With 2007 drawing to a close, it's time to take a look back at the year that
was. The following is Reality TV World's 2007 Reality TV Year In Review, a
chronological listing of some of the past year's reality TV headlines,
highlights, lowlights, and milestones.
Apparently American Idol contestants aren't the only ones who sign very specific agreements to work with FreemantleMedia, the Fox mega-hit's production company. Just ask the show's former assistant production accountant Magdaleno Olmos.
An attorney for Magdaleno Olmos -- a former assistant production accountant who filed a lawsuit accusing American Idol 4 hopeful Mario Vazquez of sexual harassment and alleging Idol fired him once he reported it -- says that despite Vazquez' public comments claiming otherwise, he believes Vazquez did not willingly choose to withdraw from the reality show's fourth season.
When Mario Vazquez withdrew from the fourth season of American Idol due to "personal reasons," it left viewers wondering why the popular finalist cut his journey on the Fox mega-hit short. Now, two years later, another reason for Vazquez' departure may be forthcoming.
Everyone knows what former AmericanIdol stars like Kelly Clarkson, Clay Aiken, Ruben Studdard, Fantasia Barrino, Carrie Underwood, and Taylor Hicks have been up to recently. But in its January 8 issue, US Weekly caught-up with more than fifty other former Idol contestants that have appeared as a finalist in the show's five-season history.
"American Idol" dropout Mario Vazquez is about to become a household name again, one year after he walked away from the finals of the Fox TV talent show.
Fox's American Idol voted out the fourth of its twelve finalists during last night's results show, with Nikko Smith, a 22-year-old from Town & Country, MO, being eliminated from the reality talent competition as a result of receiving the fewest audience votes.
Earlier this week, American Idol 4 finalist Mario Vazquez stunned viewers of the nation's top-rated show by withdrawing for "personal reasons" before the competition in the finals began. However, when Mario's own family turned out to have no idea that he had quit, rumors began circulating that the real reason was either that Mario was unwilling to sign the show's restrictive management contracts or that he was in violation of a show rule. Now, it appears that both of those rumors may be true.
Today, Sports Entertainment Enterprises, Inc., doing business as CKX, Inc., announced that it had purchased control of SImon Fuller's 19 Entertainment Ltd., the U.K.-based company that, among other things, owns the trademark and co-production rights for the worldwide Pop Idol series, including American Idol and Canadian Idol.