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Facebook Share Button Code Apparently, the latest vote-off from American Idol was something of a shocker. The judges -- folks who've done pretty well for themselves in the music industry in front of the mike or behind the scenes -- couldn't believe that the phone-in vote totals sent singer Pia Toscano home. I don't watch the show, so I'll take their word for the surprise of the boot and for the quality of Ms. Toscano's singing.

At least one record company would like to get together with Ms. Toscano so they could both make some money, but the contract she signed in order to appear on American Idol apparently precludes her from recording on her own for quite some time. Through her representatives, she denied that some sort of done deal already existed, so it seems she knew the terms of her contract even if some overly excitable members of the entertainment media didn't.

One note in the story cracked me up. The reporter's second unnamed source -- AKA "another American Idol insider" said that the contract was designed to make sure the show's winner got his or her shot at the big time before any other contestant did. Specifically, the source told the writer. "If you start having singers who were voted off charting before the show has wrapped, then the entire process loses credibility."

I believe that statement carries with it a very large assumption...