American Idol Season 7 Controversy: Contestant Carly Smithson Not an Unknown

On Wednesday March 13, 2008, the top 24 contestants for American Idol were announced. 12 ladies and 12 gentlemen made it through initial auditions as well as a week in Hollywood to grab one of those coveted spots. As Simon mentioned repeatedly throughout the Hollywood week: Season 7 has the best talent thus far. One individual that has added to this overall talent is contestant Carly Smithson. But there's something about Carly that not everyone is aware of yet: she's already had a record deal...and it flopped...terribly.

The point of American Idol has always been to give undiscovered talent a chance at being discovered. Well Carly Smithson or shall we say Carly Hennessy, has already had the chance at being discovered, and she didn't make it. While the American Idol rules clearly state that contestants cannot be under any sort of record deal at the time of competition, many believe that those with previous record deals should be excluded as well. 100,000 men and women came out and auditioned for American Idol's 7^th season and only 24 made it through. Is it really fair to give one of those spots to someone who already had a shot at stardom and didn't make it?

Carly Smithson was born in Dublin, Ireland. As a young child she spent time modeling and acting. She appeared in print ads as a young child and at the age of 9, she beat out many hopefuls for an international role in Les Miserables. At age 10, she released an album in Ireland titled Carly's Christmas Album. At age 13, she was named the Irish national spokes model for the Denny Sausage brand. While she was succeeding in the acting and modeling fields, singing was her true passion. She traveled with her father to Los Angeles in order to market her demo. Her demo landed at MCA Records and they signed a contract on the spot.