Former British
boy-band member and openly gay Harvard alum Tom Lowe
auditioned for American Idol 6 in Seattle and
earned a spot to the next round, but his impressive audition
was not aired on Fox in the United
States. Instead, it aired in the United
Kingdom on January 19, reports Nikki Finke of
Deadlinehollywood.com. One of the reasons Lowe's audition
may not have aired, purports Finke, is that during the
audition Randy Jackson asked Lowe if Simon Cowell had
ever tried to sign Lowe's former boy band, North
and South. Lowe replied, "No, but I believe Simon was
working for BMG at the same time I was there." The British
press quickly ran headlines accusing Cowell of
planting Lowe and trying to "fix" the contest.
Some allege that
Lowe's past successes with North and South and as a
back-up singer for U.K. band Take That make him too
well-connected and successful to compete fairly.
Others are
concerned that Lowe may not be "wholesome" enough for
American Idol because he allegedly posed
nude for a British magazine as "Britain Choirboy of the
Year." He became a well-known figure around Harvard
after competing for the Mr. Harvard title in which,
according to The Harvard Crimson, contestants were "parading in
bathing suits, shaking scantily clad behinds to the tunes of
Britney Spears, and performing a racy striptease."
Lowe also donned a pink lounge suit and black eyeliner
in the campus band Tommy and the Tigers.
Lowe courted
controversy in December of last year when the Boston
Herald reported that Massachusetts taxpayers had
shelled out $60,000 for Lowe's six-month contract
that he had signed to star in a $400,000 Web-TV tourism
promotion. Critics asked why Lowe's contract was as
long as six months. However the tourism board backed
Lowe and got him a gig singing "The Star-spangled
Banner" at Fenway Park.
Idol fans will find out Wednesday if Tom Lowe
made it into the semifinalist round of 24 contestants, but
early reports, according to Finke, say he did not
advance. (The Advocate)