After Alyssa Raghu accused American Idol of deceptively editing audition with “friend” Julia Davo, Julia hits back saying the audition was NOT deceptive
After American Idol aired the auditions from friends Alyssa Raghu and Julia Davo, Alyssa hopped on to social media to say that Idol deceptively edited the clip. Interestingly, After Alyssa posted her lengthy explanation, Julia remained oddly silent. Now , the edgy singer, who performed a cover of David Bowie’s “Life on Mars,” is speaking out to say she doesn’t agree with Alyssa’s interpretation of what went down in the audition room.
Alyssa accompanied her friend to the audition as a former contestant who appeared on the show TWICE. First, she auditioned for season 16 when the judges–Lionel Richie, Katy Perry and Luke Bryan–cut her before the Top 24, and then she tried again for season 17, where she made it all the way to the Top 8.
On the show, Alyssa appeared to muscle her way into Julia’s audition, completely taking it over with a rendition of Mariah Carey’s “My All,” In the end, Alyssa got her THIRD Golden ticket, while Julia walked away empty handed. Alyssa came prepared with two songs, including an original, seemingly as if she had an agenda that didn’t necessarily include supporting a friend.
But reality shows are known to creatively edit for maximum drama. Alyssa claimed that the producers pitted two female singers against each other for reality drama., and that Julia had informed producers beforehand that Alyssa would be with her. Alyssa claims that producers asked HER to come prepared to sing, and that the two walked away from the experience the best of friends, still friends to this day.
“I do not believe my audition on AI was edited in a deceiving way”
But wait a minute. Julia posted a reaction on the social platform X, formerly known as Twitter. And no, the friendship did not remain unscathed. Julia wrote, “I want to come on here to say that I do not believe my audition on AI was edited in a deceiving way. How you saw the events unfold was what had happened. My feelings and the situation was accurately portrayed.”
Julia went on to write: “Although I have been afraid to speak up, because I know my platform is not as large, your support and kindness has inspired me to. I will be making a full statement this week.” She goes on to specify speaking with the gossip outlet, TMZ. “I do think I deserve to tell my side and express how I felt/continue to feel.”
She asks fans not to attack Alyssa. “I want everyone to remember that this is a singing competition. No life or death. I am NOT telling you to go hate on Alyssa.” She then refers to “insane” comments in her mentions. I couldn’t find any. But she had deleted a couple of posts as well (which we managed to snag).
“I just think the truth should be known and she has told her side which I do not agree with, so I deserve to tell mine,” wrote Julia.
After posting, Julia deleted two incendiary posts. In them, Julia claims that Alyssa COULD HAVE taken Julia to Hollywood to mentor. But Alyssa didn’t want the distraction.
In deleted Tweets, Julia claims Alyssa could have brought her to Hollywood, but “made sure” she wasn’t there
“For those wondering why I’m not there supporting Alyssa in Hollywood Week, it’s because although she had the opportunity to bring me, She didn’t invite me because she “wanted to focus.”
Julia continued, “So I could’ve gotten some screen time/the cool experience of watching Hollywood Week live, but Alyssa basically made sure I wasn’t there, after everything that had happened with my audition (and never one apology from her). And she still called us “best friends” at this time.”
Oh boy. Maybe she deleted them to save the juicy bits for TMZ. Heh. In anycase, Alyssa responded, on X/Twitter. She accuses Julia of being ego driven and attention seeking.
Alyssa responds, calling Julia ego driven and attention seeking
“I was told to have a song ready,” Alyssa wrote. “Julia was not surprised I sang. She was surprised SHE didn’t get a ticket, we were both disappointed. She knows, yet she wants MORE attention due to her own ego. This is a cry for gossip to keep her “fame” going by being hurtful. Wish her well.”
On one hand, Alyssa made it seem as if she and Julia remained friends after the audition, and that is clearly not the case. Alyssa claims the show’s editing was deceptive (which it often is) and Julia insists that what viewers saw on their TVs is exactly what happened. Maybe the truth lies somewhere in the middle? Still, once Alyssa entered that audition room, she seemed to have a very specific goal of getting back on the show again. Which she did!
But what she didn’t think through was: “Why is American Idol making the unprecedented decision to bring a contestant back for a third time?” She probably SHOULD have anticipated that it was not about her talent. In the end, the show gave Alyssa a villain edit (Hello…they used you as a foil!) But maybe, in the end, the extra exposure will be worth it. As far as Julia is concerned, she’s a talented artist. But alt/indie singers with quirky voices often struggle on Idol. I wasn’t surprised that the judges said no (Lionel said yes, Katy and Luke said no). She probably wouldn’t have gotten past the producers if Alyssa wasn’t her friend.
