Carlygate

Carlygate is the name given for two Vote for the Girls episode and campaigns in 2012 and two in 2017 between moderators The I-69ers and Zinn's Villains. The first, known as "Carlygate I", is the thirteenth episode of the fourth season of Vote for the Girls, and the 55th episode of the series overall. The episode first aired on December 20, 2012 and the web site's moderators attempting to get the web site a victory on the second season of The X Factor. Four and a half years later, known as "Carlygate II" is the sixteenth episode of the eighth season of VFTG. The episode first aired on April 25, 2017 and the web site's moderators getting revenge for Carly Rose Sonenclar's second place finish five years earlier.

Background

See also: The X Factor USA 2, Fifth Harmony, Carly Rose Sonenclar, and Tate Stevens

Fifth Harmony

Fifth Harmony

Fifth Harmony is an American girl group composed of five singers who all successfully auditioned as soloists (Ally Brooke, Normani Kordei, Dinah Jane, Camila Cabello, and Lauren Jauregui) on the second season of The X Factor USA in 2012, but failed to progress individually to the judges' houses stage of the competition. On July 27, 2012, they were formed as a group at the end of bootcamp by Simon Cowell and Demi Lovato, thus qualifying for the "Groups" category. Originally, the group's name was "LYLAS" (acronym for Love You Like a Sister), but another group called "The Lylas" (which consists of four of Bruno Mars' sisters) claimed that the show stole their name. Thereafter, LYLAS changed their name to 1432 (which stands for I Love You Too), which was announced on the first live show on October 31, 2012, during which 1432 performed "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" by Taylor Swift. Simon Cowell and L.A. Reid were critical of the new name, and Cowell suggested that the group be renamed again. During the first live results show on November 1, 2012, 1432 performed "Skyscraper" by Demi Lovato in a sing-off with Sister C. Cowell decided to send 1432 through to the Top 12 and he announced that they would be renamed by the viewers online. The name chosen by the public was announced: "Fifth Harmony". On Vote for the Girls, moderator Holly Everman chose Fifth Harmony, Paige Thomas, and Diamond White.

In the semi-finals stage of the show, they performed Ellie Goulding's "Anything Could Happen" as well as Shontelle's "Impossible" (for the second time during the competition). Their performance of "Anything Could Happen" was "a finals-caliber performance" according to L.A. Reid and described as "magic" by Britney Spears. Their performance of "Impossible" received mostly negative reviews from the judges because the group had previously performed the song at Simon Cowell's home (although not on The X Factor concert stage). Three members of the group (Camila, Lauren, and Ally) sang parts of the song in fluent Spanish. The following night's public vote results advanced Fifth Harmony to the final 3 along with Tate Stevens and Carly Rose Sonenclar. On the Top three live show, Fifth Harmony performed Ellie Goulding's "Anything Could Happen" for the second time as their "Song of the Series" song. Their second song was a duet with The X Factor judge Demi Lovato singing "Give Your Heart a Break". Their final song of the night was "Let It Be" by The Beatles, billed as their "$5 million song".

After the first round of the finals they did not receive enough votes from the public to advance to the Top 2, and they finished in 3rd place on December 20, 2012.

Carly Rose Sonenclar

Carly Rose Sonenclar (born April 20, 1999) is an American singer and teen actress.

