May 26th, 2004: Diana DeGarmo pulls off upset victory & wins
Jan 25, 2020 18:45:41 GMT
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Post by 49ersfootball on Jan 25, 2020 18:45:41 GMT
This TL will have major ramifications going forward in future Seasons of FOX's "American Idol" as I've got a sketch outlined in order to guide me, which begins with the Season 3 Final 2 Results Show from Wednesday, May 26th, 2004 all the way to beyond. Enjoy 
Chapter 1: The Upset Victory
6:55 PM PST, Wednesday, May 26th, 2004
Kodak Theatre, Los Angeles, CA.
Fantasia Barrino & Diana DeGarmo performing "I Knew You Were Waiting" during duet before Ryan Seacrest showed up with the results, which
consisted of the Judges' comments on the Finalists' performances from Tuesday, May 25th, 2004.
It was Wednesday, May 26th, 2004 over at the Kodak Theatre in downtown Los Angeles, CA. Thousands of fans were awaiting the results of the hotly-contested Season 3 battle for the 2004 "American Idol" Crown between front-runner Fantasia Barrino of High Point, NC & underdog & surprise contender Diana DeGarmo of Snellville, GA. Across the United States, many fans of "American Idol" were debating who should win "Fantasia is the best so far in Season 3", or "Diana is going to surprise y'all & nobody gave her a shot to make it this far..."
For "American Idol" & "On-Air" host Ryan Seacrest, he was nervous (having been notified by Nigel Lythgoe of the results sometime around 2:30 AM or 3:47 AM in the morning). Seacrest was thinking to himself "HOLY S****! This is going to have some people happy & some others very angry", knowing he was responsible for revealing the voting results. All day, he was pacing inside his office at the studios during his "On-Air" Radio Show wondering how this will have ramifications on future Seasons going forward. He had good reason to be nervous: angry fans were already furious at seeing 2 of the 3 Divas, Jennifer Hudson (7th Place) & LaToya London (4th Place) getting eliminated while controversial contestants John Stevens (who had received death threats after Jennifer's shocking elimination) & Jasmine Trias (whose singing abilities imploded down the stretch) kept staying in the competition. Some of the angry fans wanted the Top 3 to consist of only the 3 Divas (Fantasia, Jennifer & LaToya), but Middle America had other plans..... Jasmine ended up in 3rd Place, while Diana pushed forward into the Final 2 with her strong performances beginning during Barry Manilow Week & going all the way towards the Finale.
Fast forward several HRS later: It was time for the reading of what the Judges thought about Fantasia & Diana's performances from the previous night. Over at the Judges panel, Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul & Simon Cowell were excited, assuming that Fantasia was going to win. Randy particular vowed that Season 3 is the best Season by far & so far of all-time with the Top 12 finalists during the competition, while Paula congratulated both Fantasia & Diana for making it this far & she was eager for them to get on with their careers while Simon was always his arrogant self, saying "Thank you America for agreeing with me this year."
Onto the results: Seacrest had read the Judges' critiques of Fantasia & Diana's performances including comments of the Judges, particularly Simon's comment which referred to Diana "I think you had one last chance to kind of nail this competition & I don't think you did", which drew boos from the crowd. Everyone was on the edge of their seats including via satellite (Raleigh, NC & Atlanta, GA respectively where the 2 finalists' fan bases were eagerly awaiting the winner's name being announced). Seacrest thinking to himself, "I better NOT screw this up. However, there's no turning back now", said the following words: "The winner of American Idol 2004 is........ (someone yelled Fantasia, but this person had no clue the shocking twist was coming fast)..... DIANA DEGARMO!".... Over at the GeorgiaDome in Atlanta, GA, the crowd went completely nuts: even GA Governor Sonny Perdue (R) & his wife, GA First Lady Mary Perdue were excited, with Perdue talking to the camera of FOX 5 WAGA-TV Atlanta, GA: "My message to NC Governor Mike Easley (D): you better start sending those blueberries tonight!"
2004 "American Idol" Winner Diana DeGarmo & Runner-Up Fantasia Barrino hugging each other immediately after Seacrest announced the results.
Soon after Seacrest announced the results, there was a loud gasp somewhere in the audience of the packed Kodak Theatre. The spunky 16-year-old high school teenage girl from Snellville, GA had pulled off the biggest upset ever in "American Idol" history. Over at the Judges Panel, Randy & Paula stood up & applauded both Diana & Fantasia for outlasting everyone who had auditioned, while Simon was shocked, sulking & dumbfounded on what had just occurred, some people watching at their homes noticed the obvious lip reading & body language of Simon saying "WHAT IN THE F**** JUST HAPPENED ?" DeGarmo & Barrino hugged each other, crying hysterically before Seacrest interrupted to tell everyone it was time for Diana's winner's single "I Believe", which she had struggled at times in keeping her composure to avoid crying even further. After a couple of moments, Diana managed to pull herself together & finished singing the song perfectly while via satellite at the GeorgiaDome in Atlanta, GA., people were singing as well & just downright excited. Soon afterwards, Diana was surrounded & mobbed by the rest of the Top 12 Finalists including Runner-Up Fantasia Barrino: Leah LaBelle, Matthew Rogers, Amy Adams, Camile Velasco, Jon Peter Lewis, Jennifer Hudson, John Stevens, George Huff, LaToya London & Jasmine Trias as the credits began to roll non-stop (once one of the confetti fell on Seacrest's forehead which was funny).
