'American Idol' Season 18: Alejandro Aranda drops by to guide contestants, fans wonder where is Laine Hardy
Fans questioned 'American Idol' Season 18 after they brought back Alejandro Aranda to offer advice despite him not winning the previous season.
On Monday night, 'American Idol' Season 18 brought in Alejandro to offer guidance to the contestants who were getting ready to perform on night three of Hollywood week. Following last week's genre challenge and last night's duet challenge, the series returned for Hollywood week. The contestants had to perform a solo song of their choice accompanied by the band.
While the stakes were high for the contestants, the series brought in Season 17 runner-up Alejandro to offer some guidance to the contestants. Prior to their performance, Alejandro gave the contestants a pep talk and said, "I was definitely feeling a lot of nerves. But it was mostly because I was anxious because I know I'm going to express myself and play something that's from my heart."
He added that it is fine for them to feel nervous as long as they remember to express themselves and sing their song their own way. Alejandro was known for his original songs last season. Inspired by him, a few contestants also decided to perform their original songs during the Hollywood week.
The judges weren't impressed by that as Katy warned the contestants that not everyone is Alejandro and advised them to sing songs by other artists. Right from the premiere, the series has mentioned Alejandro a lot, even though he did come in second. Laine Hardy won the season after he received the highest number of votes from fans during the live finale.
Fans didn't fail to notice the high pedestal the series has put Alejandro on and how often they talk about him on the show. However, Laine doesn't even get mentioned and neither was he brought in this season. Now, after watching Alejandro advise the contestants, fans on Twitter questioned the series if they had forgotten that it was Laine who won the season and not Alejandro.
While some are happy to see Alejandro back on the screen, a few fans asked what the deal was with his return. "The folks at #AmericanIdol know Alejandro didn’t win last year, right? #lainehardy," a fan wrote. Adding to that another said, "Does #AmericanIdol know Alejandro didn’t win last year? What did Lanie Hardy do to piss them off so much?"
"I love that #AmericanIdol is just pretending Alejandro won last year because we all know he should have," a fan wrote. While another said, "What is with American idol not even mentioning @TheLaineHardy lol Alejandro was never that special what did laine do #americanidol."
"Did Alejandro win though? #AmericanIdol they don't even acknowledge the real winner last year. Don't get me wrong, I love him but... It's kind of shitty not to include the actual winner," a fan added.
'American Idol' Season 18 airs every Sunday and Monday night only on ABC. Check your local listings for more information.
