In a Rolling Stone article that takes bits out of her new book, Kara DioGuardi admits that the producers of American Idol are the ones who send the contestants packing during the Hollywood rounds, not the judges. 

During the season 9 Hollywood week one contestant was eliminated in what seemed like an oversight by the producers. "I saw her walking out of the auditorium crying," DioGurardi writes. "She was still on the judges' list. So Randy, Ellen, Simon, and I tried to fight for her, but we weren't permitted to change the decision. There was one other contestant some of us wanted as well, but there seemed to be an air of suspicion that Simon might be trying to sabotage the contestant pool in the wake of his leaving. I don't know about that, but from my perspective he was definitely trying to help the show. I felt awful for these contestants...By the end of the week I didn't have a good feeling about the mix of talent we'd ended up with, and I was right."

So basically, the producers do whatever they want and the judges are there to look like they make decisions? That's what we thought. It's also interesting to see that the producers felt that Simon Cowell was trying to sabotage the show in his last season - he clearly succeeded since we ended up with Lee DeWyze as the winner.

Who knew Aaron Kelly would be the contestant to speak out against the behind-the-scenes machinations at Idol? Nice work, Twink Frau Bait! Aaron Kelly's Idolatry interview with Entertainment Weekly has some very interesting information about how rigged Idol is. First off, Aaron says the songs lists on iTunes are way longer than what the Idols get to choose from. He says they sometimes have to choose from 12 songs. Aaron also says that Idol edited his Hollywood video to make it look as if he forgot his lyrics when he didn't and that they changed they key to his song before he performed without telling him. Well hey, good on you, Aaron. But isn't it a little early to call out Idol before they give you that summer paycheck for the tour? Either way, thanks for the info!

In what can already be seen as a VFTW Victory, Neil Patrick Harris likely didn't disappoint as one of the guest judges in the Paula Abdul replacement rotation for American Idol 9's auditions. Neil told Entertainment Weekly some fun facts about his time judging:

• He says "I shattered dreams." Loving it.
• He had conspiracies like a good Worster. "I thought there was a lot more shady dealing going on in there. I thought they would say, “This is one that we held for two years, this is a ringer, we want to keep him in,” or, “Go to town on this one.” There’s nothing going on. It’s exactly like it is." So it turns out that the producers just didn't let Neil in on who was a ringer and who wasn't to protect their secrets.
• He got the gig because he's friends with Kara. So yes, someone actually likes Kara DioGuardi.
• The judges were only there for 4 hours the day he worked. So when they complain that they're "so tired" or "bored", it's lame, because they only have to work 4 hour days.

We're excited to see what NPH has to say to the contestants. Let's hope he helped get a bad contestant or two through to Hollywood.

An ABC News article on Paula's dismissal and Ju'Noy Joyner's comments about Idol (listen to his VFTW Radio appearance), also had a very interesting passage by former Idol contestant Ayla Brown. Ayla was also a really interesting guest on VFTW Radio, and she mentioned a lot of this to us back then as well.

"Season five contestant Ayla Brown told ABCNews.com that behind-the-scenes judgment can sometimes influence a singer's fate more than on-air evaluations or audience votes.

"The way they portrayed me on the show was that I'm the daughter of a state senator and a news reporter and I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth. I came off as this stuck up northeastern b***h," Brown said.

That changed when executive producers Warwick and Nigel Lythgoe actually listened to Brown sing.

"A few weeks in, when I was rehearsing, Ken and Nigel came in and said, 'You know, we knew you were pretty but we really didn't know you could sing this well,'" Brown said. "It made me think that I was on the show, and some people are put on the show, just to get ratings."

Ayla's right. She was portrayed on the show as a snob who made it on the show because of connections, but she probably surprised the producers when she sang really well and survived a few rounds of cuts due to her good performances. Turns out Ayla is a well spoken and interesting girl who worked hard for what she has going for her.

We love the Idols coming out of the woodwork to agree with Ju'Not. What do you think?