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American Idol Walks a Thin Line

It seems that for every season that "American Idol" is on TV, the more intense shows controversy becomes. Last season, Paula Abdul, one of the shows judges was accused of having an affair with one of the contestants. Although good news for the contestant, it put Ms. Abdul in a bad light. This season, it seems that fans are looking towards the contestants for controversy and they have found it in performer Chris Daughtry. "American Idol" and controversy go together like Simon Cowell and high-waisted trousers, so it?s no shock that the mega-popular show is hitting the headlines again for all the wrong reasons.

"Idol" fans are fuming at contestant Chris Daughtry for trying to pass-off a version of Johnny Cash?s "I Walk The Line" as his own. His slow, emotional version of the Cash classic won over the show?s judges Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson, who praised Chris for his originality and making the song his own, on Tuesday night. Puzzled fans hit message boards after the show to find out where they?d heard the familiar-sounding rendition from, as it definitely wasn?t from the Joaquin Phoenix-starring biopic.

Eventually, it emerged that 26-year-old Chris? ?original? version was actually a rip-off of Live?s cover version of ?I Walk The Line? from 2001.
Venom the fans have been spitting includes: "This guy is a rip off," and "Live singer Ed Kowalczyk called and said that he would like his vocal style" back. But Chris fans have speculated that he did mention Live in his pre-show interview but it was edited out. Jacob Clifton, who covers "Idol" for Television Without Pity.com, has said the show?s judges and producers should be blamed. "I think it`s more a sign of the judges being out of touch or the show`s producers deliberately trying to fool the public."