Reuters, Yahoo (i.e. the media) don't want to take down the juggernaut. . . this controversy is being spun in such a way that people will tune to find out what happens next in the perils of Carly.

I'm sure most people will know this by now, but it's not just Carly that's a ringer... this is straight from Yahoo Music:

"OK, on to this week's other big music competition: American Idol. Simon, Paula, and Randy whittled it down to the final 24 contestants Wednesday night, and some of their casting decisions caused more controversy than Amy, Natalie, and Aretha combined. Not only were a few surefire fan favorites (Josiah Leming, the teary-eyed teen who lives in his car; Kyle Ensley, the geeky aspiring politician) inexplicably cast aside, but some of the contenders who made it through actually have extensive past industry experience, causing message boards to buzz with conspiracy theories about an allegedly fixed competition.

Among the suspicious singers in the Idol season 7 running are Carly Smithson, who was once signed to MCA Records under the name Carly Hennessy; Michael Johns, who used to front the major-label rock band the Rising under the name Michael Lee; onetime Star Search winner David Archuleta; former Boys N Girlz United boyband singer (and Britney Spears's ex-boyfriend!) Robbie Carrico; Cheyenne cast member Jason Castro; Making The Band also-ran Jason Yeager; former Arista Nashville signing Kristy Lee Cook; and Mo'Nique's Fat Chance plus-size beauty pageant winner Joanne Borgella. Poor Josiah and Kyle never had a chance, fat or otherwise, against these pros!"

Draw your own conclusions, I suppose. Personally, I always vote for the underdog!

Yes, we were the first ones to post that <a href="/americanidol7contestants" target="_blank">a month and a half ago</a>. Yahoo really should stop stealing and start crediting its sources.

I sit humbly and apologize for any miscrediting I may have participated in.. I shall henceforth give credit where it is due!

IMHO, someone oughta call'em out and threaten not to watch (unlikely, though) or better yet find out who the 'real' contestants are and vote for them ONLY. Personally, I'd like to force them to bring in Josiah at least. That kid was better than most that did get picked, and heck, the guy lives in his car! He deserves a chance just for that!

No problem Most people don't know that we broke this story. We just want to make sure we at least get a little credit ;-)

I'm not the first to post this idea, but I'm wondering if Josiah will be invited back as a wildcard, a la Clay Aiken.

Best thing to do is link this site in a comment if the story you read sounds like a rip off of the ones here. MSN allows comments for most of their stories. That could be the reason they were quicker to give VFTW the credit since otherwise the comments would make the writer of the story look less informed than the ones making the comments!

The only way Josiah could comeback is if one of the current top 24 get the boot before the voting starts next week due to something they did that violates AI rules or state and/or federal laws. Then the AI would have the option of replacing him with Josiah.

I even saw this being covered on E! News last night.

Sure, she may not have a current contract, but if they booted someone for the Simon connection before, it is only fair that Carly be booted too.

Unfortunately that will never happen.

But...... I don't see America keeping her around too long.

Wildcards were done back in the early days of Seasons 1-3. In today's format, there is no room for WCs. The best Josiah fans have to hope for is an appearance on the finally (or the inevitable seat filler in the audience).