Top 10 Biggest American Idol Scandals 

Which "American Idol" scandal shocked YOU the most? Let us know below, and be sure to also check out our video of the Top 10 Behind the Scenes Secrets About American Idol - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-gKcUnXoX4Xg.html

Adam not winning, along with Jennifer Hudson and Chris Daughter's eliminations are definitely scandals. Jennifer's elimination was particularly brutal. It was the "year of the divas" and they split the vote as a result.

Ngl, I met Adam Lambert and he was by far the most humble, kind celeb I’ve probably encountered. He’s also tall AF!

Jessica not winning will never sit right with me. Ms Gurl proved that she has multiple lungs and could sing some of the hardest songs known to man.

Jennifer Hudson is an inspiration for all. Love her.

My head exploded when Jennifer Hudson was voted off. My bestie and I were silent for like 10 minutes before losing our collective minds! She's so rad ❤

No mention of Chris Daughtry? Although, maybe not a scandal, just an utter shock!

Indonesian people say "rezeki nggak akan ketuker". Look at Adam Lambert. He lost at the competition but today he is a bigger star than the winner. He is like the third most successfull idol alumny. First n second place is debatable between Kelly n Carrie.

Adam & Jennifer's results were very shocking, considering how multi-talented both artists are. I agree with number 1-it was highly unprofessional for Carey & Minaj to argue on-camera. It took away from the competitors and ruined the vibe of the show. It also made it seem like 2 female judges couldn’t get along, which completely got broken on “The Voice” and “America's Got Talent”.

As a Filipino, I watched the news that Jessica Sanchez lost to Phillip Phillips when I was the just Grade 4 or 5. Now as 22 years old, I was upset and disbelief about her lost because no Filipino or Asian contestants won or make it to the Finals of the American contest shows for a long time.

We really did go hard for Sanjaya. He was quite endearing.

What about Chris Daughtry? He finished 4th and look how his career took off. How many winners of Idol have gone off and started recording top 10 hits? Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson are the only two I can think of

Number 1 got me 😂🤣😂

Melinda doolittle elimination still shocks me till today!

Pia Toscano's elimination should've been on here at least that pissed me off she was a fan favorite

There should be a Top 10 video on the Nicki/Mariah fights alone.

I thought Carrie Underwood has the best selling single of American Idol. Anyway, sure she has more hits than him. And Jennifer Hudson, well, time put her in the place this show didn't put her. QUEEN

I'm surprised Tamyra Gray isn't on here. I feel like that was the first time everyone wanted someone to win, only to be eliminated near the end.

As much as I love Jennifer Hudson and think her elimination was awful, I also think that the show did Diana Degarmo super dirty. She gave amazing performances and didn't deserve most of her bad comments,, and didn't fit the whole "3 black divas" that was pushed for the top 3

When Jennifer Hudson got voted off American Idol, I never watched it again. I'm from Chicago, and I distinctly remember Chicago had a HUGE blackout. A lot of the Chicagoland area was without power, and we were unable to call in. I remember the next morning, it made the local news, and we said we should be allowed to call in that day before the night show. I remember telling my friends she wasn't going to make it. We in Chicago were furious she was voted off, and I personally never watched the show again. I'm glad she made it on her own, though. JHud is a powerhouse!

Also that season they purposely picked weaker male singers to virtually guarantee a female winner, which likely played a part in the shows initial cancellation seems like a pretty big one to leave off the list.

I cried when Jennifer Hudson was voted off.

Oh My Gosh! I knew it, Adam Lambert was the true winner of American Idol.

This is difficult,because i've never watched it.not even once.

The fact Lauren Gray got eliminated during the top 40 by Randy Jackson back in 2012 is something I still don’t forget.

I'm actually kinda glad Phillips won, because he gave us that catchy as hell coronation song that was stuck in my head so much in my younger years.

