Can you say much ado about nothing?
Lauren Alaina was given the OK to sing by the doctor 45 minutes before tonight’s American Idol final began. Didn’t the story break about an hour before airtime, with TMZ, who originally broke the story fanning the flames right up until airtime?
If you read Michael Orland’s account from Entertainment Weekly, the whole deal was overblown. The issues Lauren had tonight happen all the time, and there are talented ENT’s who know how to fix them.
She got out to dress rehearsal, in front of the judges, and Debbie, our stage manager, said, “Lauren is not going to sing out on this one.” I thought this could be dangerous, because, you know, the judges are sitting there, and I don’t want them to get some kind of preconceived notion of what is going to be [happening] tonight. So I went up to the judges right away and said, “Don’t worry, she’s saving it, she will have it tonight, she’s going to be fine.” They were like, “Tell her to relax.” Because right away, I know in Lauren’s head, she’s going to be thinking, “Oh my God, the judges are going to be freaked out.” The judges were like, “Tell her not to worry. Tell her to save it all for tonight.”
So I went up there and said, “You’re fine. The judges are fine. Save everything for tonight.” She says, “I don’t have anything to save. There’s nothing coming out right now.”
Listen: I’ve done 10 finales [and] I have seen this [before]. I saw Jordin Sparks have no voice the day of the show. Katherine McPhee, David Archuleta [too] — it just happens. These guys have not stopped singing [all season], and they’re rehearsing for the finale [on Wednesday]. She’d just had had it. So the doctor came and saved the day. That happens to even the biggest stars in show business.
And on the possibility of Haley Reinhart taking Lauren’s place tonight
Right. I mean, they have a big show to put on. I think that if she couldn’t sing any notes, they would have had to put Haley in there. I don’t think she got to actually rehearse with the band. But I wasn’t there, so I really can’t say. However, the doctor came and said, 45 minutes before they went on, [Lauren] is going be totally fine and she will be able to sing through this. But I saw it was already on TMZ — word gets out quick around here!
Would not be surprised if the news was leaked to TMZ by Idol producers to get some drama going before showtime..
