Who can forget Jonathan Jayne and Kenneth Swale from Seattle? Simon Cowell said of Swale “Your dancing is terrible, the singing was horrendous, and you look like one of those creatures that live in the jungle with those massive eyes, what are they called? Bush baby,” and asked Jayne if he borrowed a pair of trousers from Randy Jackson. Since the show aired the Special Olympics have stepped up with a press release regarding the show as Jayne has been an active participant with the organization for years. “While polite isn’t a word one would normally associate with Cowell and company, a viewing of the episode in question shows that the judges were in fact gracious and very encouraging to Jayne during his rendition of ‘God Bless America’. At one point Abdul commented admiringly about Jayne’s spirit and advised him to ‘Always believe in yourself.’”
I think that the Special Olympics is being gracious with their response to the show. During Jayne’s performance the judges snickered and made faces, clearly not acting in a professional manner. Of course seasoned viewers of American Idol wouldn’t expect them to act professional and while they weren’t hard on Jayne they certainly weren’t gracious.
Both Swale and Jayne just wanted to make it to Hollywood. Guess what? They did! Both appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live. The appearance was highlighted by a picture of a ‘bush baby’ with Simon Cowell’s face glued to the picture. See the pair’s appearance on the show courtesy of You Tube.