Former American Idol Host Says Producers Wanted Him To Be Cruel To Contestants
MAY 1, 2008 AT 02:07 PM
Well, here's a different side of American Idol story for us. The producers want to make the contestants cry! I mean, we all know Simon Cowell can be on the mean side but I really had no idea that the producers are the ones wanting to play up the harshness to the contestants! Brian Dunkleman, who co-hosted Idol with Ryan Seacrest for it's 1st Season, is talking about his experience with the producers on the show.
"I heard them talking about 'We're going to get [contestant] Jim [Verraros], we're going to nail him,' before the show. He's the sweetest kid you'll ever meet. He sings. He sings really well. Simon [Cowell] shreds him, just kills him, and the kid's wellin' up, he's got tears in his eyes. He comes back to the couch, and I say to him, 'Well, hey, Paula Abdul said she liked you, what else matters?' Cut. The executive producer ripped me offstage, behind stage got in my face, started screaming at me. 'What the [expletive] are you doing? You never once mentioned what Simon said to him that entire time?' Chewed me out."
Brian couldn't live with himself being a part of something like that.
"Finally, I just stopped and said, 'Wait a minute. Let me just get this clear. These kids come back to this couch feeling like crap. I'm supposed to make sure they continue to feel like crap?' He stuck his finger in my chest and said, 'You're [expletive] right.' And that was day one. And I was, like, 'What did I get myself into?'"
That's rough. Those kids really put themselves out there for so much public criticism when they go on the show. I know I couldn't handle it. If I were singing and Simon even looked at me, I'd probably start crying :P
ONTD
Even if this stupid story is true, who is really going to believe Brian Dunkleman???
He was on the show for what, one season. I am sure he is bitter that he was booted for lack of personality compared to Ryan Seacrest. Now Brian is saying that he left! WTF?
I am sure he wishes he was still on American Idol, after all, it is the highest rated show on TV.
Can you imagine having a nibble of that and have it taken away. OMG, I would be bitter too.
I always felt Dunkleman had more integrity than Seacrest. Dunkleman actually has a soul and conscience. We need people like that in the media. The shows nowadays are mean spirited. They show the WORST side of human nature - greed, sarcasm, nothing sweet, nothing genuine. When I have my first baby in a month I'll have to shed her from all that - but at the same time teach her that there are mean people. As great as American Idol is as a show it can be just as great WITHOUT the meanness.
Thanks Dunkleman for having some integrity!!
This is a little irrelevant, but why does Seacrest's nose look like it's bleeding here? He should clean that shit up. Cokewhore.
There is video footage of him being interviewed saying leaving American Idol was the stupidest thing he ever did and he'd always regret it!!!!!!! He's desperate for publicity....
This is pulled word for word from an interview with Adam Carolla on The Adam Carolla show with Teresa Strasser. The whole interview was very interesting and you can listen to the postcast on AdamCarolla.com.
Brian Dunkleman is a great guy and admits many times over that leaving AI was a bad decision because of how successful it is now, but he just couldn't be mean to the contestants, as they required him to be, so his morals won out, I think it's a very hard thing to stand up for what you believe in when your a part of Hollywood but he did and that took courage.
he was on the adam corolla show a few weeks ago talking about how the show is fixed and how people actually vote but your vote doesn't really count... which really doesn't surprise me! i stopped watching after the first season. they need to just kill that show off. only 2 of the winners have actually made something of themselves and more of the losers have become popular than the winners! proof that the voting is fixed....
Why would this come as a revelation? Isn't the whole point of so-called reality shows to humiliate the participants and call it entertainment? The scary part is that people seem to want to watch others being torn to shreds. As a family, we made the decision that no show in this category would be watched in our home. Whatever happened to people being nice to eachother?
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