And the drama continues...

In the past few days, the private life and the past of two of the Idol contestants have been revealed and examined, both in the press and throughout various blogs and message boards.

I choose to ignore the speculation regarding anyone's personal life, but the revelation this week, thanks to The Smoking Gun (again), that Scott Savol was arrested in 2001 on charges of domestic violence, considering the show's treatment of past contestants, is worthy of discussion.

The show has gone on record as assuring that Scott's presence in the competition is secure. He was forthcoming with the producers about his arrest. The matter is no longer being litigated. He paid his debt and has, according to producers, shown a degree of remorse that does not justify his disqualification.

But, of course, there were immediate screams of foul, considering that Corey Clark was disqualified during season two, also because of allegations of domestic violence. And, certainly, everyone remembers the removal of Frenchie Davis, following the reveal that she had posed topless for an adult website. And Donnie Williams was replaced during season three, after he was stopped for DUI after celebrating a little too much his selection to the top 32.

People seemingly are forgetting about Trenyce, who saved herself the embarrassment of a disqualification in season two, by revealing to the producers before the finals began that she had been arrested for criminal conversion, therefore, when the big reveal hit the media, the producers were not caught off-guard and steadfastly defended her right to continue to compete.

And, it seems, many people have forgotten that Paula is in the midst of her own legal battles.

So, there is precedent for allowing Scott to remain on the show. And there is no need for the producers, through their puppet Ryan, to acknowledge this four-year-old incident, any moreso than it was necessary to acknowledge Paula's hit and run plea.

Many posters have expressed the certainty that, because of this revelation, Scott will be gone by next week. I'm not so certain. Scott's future will be left in the hands of the dialers. It remains to be seenif this will put him in more jeopardy than his "image problem" already has, but it could very well spur his fans to dial faster, harder and longer.