TVSquad

It's not a wig. In AOL's interview with Robbie Carrico, the eliminated American Idol contestant said of the controversy: "I've been growing this hair for a very long time. I think it's ridiculous that they have to come up with something like that." Considering how powerfully strong his performances had been and the praise he'd generally gotten up to this point, I can't help but wonder if the controversy helped spell his doom.

He also took flack for his "authenticity" as a rocker, to which he said, "I've spent the past six years working my tail off in grungy bars. Pulling our own trailer with our equipment and living out of a van sometimes and doing all of the grunt work that they said they didn't see me doing, because of what I did before with pop music." Did all this side drama detract from viewer's abilities to just judge him for his performances?