Hantz voted off early and watching him cry. The second best moment was watching Phillip finally burn his pink underwear in the fire.

Related: Russell Hantz Voted off Survivor – Cries
Related: Survivor Russell Hantz Arrested

We really have come to hate Russell and hope he never appears on the show again.

What’s in store for next season?

Much of the same, as a new cast of 16 contestants meet in the South Pacific. Redemption Island will be back, and it looks like once again there will be two special guests join the teams. The show will begin airing this fall.

Watch the Survivor Winner Being Announced


Watch Phillip Burn his sagging pink underwear


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