Joanna Pacitti : American Idol controversy

Joanna Pacitti : Still Amateur?

Last year it was the Carly Smithson and Kristy Lee Cook American Idol Controversy and it looks like the same story is brewing this year with a new contestant Joanna Pacitti.

Pacitti starred in 106 performances with the National Tour but 2 weeks before the show was to land on Broadway, she became ill with bronchitis.

She returned to find she had been replaced as Annie by her understudy. Her parents ended up suing for 50M but decided to settle out of court later on.

Pacitti was signed to a contract by A&M Records by the same man who discovered Christinal Aguilera and Vanessa Carlton at the age of 16 in 2000.

Her songs were used on a couple of sound tracks namely Legally Blonde in 2001 and the motion picture soundtrack for Bratz in 2007.

On May 2006 Picitti released her first single “Let It Slide” under Geffen Records and the song hit the radio waves by end of June.

She is no longer signed Geffen Records to date.

Should she Stay or Go?

So what is the big deal? Well for starters the show is supposed to be for undiscovered amateur and a singer without a recording contract. Pacitti’s considerable amoutn of experience with the industry is too broad to be considered as an amateur.

Idol fans are complaining that her establish fan base may interfere with fair judgement if she makes it to the public vote, “The point is that because she is a ‘semi-pro’… she already has a built in fan base and voting block. That skews the competition in her favor, especially in the early rounds,” Marcdamon wrote.

Another Idol fan states, “They need to change the rules to only allow for untapped talent.

Joanna has already been on 2 major labels, has had a cover done by Britney and 3 songs on 3 different movie soundtracks,” Davesnay wrote.

“She is taking valuable space away from somebody who hasn’t already had 5-6 chances.”