Gabby Barrett should have won season 16. From what I've heard she was eliminated due to producers wanting Maddie and Caleb as final 2 since they were dating.

#5 ending in paula saying he’s been telling lies 😂😂😂😂😂

American idol is mostly about Looks, talent second

How about when Chris Daugherty lost to Katharine McPhee. Everyone was shocked including the judges. Ryan Seacrest came out the next week and described how the voting system works on air and the rest of the show showed the voting numbers before announcing the winners that particular night.

Chris Daughtry's exit in Season 5 was more shocking than Jennifer Hudson's

the biggest shame of all is, even though she didnt appear in american idol rather agt, is ANGELINA JORDAN, surpasses anything mentioned in this video

Adam lambert not winning was the biggest fix in the shows history i stopped watching after that and the fact hes the most sucsessful contestant to come out of the show just proves it was a fix

Let's just say Nicki and Mariah gave quality tv at the time

Adam Lambert, Jennifer Hudson, Justin Guarani and Chris Daughtry's eliminations were shocking

NICKI IS A LEGEND???? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

mariah is a legend. Nikki Minaj a legend?

America obviously still loves their WGWG. Look at The Voice.

I couldn't stand Nicki as a judge 😭

I still thought Diana DeGarmo was a better singer than Fantasia. 🤷🏼‍♀️

The disrespect! Mariah is indeed a legend. Nicki is a legend inside her own head.

I guess Phillip Phillips backed up his win with a huge hit.

I remember watching Philip and Jessica season that was the last one I really watched

Chris Daughtry getting voted off after it was revealed that all his votes went to Katherine McPhee due to a superimpose mistake is the ONLY scandal I care about. That was bull-t. I never watched another episode. Didn’t even finish out the season. I was absolutely DONE. He was the better singer. Had a better chance at a career post Idol. And actually did a great job fairly consistently. Whereas McPhee was a mediocre singer and seemed to be favorited by Simon purely for her looks. The way he talked about her legs instead of her voice was just so inappropriate. But for Idol to acknowledge the phone number mistake-they showed Katherine’s number on both her performance and on Chris’ performance!- and then claim that Chris was eliminated “because he got the lowest number of votes” was trash. You cannot punish a contestant for something you did that compromised that contestant and then retain your integrity. And adding insult to injury McPhee made it to the top 2! Wtf!!! And before you come at me in the comments about her voice, I’m saying that Katherine would not have made it by votes to the top 2 IF the number swap mistake that sent home Chris had not happened. She was the one going home that night based on everyone’s performance and popularity. Where’s THIS scandal on your list?

I didn't know about textgate! I was a fan from season 2-16 and was obsessed starting season 7, so I'm surprised I didn't notice it. I'm a little surprised because based on how the producers framed the contestants and how the judges spoke to Kris, it didn't seem like the producers wanted him to win. The contestant the judges kept praising for little reason was Danny Gokey (even though he was like a less talented but more insufferable Taylor Hicks), and it was clear to viewers that producers wanted a Danny and Adam finale. The only thing I can think of is they wanted a dark horse narrative (but somehow didn't consider the equally-talented-as-Adam Allison Iraheta because sexism).

Can you do a "Top 10 most underrated Degrassi couples"?

Some drop or actually allow themselves to get eliminated due to signing a deal with someone else.

The audience should have booed every time the judges fought.

The worst crime was Jeremiah Lloyd Harmons elimination . I've hated Katy ever since and he laughed when I told him that

Yall missed during Season 1 when Tamyra was eliminated over Nikki McKibbon. That still hurts today, the first scandal!

Kelly Clarkson and Adam Lambert was of my all time favorite in American Idol.

Pia!

A few other worth mentioning, tori kelly when she didn’t make it to top 24 and Simon calling her voice annoying. Pita toscano auditioning a total of 5 times and only making it through to Hollywood twice before finishing a shocking 9th on season 10

How do you, get a name like Philip Philips?? That sounds like a cartoon name!!🤣🤣🤣

Reed Grim got screwed and is way better than all others.

