American Idol Replaces Joanna Pacitti with Felicia Barton

Last night, American Idol disqualified Joanna Pacitti, replacing her with Felicia Barton. E! Online reports that Joana Pacitti was disqualified because "of her previous professional experience-and an apparently close relationship with 19 Television, the company that produces the hit Fox reality competition" (American Idol scandal! Pacitti Disqualified, Barton Back In, 2009). Why does American Idol choose which controversies are bad and which are good? Will this hurt the show overall? Let us look at the facts.

Fox stated Joanna Pacitti states, "It has been determined that Joanna Pacitti is ineligible to continue in the competition." (Idol Tracker: What you're watching, 2009). Of course, with little further comment internet rumors are flying. Two possible reasons have emerged; Joanna Pacitti's past professional experience and possible relationships with executives of 19 Management. 19 Management is one of the companies overseeing idol.

Joanna Pacitti does have previous music experience. Wikipedia states that Pacitti "was one of the participants in MTV's First Year" (Joanna Pacitti, n.d.). Wikipedia credits Joanna Pacitti with several other accomplishments including:

1. Record deal with A&M Records at age 16.

2. Her music has appeared on sound tracks for Legally Blonde and Bratz.

3. Five track promotional that was released with Mattel's My Scene.

4. Played Amber in an episode of What I like About You.

5. Released a debut album titled This Crazy Life with Geffen Records, in 2006.

Obviously, Joanna Pacitti is not strictly an Amateur, however, the real question is "Did she violate American Idol's rules for contestant eligibility?"

I was able to find American Idol's contestant eligibility rules on DigitalReview.net. DigitalReview.net lists the following requirements:

1. contract for talent representation (for example, a talent agent or manager);

2. a music recording contract;

3. an acting and/or modeling contract;

4. a merchandising agreement; or,

5. any other contractual arrangement that would prohibit you from entering into a management contract, recording contract, talent contract, acting contract and/or merchandising contract.

Did Joanna Pacitti violate American Idols contestant eligibility rules? On the surface, yes. She did have a music recording contract, she had two. But, American Idol lists one important line, "any other contrat arrangement that would prohibit you from entering into a management contract..." The real question is would her previous contracts prohibit her from signing a different contract? We will never know.

I was not able to find a complete American Idol Contestant Agreement. I did find a two page excerpt. The excerpt did not list either a "moralities" or "conflict of interest" clause. For Joanna Pacitti to be kicked off for her possible relationship with 19 Management's Executives, one of the clauses would be necessary.

Joanna Pacitti is not the first contestant to have controversy. American Idol has produced much of their publicity from the rantings of Simon Cowell and tension between Paula Adbuhl and Simon Cowell. Controversy produces headlines. Did Joanna Pacitti actually violate her agreement or was this just a way to get more publicity? We will never actually know.

References

Grossbert, Josh. 2009. American idol Scandal! Pacitti Disqualified, Barton Back In. E! Online Retrieved February 12, 2009 from http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/b99713_american_idol_scandal_pacitti.html

Stacey, Phil. 2009. Idol Tracker: What you're watching. Los Angeles Times Retrieved February 12, 2009 from http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/americanidoltracker/2009/02/contestant-swap.html

Pacitti Missing From "Idol's" Final 36. 2009. MyFoxPhilly.com Retrieved February 12, 2009 from http://www.myfoxphilly.com/dpp/entertainment/Pacitti021209

Joanna Pacitti. 2009. Wikipedia Retrieved on February 12, 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joanna_Pacitti

American Idol. DigitalReview.net Retrieved February 12, 2009 from http://www.digitalreview.net/full/american_idol.html