American Idol will reportedly be losing a finalist to unexpected causes on Wednesday.
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American Idol producers will disqualify one of the competition's twelve remaining eleventh-season finalists during Wednesday night's performance show, TMZ reported Tuesday evening.
According to TMZ, the unidentified finalist is being disqualified because American Idol producers have learned the contestant has a criminal record they concealed from the show.
The undisclosed criminal record reportedly includes 2011 charges from two separate crimes, one of which involved violence. In addition, the finalist also gave police false names when arrested and has outstanding warrants in connection with the charges, according to TMZ.
American Idol reportedly confronted the finalist with the information on-camera on Tuesday and the confrontation will be broadcast on Wednesday's episode.
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The TMZ report did not detail whether the disqualification will potentially result in American Idol not eliminating an additional finalist during Thursday's results show or allowing Jeremy Rosado -- who was eliminated during last week's first finals results show -- to return to the competition.
UPDATE: Jermaine Jones has apparently outed himself as the disqualified finalist.
While rare, American Idol has disqualified semifinalists and finalists several times in its eleven-year history.
In 2010, Chris Golightly was disqualified from American Idol's ninth-season semifinals before they began after the show's producers determined he was ineligible due to unspecified reasons he later attributed to an alleged mix-up over an expired recording contract (the recording company disagreed).
A year earlier, eighth-season Idol semifinalist Joanna Pacitti was disqualified due to "a perceptional problem" resulting from her previous relationships with two 19 Entertainment executives.
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During Idol's second season, semifinalist Jaered Andrews was disqualified over (later acquitted) charges of committing an assault that led to a man's death and then 23-year-old semifinalist Frenchie Davis was disqualified for having previously posed for faux "kiddie porn" photos.
Later that same season, Corey Clark, one of the season's nine remaining finalists, was dismissed for failing to disclose pending battery charges.
About The Author: Steven Rogers