Claims that reality juggernaut American Idol is fixed might not be false.
Season 8 contestant Joanna Pacitti is rumoured to have close connections with two Idol executives, reports Star magazine.
Pacitti isn’t exactly new to the business. She has released a major label album in 2006 (Geffen Records), starred in an MTV documentary (First Year), opened for Sheryl Crow, and has had her songs featured in movies and TV shows, including Legally Blonde and The Hills.
But aside from all that experience, she has something that gives her an edge over the other contestants. Well, make that two things – people, actually. Pacitti reportedly has close connections with Michelle Young and Roger Widynowski, two execs at the L.A. offices of 19 Entertainment — the company that produces Idol.
How personal? Well, Pacitti refers to Young as her “manager” and “best friend”, while she credits Widynowski with “helping me get where I am today.” The three of them even lived in the same L.A. apartment complex for several years.
In other scandalous news, Vincent Pastore is ready to fight. In court, that is.
The Sopranos alum and former Celebrity Apprentice contestant is in a New York City court where he has been accused of assaulting his former fiancée.
The trial began on Friday, when Lisa Regina asked a Manhattan Supreme Court jury for unspecified damages for physical and psychological injuries, reports The Associated Press.
In 2005, Pastore pleaded guilty to attempted assault on Regina, and was sentenced to 70 hours of community service.
Regina alleges Pastore pulled her out of a car in Manhattan's Little Italy in April 2005, hit her, threw her and her luggage on the street and drove off.
Pastore, who recently appeared as a Mob boss on General Hospital, has denied the accusations and claims she attacked him.
Unfair or all’s fair in reality TV? denette@tvguide.ca