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Lee DeWyze refused to present 'American Idol' trophy to Scotty McCreery?
The source? Nigel Lythgoe's Twitter account."American Idol" fans who tuned into the Season 10 finale on Wednesday, May 25, were a bit surprised to see last season's winner Lee DeWyze sitting in the fifth row. In fact, DeWyze didn't even receive an on-camera mention from Ryan Seacrest. (Cory, the show's emcee who keeps the crowd energized during the commercial breaks, did tell the crowd DeWyze was in attendance.)
Could DeWyze's fifth row seating and snub be punishment from executive producer Nigel Lythgoe for refusing to take part in Scotty McCreery's coronation? Or is Lythgoe trying to find an explanation for DeWyze's finale absence?
On May 26, Lythgoe tweeted, "I was so upset Lee DeWyze wouldn't present the winners trophy to Scotty. Especially as he's been on the show this Season. I guess he was shy." Jennifer Lopez presented the trophy to Scotty instead.
A tweet from a DeWyze fan, saying, "You may not give a rats *ss about Lee but viewers do!! Suck on your ratings loss *sswipe!!!," prompted Lythgoe's tweet about the Season 9 winner. On May 23, DeWyze tweeted that he wasn't asked to perform at the finale.
UPDATE: Lee DeWyze has now responded to Nigel Lythgoe's Twitter claim. You can read his statement here.
Do you think Lythgoe's tweet was uncalled for or do you think DeWyze should have presented Scotty with the winner's trophy? Sound off in the comments.
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Nigel Lythgoe refused to allow Lee to perform on the finale so he could have higher ratings with lady gag-gag and tried to make up for it by allowing Lee to present the trophy. I would turn down the offer too. Nothing against scotty.
Why didn't DeWyze present the trophy?
Whatever happened, this is making Lee look like a failure AND a ****.
Lee chose not to present the trophy after he was snubbed. I can't blame him.
I guess that fan did know the ratings were up over last year.
That's Nigel's side of the story. I mean, he cooked up the whole "Lauren might have to drop out...Haley might have to replace her...blah, blah, blah." The season was one fake tragedy after another. They need to call it The Real American Idol next year, you know, like The Real Housewives. Anyway, he's rich and powerful enough that he can stomp on people and come out smelling like a rose. Lee has praised AI in every one of his interviews...humble and thankful for the opportunity he has been given to create his music. For Nigel to turn around and not invite Lee to perform on the finale, as is tradition, is atrocious. Lee's fans were hurt by this, and all of Lee's fans now hate him. Nigel said there wasn't time for Lee to perform. So, instead of a 3-minute performance by the reigning idol, Nigel wanted someone with a "successful career" to perform a simulated sex act on stage for the finale of his "family" show. Parents who were watching this with their kids were embarrassed and visa versa. What's his explanation for that one...I'm sure he'll come out smelling like a rose.
I think Nigel and Idol are treating Lee awful. Lee was blocked from the viewers by Ryan standing in front of him. Ryan did not even say hi to him or anything on air ,so wrong to not even have him on the show last night. I bet Nigel is making this up and everyone is saying they don't even remember a prior idol even given a trophy to another Idol so this is all new too.
Nigel acted totaly unprofessional on Twitter ..his whole goal was to make Lee look bad... IMO it only showed Nigel to be childish...lee should have been on the show not handing a trophy to anyone..I thought idol was about the kids.. Not a music platform for established artist..
If Lee's album had sold well I'm sure he would have been asked to perform on the show. I understand why Lee would be bitter about it since its customary for last year's winner to sing on the finale. Nigel most likely feels no obligation to be nice to him since he wasn't part of the show last year and most likely feels the lackluster season was Simon and the others judges' faults. We'll see how well Scotty and Lauren do but if they too fail then I think AI is pretty much done since they can't produce anymore top artists.
We have no idea if what Nigel is saying is even true or under what conditions is was offered to Lee. Last year, the trophy presentation to Lee occurred AFTER the broadcast ended so Nigel was offering Lee a crumb when he deserved a chance to perform one more time just like all previous Idol winners!
This tweet came after a huge backlash from Lee's fans and the press questioning why Lee was not performing as all previous Idol's have done on the Finale show. Not having Lee perform was a slap in the face to Lee and the millions of fans who voted for him only ONE YEAR AGO. Why would you believe this tweet,from a greedy, profit driven, corporate producer who who was taking heat for this bad decision? It's obviously a case of covering his a**!
I'd love to hear Lee's side of the story but he has too much class to drag this situation into the press. Lee DeWyze, you were truly missed by millions!