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Is Claudia Conway on 'American Idol' Season 19 just for drama? Fans slam show for 'exploiting' her trauma

Kellyanne wished her daughter all the best, quite unusual to see for the audience because the two seemed to be at loggerheads all this while

All the speculation surrounding Claudia Conway's 'American Idol' Season 19 appearance was finally settled on February 14's season premiere episode. Claudia came into the auditions with her father George Conway in tow and before she went to perform in front of the judges, she spoke to her mom Kellyanne, who was Donald Trump's White House advisor through a video call projected on a large screen. Kellyanne wished her daughter all the best, quite unusual to see for the audience because the two seemed to be at loggerheads all this while over their differing political views and their feud even hit national headlines over the past year. 

Claudia came dressed in leather pants, high heels and a bandeau top, completing the looks with some very interesting accessories. She looked the part but could she sing well enough to win the golden ticket was a question etched upon the faces of the judges, especially Katy Perry who was the only one who seemed to quickly realize who Claudia was and all the drama surrounding her. The auditions had taken place in November 2020, three months after she had tweeted that her mother's job as Donald Trump's counselor had "ruined" her life. "The internet can be a very, very dark place," Claudia told the judges on the show while talking about her life. "But when life is all going downhill, I have my music. Now, I kinda want to get out of the controversy, get out of the drama, and let people know that I am a singer and this is what I want to do," she added.

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Claudia started her audition with Rihanna's 'Love on the Brain' but the delivery of the love ballad was quite off. Perry asked her to take off her heels and sing another song for the auditions which turned out to be 'When we were Young' by Adele. Perry asked her to channel all the pain that she'd experienced in her life and put it into her performance, along with some artistry. The second performance was better than the first one but not enough for Luke Bryan who thought she wasn't ready for the stage. However, Claudia received two yeses from Perry and Lionel Richie and waltzed out of the show with a golden ticket. 

'American Idol' fans are not at all excited about seeing Claudia and after her performance, a lot of them took to Twitter to raise concern that the show was 'exploiting' her trauma and that she was kept just for the drama. Most of them agreed with Bryan's critique and were shocked when the other two judges said "no" to another contestant Danica Steakley who was a much better singer who came to the audition with her overbearing father who lost his temper after her rejection. 

"American idol and America’s got talent’s whole gig is exploiting people’s trauma. I don’t know why people are surprised they are exploiting Claudia’s trauma too. Let the girl have her dream. At least she is out of that toxic house for a while. Sheesh. #americanidol" read a tweet. "They literally told that girl Danica, who auditioned with her dad playing guitar, that she wasn’t ready but she could sing. Claudia can’t sing, but they sent her through just because of the drama it would cause. #AmericanIdol " read another tweet. "Claudia definitely didn't get through on her own merit. Danica was better than her. That was either political pity or ratings desperation. That said, I do like her voice. She just needs more training and practice and experience. #AmericanIdol" wrote another fan. "Claudia Conway's voice was sooo weak. Many far more talented singers got rejected at the American Idol auditions. But she's going to Hollywood ONLY b/c of who she is (in addition to being a spoiled brat/troubled child). She won't last long #AmericanIdol #ClaudiaConway" read another tweet. 

Catch new episodes of 'American Idol' every Sunday night at 8 pm ET on ABC.