Suffice it to say there was no love shown to Lee DeWyze during this week’s American Idol crowning of Scotty McCreery. Last season’s winner sat in the audience during the two final episodes and remained anonymous throughout.
In past years, the show made provisions for a musical performance and a passing of the torch, but not this time around. DeWyze was not mentioned by show host Ryan Seacrest.
It turns out that Idol producer Nigel Lythgoe made no attempt to include DeWyze — a fact that had the former winner ‘tweeting’ prior to the telecast:
In a failed attempt to include DeWyze, Lythgoe appoached him just two minutes before McCreery was proclaimed the winner, and asked if he could “borrow” him for a second. Lee refused.
After the show Lythgoe put his own Twitter spin on what went down:
DeWyze decided he needed to clarify what really went down. He ‘tweeted’: “For the record… I was not asked to be involved in the Finale. It wasn’t until about 2 minutes before they announced a winner that Nigel approached me and asked if he could ‘borrow’ me for a second.”
In a followup interview with Hollywood Reporter, he said: “I didn’t feel a last-second jump on stage was appropriate. I am not angry, or bitter. It was an amazing Finale, and I would have loved to be a part of it. I just wasn’t asked. A last minute scramble…seemed inappropriate and kind of ridiculous. The next thing I know, he’s talking about it publicly.”
How will this disagreement end? Lee acknowledged: “I don’t know what point he’s trying to make, but it’s really not a big deal to me anymore. I’m over it. I just love music, man, and that’s what keeps me going.”
Photos: WENN