Danielle Hayes Didn't Go To Hollywood After All

Here are my theories:

1. They are phoning in this season and didn't even notice Danielle didn't make it to Hollywood.

2. They love it when a single mom cries and couldn't pass the opportunity.

3. They wanted to use the line about American Idol saving people from corporate hell.

4. They got Danielle mixed up with some other chick with a kid and thought she was actually there.

Or...She dropped out after the shows were finished editing.

But didn't they air Danielle's episode after Hollywood week had already begun? They have thousands auditions, and if she didn't even show up for Hollywood week, I'm sure they could have found something with which to replace Danielle's segment.

I doubt they cut it that close on the editing. Didn't the auditions happen months ago? I would think they started editing the audition shows as soon as they finished visiting all the cities.

fcktoob - You are correct that the shows are edited long before Hollywood week, but I still think this is inexcusable.

Editing is not that difficult these days (especially with the cheesy standards AI uses). ESPN Sportscenter editors can put together a full package of game highlights within seconds of a game ending.

This show PRINTS MONEY! They could hire any editor of that caliber to tweak the audition episodes at the last minute to better reflect the end product, Top 24. But they don't. In season 1 and 2, I could let them slide. But not 9 years into this gig. They should know better, and they should fucking care a little bit more.

The most likely reason is that the as soon as the auditions are over, the shows are edited and packaged ready for broadcast and, until the scheduled broadcast day, they sit on a hard drive with no one on the production team knowing or caring about who is actually on each episode.

Besides which, the working conditions and wages on reality TV shows are the worst in the industry and so I would imagine conscientious and company minded employees, who might actually give a damn about the show, are probably thin on the ground.

A lot of the people they don't show singing in their audition is due to Idol not having the rights to the songs those people chose.

Personally I'd rather they cut out that ugly lying orphan's sob story than Danielle's singing.

Those golden ticket interviews would have been nicer if they included a clip of their singing on their audition so we know how they sound. They are getting there but not quite. Close but no cigar.

Glad I didn't like her.

The local Fox station in Seattle did a piece on her a couple of days ago.

She's been on probation since 2004 and can't easily leave WA state.

So Idol passed.