In 2012, Sonenclar auditioned for the second season of The X Factor USA with the song "Feeling Good" by Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse (famously covered by Nina Simone among others). Sonenclar received a standing ovation from all four judges (L.A. Reid commented "You may be 13, but your soul is old!"; Simon Cowell awarded her "4,833 yes'"), and she advanced to the next round. After her successful initial audition, she advanced through the first day of X Factor's "bootcamp," where she sang "Pumped Up Kicks" with Beatrice Miller. Of the 120 contestants who auditioned at bootcamp that day, she was among the sixty or so asked to continue on. At the end of bootcamp, she was chosen to be one of the six contestants in the "teens" category who were invited to perform at the "judges' houses" stage of the competition. She performed the song "Brokenhearted" for the "teens" category mentor, Britney Spears, and Spears' guest judge will.i.am. Both Spears and will.i.am responded positively to her performance; will.i.am remarked appreciatively that she was "possessed." Sonenclar next advanced into the Top 16 round, where she performed "Good Feeling", then the Top 13 round, where she performed "It Will Rain". When Sonenclar reached the Top 12 round—where she performed "My Heart Will Go On"—it was revealed that she was the second-most-voted for person in the competition so far, behind only Tate Stevens, a distinction she achieved again after advancing to the Top 10 round. Vote for the Girls moderator Ava Zinn chose Sonenclar, along with Jennel Garcia.

On November 21, she performed the song "Over the Rainbow", which she received a standing ovation from all four judges, sending her into the Top 8 round. It was revealed that she had been the #1 most-voted-for contestant in the competition that night. On November 28, she performed "Rolling in the Deep", sending her into the Top 6 round, and was revealed to have again been the #1 most-voted-for contestant in the competition. She later advanced to the Finale round, in which she performed "Feeling Good" (again), "How Do I Live" (with LeAnn Rimes), and "Hallelujah". On December 20, 2012, it was announced that she had finished the competition in second place behind Tate Stevens.

Carlygate I: The X Factor USA 2

"Carlygate I"
Vote for the Girls episode
Episode no.	Season 4 Episode 13
Directed by	??
Production code	December 20, 2012 (2012-12-20)
Original air date	December 20, 2012 (2012-12-20)
Running time	??
Episode chronology
<span /> ← Previous "The Voice 3 Winner Revealed" Next → "American Idol 12 Top 10 Result"
List of Vote for the Girls (U.S.) episodes

"Carlygate I" is the thirteenth episode of the fourth season of Vote for the Girls, and the 55th episode of the series overall. The episode first aired on December 20, 2012 and the web site's moderators attempting to get the web site a victory on the second season of The X Factor.

Epilogue

Holly Everman would go on the following season as the winning moderator as her pick of Alex & Sierra was announced the winner while at the same time became not only accomplished the web site's first ever male victory of X Factor, but a perfect fiscal calendar year (2013–a feat never before accomplished in the web site's history as Everman's American Idol 12 pick Candice Glover would be announced the winner of American Idol and Zinn's respective The Voice 4 and 5 picks Danielle Bradbery and Tessanne Chin would be announced the respective winners of their seasons on The Voice) and with Alex & Sierra's win, Zinn's American Idol 12 pick (Angie Miller) was inducted into the Vote for the Girls Hall of Fame.

Meanwhile Zinn would go on the following X Factor season after the eliminations of Ellona Santiago and Rion Paige following through on her threat of auctioning off her virginity to the highest female bidder if a her VFTG pick finishes in second place or worse. Although Zinn became the winning moderator on the United Kingdom adaptation three years in a row as Samantha Bailey won the tenth season of The X Factor UK in 2013, Fleur East via Moderators Save upon her defeat to Ben Haenow in 2014 and Louisa Johnson in 2015, Zinn followed through on her X Factor threat and in fact, auction off her virginity to former Denver, Colorado anchorwoman Kymberly Alvaraz in the summer of 2014 for a long-term relationship as she was in the midst of a divorce from her husband, Dan Alvaraz (who later died), and Alvaraz became the sixth significant other of Ava Zinn while at the same time, became the oldest significant other of Zinn (who is 16 years Alvaraz's junior). Alavaraz also became the first significant other (in an unprecedented demand) to pay Ava Zinn for a long-term relationship – a form of reverse compensation. This agreement was groundbreaking and notable, as Alvaraz became the first woman to pay a significant other for relationship rights. Ava Zinn accepted the deal, which went into effect on January 4, 2015 (the same day Zinn turned 32 years of age). At the same time, Alvaraz moved from the pink team to the purple team to join Zinn, a first in Vote for the Girls, making it the first time a Vote for the Girls purple team moderator has taken a significant other away from her spouse, followed by Lanise White after she and Danni McClannahan agreed to a long-term relationship agreement was driven after White, like Alvaraz, moved from the pink team to the purple team on Vote for the Girls; McClannahan's husband, Leonard, had considered filing for divorce, but McClannahan reportedly balked at Lai's demands for alimony before Lai's October 26, 2015 death.

