A CASE of forgotten lyrics sent professional singer Brandon Rodgers packing on “American Idol” last night.
Rodgers, 28, a former back-up singer for stars such as Christina Aguilera, forgot the words to the Diana Ross classic “You Can’t Hurry Love” during his live performance.
“I kind of expected it, I forgot my words,” said Rodgers, from North Hollywood Calif.
“That’s a cardinal sin for ‘American Idol.’ ”
It also didn’t help that his voice cracked like Peter Brady halfway through the song, prompting Simon Cowell to call the performance “a complete letdown.” He said Rodgers had “no star quality.”
The goof-up probably helped spare 17-year-old Sanjaya Malakar, whose singing is regularly trashed in hundreds of online “Idol” chat rooms.
Cowell last night said Malakar’s rendition of Ross “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” was so bad that he threatened to quit the show if Malakar somehow manages to win.
At least part of Malakar’s success so far might be attributed to an increasingly popular Web site, votefortheworst.com.
The site is devoted to wreaking havoc with the “American Idol” voting process and urges viewers to cast their votes for the “worst” singers in the competition.
The site, founded in 2004, was largely credited with keeping former “American Idol” contestant Scott Savol on the show as a finalist, despite having nearly all of his performances panned by the judges.
The site claims that “American Idol” is not about singing at all, “It’s about making good reality TV and enjoying the cheesy, guilty pleasure of watching bad singing.
“We agree that a fish out of water is entertaining, and we want to acknowledge this fact by encouraging people to make an even funnier show by helping the amusing antagonists stick around.”
“Idol” fans hate the site and are pleading with its creators to shut it down.
“Little kids watch this show and they look up to the contestants. These contestants are who they wanna be when they get older. Do you actually think a kid is going to wanna be like Sanjaya? Not me,” a viewer named Kate posted in a message on the site. “Please take this site away and leave ‘Idol’ alone.”