‘X-Factor’ judges face the music

Nicole and Paula receive death threats after voting off Drew Ryniewicz.

Popular “X Factor” contestant Drew Ryniewicz, mentored by music mogul Simon Cowell, was voted off the US-based show on December 1. The Michael Jackson-themed episode was bittersweet for many of Ryniewicz’s angry fans, who have now resorted to sending death threats to the female judges Nicole Scherzinger and Paula Abdul who called the shots, reported TMZ.

Ryniewicz, a 15-year-old student from Arizona, was sent home in a double elimination, along with MC Astro, in the episode. She sang Jackson’s classic “Billie Jean”, and then for her last performance crooned Roxette’s “Listen To Your Heart”. According to US Magazine, her mentor Simon Cowell owned up, arguing that his choice of song was to blame. Entertainment Weekly added that Astro’s elimination caused no drama and that the young rapper is ready to get back to work. The drama last night centred all around Ryniewicz and her tears.

Sources revealed to TMZ that Abdul and Scherzinger both got the cold shoulder from Cowell, who was “furious” with their decision. But that’s nothing compared to the abusive tweets and Facebook messages the two ladies received. One message read: “Paula Abdul and Nicole Scherzinger, you two deserve all the hate. You both made a selfish decision and should be ashamed of yourselves!” And the taunts turned to death threats with fans posting: “Nicole Scherzinger and Paula Abdul should go die.” A source close to the judges told hollywoodreporter.com, “Paula and Nicole have been really shocked and embarrassed by the reaction they have had.”

After the show, Ryniewicz revealed to hollywoodreporter.com, “I kind of had a weird feeling all day in my heart, I knew something was not going to go how it should,” she confessed, “so I was dreading the results all day.”

Although Ryniewicz was devastated, things started looking up for her less than an hour after the show. Her celebrity crush and musical idol Justin Bieber tweeted, “Keep your head up. I lost my first competition too. This is just the beginning. Never say never.” Drew Ryniewicz — who auditioned for “X Factor” with Bieber’s hit “Baby”, and gushed about her love for the teen heartthrob in her intro video — retweeted the comment to 94,000 of her followers.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 6^th, 2011.