Everman would also pull off a similar move for the pink team following the two VFTG losses on The Voice and American Idol in May 2014 that saw Everman shave her head with binding her breasts to appear masculine as a punishment for the Vote for the Girls loss with the two subsequent arrests of DUIs in April and August 2014.

To date, Carly Rose Sonenclar finishing runner-up is so far Ava Zinn's best finish on "The X Factor USA." Zinn would be the winning moderator for three consecutive seasons on the United Kingdom version of The X Factor with Samantha Bailey, Fleur East, and Louisa Johnson.

Carlygate II: Dancing with the Stars USA 24

"Carlygate II"
Vote for the Girls episode
Episode no.	Season 8 Episode 16 22 (unaired)
Directed by	??
Production code	April 25, 2017 (2017-04-25)
Original air date	April 25, 2017 (2017-04-25)
Running time	??
Episode chronology
<span /> ← Previous "The Voice 12 Top 24/DWTS 24 Week 5 Result" Next → "The Voice 12 Top 12 Result"
List of Vote for the Girls (U.S.) episodes

"Carlygate II" is the respectively sixteenth and twenty-second episodes of the eighth season of Vote for the Girls, and the __th episode of the series overall. The episode first aired on April 25, 2017.

On April 24, 2017, Vote for the Girls inadvertently broadcast the aftermath of the shocking elimination of Heather Morris and Maksim Chmerkovskiy, as Perri Johnson had suffered a fatal heart attack and collapsed as Everman and Johnson's two other VFTG picks of Normani Kordei & Val Chmerkovskiy and Nick Vaill & Peta Murgatroyid were already saved by viewer votes while despite receiving the first perfect score of the season, Morris was eliminated in the sixth week of the competition, on April 24, 2017. while Nancy Kerrigan and Artem Chigvintsev (of which Eveman's Purple Team East rival duo moderator Kathi & Karly Jameson had just cross-flexed from Everman's Pink Team East rival Maribel Mort). Due to the strict moderators' rules on Vote for the Girls as Kordei was previously supported by Everman under the "Once A Vote for the Girls Pick, Always A Vote for the Girls Pick" rule since Kordei was on the second season of The X Factor, meant in addition to Kordei, Morris and Vaill had to be supported by Everman and Johnson due to the strict family rule as their respective partners Valentin, Maksim, and Peta are all related to each other.

Upon Morris' elimination, VFTG host Ava Zinn implored her technical staff to cut off the feed from "DWTS" covergage after the elimination made it to air during live coverage. Following an abrupt commercial break, Zinn issued an on-air apology for a broadcast delay failure made by the channel's master control operators. In a statement, NoSirGifts Fantasy Television Stations executive president Jackson Steele, acknowledged the error in broadcasting the suspect's suicide: “We took every precaution to avoid any such live incident by putting the elimination pictures on a five second delay. Unfortunately, this mistake was the result of a severe human error and we apologize for what viewers ultimately saw on the screen.”

Another contestant, Normani Kordei was revealed as one of the contestants who would compete on season 24 of Dancing with the Stars. She was paired with professional dancer Valentin Chmerkovskiy. The couple reached the finals, and placed third, despite having the highest overallscore.

During production of the scheduled season 8 finale of Vote for the Girls, Ava Zinn implored her technical staff to not broadcast the episode after a suicide (due to a gunshot to the head) of 37-year-old Holly Everman, whom initially picked Kordei before being flexed out to Kathi & Karly Jameson (after Everman's girlfriend, Perri Johnson herself died from a heart attack). Zinn defended her decision not to air Kordei's third place finish (this also included Lauren Duski's second place finish on The Voice 12) on the ninth season premiere three months later.

