'American Idol' season 17: Alejandro Aranda misses his shot at the winner's title, but fans believe he is much better without it
On Sunday night 'American Idol' season 17 crowned its title winner.
But before the series could announce the winner, the grand finale regaled the audience with a star-studded line up of famous singers performing their new songs and also duets with former contestants of the series. The top 3 also performed their songs before the voting ended.
Halfway through the finale, host Ryan Seacrest revealed that Madison Vandenburg would be going home because of the low vote count in her favor. After Vandenburg was eliminated, the only two left were Alejandro Aranda and Laine Hardy.
It was a tight competition between the two. But, in the end, Hardy came out on top with the highest votes and was crowned the title winner this season, leaving Aranda in second place. Though Aranda came in second, it does not mean the end for him, it is definitely the beginning of his career since he has already told fans about his album waiting to be released.
After the news of Aranda coming in second was revealed, fans shared their disappointment in their fan-favorite's loss but cheered him up by saying the best was yet to come.
"This is the best case scenario. Laine is probably the best fit for a winner. Alejandro will do 10000x better without that contract. I don’t even know if he even wants that much public attention. They all worked hard, so don’t go bashing Laine, but instead, be happy for all of them. In all, it’s just a TV show. Be kind and move on!" wrote a fan on Reddit.
Adding to that another fan said, "As much as I wanted him to take the win, i agree. I am really happy that he didn't. He will be able to do him, HIS WAY. He won't be tied to a Disney contract and will be able to produce his music the way he wants. He already said on IG that his album is coming out very very soon!"
Apart from revealing their support and love for the runnerup, fans also claim that Aranda will do so much better without having a Disney contract. "I wasn’t happy that he placed second but his career is far more free without the American Idol winner contract," said a fan.
While another added, "I may have downloaded a VPN just to vote for Alejandro tonight, but honestly I'm happy with the results of Laine winning too. Now Alejandro can choose the record label/contract that will be the best fit for him and this way he'll have all the creative control he wants to release his own music. This really is the best case scenario for him; and I think even he knew that too. The Idol contract is very restrictive, and (going off of past winners' experiences -think Phillip Phillips and how he sued to get out of his contract) Alejandro was genuinely HAPPY to be in second. Did y'all see him having the time of his life up there as Laine sang the winning song? His original music gained MASSIVE exposure throughout the season, and tonight especially just elevated that even more. He was going to rise above the pack either way, so now we just sit back and await that album that he's said is coming very very soon."
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