‘American Idol’ Fans Accuse Judges Of Cheating

ByAmanda Lauren
Carrie Underwood-YouTube

American Idol fans are accusing judges of cheating, but what has led them to believe that this is the case? More so, do the viewers have any proof that cheating is going on? Keep reading for further details on this murky situation.

American Idol Fans Accuse Judges Of Cheating

Many seasons of American Idol have been accused of being rigged or staged. The best of the best can be sent home early or come in second place. That can be a hard pill to swallow for devoted fans who spend countless hours voting for the singer that they love the most. Moreover, viewers do not always understand why the poorest performers can get such praise. This current season features a new judge, Carrie Underwood, who has taken over for Katy Perry. She was the Season 4 winner of Idol and has gone on to amass a crazy amount of success, so she was the perfect replacement.

Carrie Underwood-YouTube
Carrie Underwood-YouTube

Unfortunately, not everything is going as smoothly as viewers would have hoped. It is not just the top performers being sent home, but other off-putting issues. One of them is the judges’ performance. Carrie belted out a few beautiful numbers over the last few weeks, especially on Easter. This made viewers feel that she had redeemed herself and should win the show all over again. Artist in Residence, Jelly Roll, blew the roof off the show when he did a duet with Brandon Lake. Then, Lionel Richie was spot on with a recent performance. He did so well that viewers wonder if he was really singing or had assistance.

 

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A post shared by Lionel Richie (@lionelrichie)

One American Idol fan had these thoughts about Lionel’s performance:

  • Lionel’s performance. Do you think he was lip syncing? I have seen him live in 2019 (when he slipped and fell on the stage) and he did not lip sync then, but I wondered about this performance, it kind of seemed like it.

This could be deemed unfair given that the contestants have to give their all on stage, live, and no autotune.

Is He Lip-Synching?

Other American Idol fans who watched Lionel Richie’s performance weighed in on this, and they had their own thoughts. Some did not believe he was lip-synching, while others were unsure. If he had, that would not necessarily be fair, as aforementioned, since the contestants do everything live:

  • It didn’t look like it to me, and usually these things are pretty easy to spot, but he definitely sounded much, much better than he has on the last few seasons, so I’d guess probably but not definitely. Just my opinion.
  • I think it was lip sync
  • i was wondering the same thing but it seemed like some of the vocals looked almost delayed throughout the rest of the episode so i’m assuming no? but who knows i could be wrong!

At this point, it is unclear if Lionel was singing live or not. However, the hope would be that he would do so to inspire the contestants who are vying for the top spot.

Do you believe that Lionel was lip synching, and if he was, is that a form of cheating? Let us know your thoughts, and watch American Idol on ABC and streaming on Hulu.

Amanda Lauren
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