Glitch almost cost Tim Chiles the chance to compete for American Idol
On Saturday, August 14th Tim Chiles was announced as the winner of the contest sponsored by Fox 14 KFJX-TV and Missouri Southern State University. There were 40 other contestants besides Chiles. Five finalists were chosen and then Tim Chiles was declared the winner.
He competed with his own renditions of Otis Redding’s “Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay” and Queen’s “Somebody to Love.” He is a server at the Olive Garden Restaurant in Joplin, Missouri.
On Sunday, Tim Chiles, received a message from the panel that there was a problem with the judging and that he might not be able to head off to Chicago to audition for “American Idol.” He was even told that he may not be able to perform locally.
Darren Dishman the general manager and program director of Fox 14 disclosed that
“There was a concern that there was a miscalculation by the judges,” and “We went though all of the judge scorecards just to make sure we had it right, and as it turns out we did not have a miscalculation, and the results that were announced were correct.”
Tim Chiles, on Monday, was notified that he was in fact the winner would be able to compete in Chicago and receive the expense paid trip. He stated he would have done whatever it took including a sing off, but he was relieved to hear the news that he was the winner. He commented “Now I can just concentrate on what I am going to do in Chicago.”