Just Goes to show How Huge These Singing Competitions Really Are.

Tbh, putting Nicki Minaj as a judge that season was totally uncalled for. 1) She was a very recent and new artist at the time, with her first single being launched not even 2 years prior to the begging of that season. 2) She isn’t even a singer lol she mainly raps and although she has a few nice vocal moments under her belt, that isn’t enough to justify her being a judge on a singing competition. 3) Apart from a few seasons, the judging panel has always been integrated by 2 male y 1 female judge, so putting her as a judge last minute just seemed very odd.

Jennifer Hudson was a real winner. She lost but ended becoming greater egot

Season 12 is The Number One Reason of why American Idol should’ve been terminated long ago!

Season 12 was for ratings 😂 the choice of judges already not liking each other

I remember Vote 4 The Worst. My mom followed that site

Nicki Minaj a legend??? 🤔 So you are telling me that Minaj is in the same level as the true lengeds like Lionel Richie or Mariah Carey??? 😒 I don't think so 🤦🏽‍♂️

I only ever watched the auditions. Legit thought Hudson and Adam won 🤣😂 shocked and surprised they didn't...heard of fantasia but not recently and whoever the guy was that Adam lost too ..

Nikki and Mariah are called “diva” for nothing 😂

Anwar Robinson and Elliott Yamin's eliminations had me FURIOUS! 😂I will say that the textgate/anger and protesting over Adam Lambert being runner up completely undermined the transcendent talent Kris Allen had and still has, which is unfortunate. It isn't his fault.

The Psychology & Sociology is quite weird in Amerca, ergo I wouldn't mind live in the USA

I like Jennifer Hudson *now* but I wasn’t a fan during her run on American Idol. She was kind of the poster child for “Loud is the New Good.” She definitely didn’t deserve to go as early as she did, but I understood it at the time.

Phillip Phillips is a PHENOMENAL singer and performer. I’ve seen him live twice and I’m in awe of him every time. There’s a documentary about Adam Lambert joining Queen, and they talk about Adam being runner up. They knew it wasn’t gonna happen because he was “probably gay” (direct quote from the movie). He wasn’t destined to win it, and he’s been kicking butt ever since!

Number 3 was the reason why I created #VoteForTheGirls, and coincidentally I also auditioned for that season’s #AmericanIdol in Pittsburgh. Additionally, Pia Toscano and Siobhan Magnus eliminations were the shocking.

In Haley Reinhart’s season, the online voting was bugged. About half the time the input code to vote for her using a computer did not work. It worked fine for the other contestants. I filmed it.

David Archuleta mentioned in his memoir book that I have that all of the drama going on with his Dad was just blown way out of proportion just to make him sound more interesting on American Idol. It made me feel pretty bad that I actually found his Dad to be a bad guy due to those nasty rumors but I'm glad that things are absolutely fine with them now. :) I was rooting for Phillip Phillips to win. Other people wanted Jessica Sanchez to win but I wanted Phillip Phillips. He was my main favorite from beginning to end which it was the first time that ever literally happened with me with the show and he winded up actually winning. I moved away from Missouri to Georgia the literal next day after he won so it was pretty highly significant for me. :) I understand that people get absolutely tired of the same kind of singers always constantly winning but people need to accept the fact that it happens because the other person is far more beloved and has absolutely nothing to do with racism in the slightest. It proves that people are way too oversensitive nowadays. That hugely angered me back then and it still does now. :( However, I hope that Phillip Phillips' song, Home, proved them all wrong and shut them all up that he had that winning spot and if not who cares for he still won! :) Why isn't Chris Daughtry's actual elimination not on this list or at least a freaking honorable mention?! My Mom was afraid that I literally was going to break the TV because I was so upset that he lost but I almost turned it off due to anger! Lol I was twelve at the time and my other middle school friends were just as highly upset as I was. That scandal was almost as scandalous as Jennifer Hudson's because at least he got 4th place compared to Jennifer actually getting seventh but it was just as almost bad it deserved a mention! :( By the way I didn't see Jennifer Hudson's season but I did see Chris Daughtry's yet I did hear about how people were absolutely shocked by her elimination and how it was awfully similar. Dreamgirls introduced me to her and I instantly fell in love with her. EEP! :)

all imma say is, at least for Jennifer, AKA, my twin, she did all that and then some! may not have one the show, shocked us all,, but, baby, look at her now! for my LA peeps, y’all catch her at either 12 or 6, worth it! from a shock of disbelief, to a shock of, you freaking go girl! 9/12 virgo gang stand up! she made us proud!

Oh god I could not stand DA's stage dad BS. That "Beautiful Girls" tag at the end of the show still irritates the hell out of me LOL I know, I know...living rent free up in the recesses of my brain.

I was upset when Jennifer Hudson was voted off, but you know what? She’s doing just fine, so it all worked out.

Jessica should have win!

Chris Daughtry's and Jennifer Hudson's eliminations, Adam Lambert and Jessica Sanchez not winning since they're supposed to be the winners of their respective batch

The eliminations of Jennifer Hudson and Pia Toscano was shocking me!

Kris Allen won because of the judges drooling for a Lambert vs. Gokey finale and their disrespect of the other contestants. When of the "others" went home, the voters consolidated behind a shrinking group. Eventually, there was just Allen and Lambert left. A lot of viewers like Lambert but were peeved at how the other singers were treated, deciding to vote for Allen. Kris is great in concert, by the way. So is Lambert. Just different styles.

Recommended video to watch on RU-vid titled: Musicians Telling the Truth About American Idol.

You forgot Chris Daughtrys elimination !

Pia Toscano’s elimination

Everything went really downhill with Season 11. Even Simon tweeted about it lol.

what about Pia Toscano's elimination?

Chris daughtry should’ve been mentioned The guy was the front runner for his season and was HEAVILY favored but didn’t even make the finale over people that were nowhere near his level and there were reports of his votes being rerouted to other people Also the auto dialer from season 1 should’ve been mentioned since that was the OG voting scandal involving people voting over 10k times in one night

To be honest.. Crystal Bowersox losing in her season is highly over looked. Same with Haley Reinhart. I honestly believe she was cheated so that they would play the did they didnt they card with Scottie and Lauren.

Not gnna lie. Never heard a single Chris Alan song. Didn’t even know the guy existed

Yeah Nicky had no right to be on that show! Because all she did was cause drama between her and Maria Cary.

It still blows my mind that some dude named Philip Phillips won. Like wow, how much brain power you put into that one mom?

Adam lamber and Jessica Sanchez not winning is so traumatic ever.

Corey Clark’s album, man… 😖

9

✍️✍️Antonella Barba

I will never understand how or why Boobs caused such an outrage in the early 2000s.

The last true American Idol was Trent Harmon back in season 15.

Just FYI American Idol 11 gets more famous because of Jessica Sanchez as she reserved tons of support from Filipinos 😌

I would say it has the reputation for creating the most stars. Everyone knows that Mariah and Nicki were faking.

I still don't know why Nicki was a judge..or anyone who doesn't actually -sing- for that matter or is weak vocally. I like Paula Abdul, but I wouldn't call her a strong singer, but she had a pretty long career so I feel that has merit to be able to coach/judge.

ummmm.... no Pia Tuscano's (Season 10) shocking elimination? who knew she's the top contender of her time for the title with flawless performances and eliminated over Stefano Langone's bad performance? 😭

Archie's dad was the worst. Last I heard they werent on speaking terms but is still very close with his mom and sisters (who are very supportive of him being LGBT )

The 2nd place person normally has better success than the 🏆