Zinn, Kymberly Alvaraz, NoSirGifts, and WTOR-FTV was sued for unspecified damages by Everman's sister Elisa and mother Sabrina as did Fiona Johnson, the father of Perri Johnson due to this incident. In August 2017, it was revealed Alvaraz personally made a deal with Elisa, Sabrina, and Perri to pay $250,000 to drop the lawsuit as a settlement, and Zinn decided to end the three year relationship with Alvaraz (also settling for $150,000 she paid Zinn three years earlier, with Zinn effectively refunding Alvaraz) as an out-of-court settlement.

Allygate (Carlygate III): Dancing with the Stars 28

"Carlygate II"
Vote for the Girls episode
Episode no.	Season 11 Episode 1-3
Directed by	??
Production code	November 25, 2019 (2019-11-25)
Original air date	November 25, 2019 (2019-11-25)
Running time	??
Episode chronology
<span /> ← Previous "The Voice 16 Winner Revealed" Next → "The Voice 17 Top 10 Result"
List of Vote for the Girls (U.S.) episodes

"Allygate", also known as "Carlygate III" is the first, second and third episodes of the eleventh season of Vote for the Girls, and the __th episode of the series overall. The episode first aired on November 25, 2019.

In August 2019, Hannah Brown, Normani's Fifth Harmony bandmate Ally Brooke Hernandez, and American Idol 10 runner-up Lauren Alaina were announced as one of the celebrities to compete on season 28 of Dancing with the Stars. Brown's appearance makes her the second woman in the show's history to participate from The Bachelorette, following Trista Sutter in the first season. Ally Brooke and Lauren Alaina's apperance respectively made them the second and third VFTG pick to participate as Ally Brooke, as previously mentioned, became the second Fifth Harmony member and Lauren Alaina's apperance makes her the second American Idol contestant to participate following Kellie Pickler's victory on the sixteenth season of Dancing with the Stars.

Due to the strict moderators' rules on Vote for the Girls as Hernandez and Alaina were respectively previously supported by Holly Everman and Ava Zinn under the "Once A Vote for the Girls Pick, Always A Vote for the Girls Pick" rule since Hernandez was on the second season of The X Factor, meant in addition to Hernandez, Lauren Alaina had to be supported by Ava Zinn at any case while Brown was cross-flexed from Pink Team South moderator Eboni Hill to Ava Zinn's fellow Purple Team North moderator Rachael Passalt after Hill deferred.

Hernandez, Alaina, and Brown was partnered with professional dancers Sasha Farber, Gleb Savchenko and Alan Bersten, respectively during their tenure on the show. Like Normani Kordei on season 24 of Dancing with the Stars, Ally Brooke and Sasha reached the finals, and placed third, despite having the highest overallscore. In the finals that aired on November 25, Brown and Bersten were announced as the winners, effectively sealing Passalt's first outright moderator victory (Passalt's win meant Purple Team North became the first VFTGUSA division to have a moderator win DWTS: Passalt winning DWTS 28, Donna Doogan winning DWTS 27, Ava Zinn winning DWTS 21, and Kendra Ray winning DWTS 20) and allowing Passalt to put Normani Kordei in the VFTG Hall of Fame commenting: "You know, Ava, Hannah's win allows me to choose who I want to put in the Vote for the Girls Hall of Fame and you'll understand why. I know Holly (Everman) would be turning in her grave if I don't do this and the person I am putting in the Hall of Fame is Normani. This victory is for you, Holly!"

Reception and reaction

2012

This episode sparked major controversy when then-competing web site Vote for the Worst pick of Tate Stevens defeated Zinn's pick of Carly Rose Sonenclar and Everman's pick of Fifth Harmony; Dave Della Terza's pick of "Tacky Stacky", carried on on the WGWG (white guy with guitar) tradition started on the the seventh season of American Idol. Zinn and Everman were looking for the first X Factor victory as Robyn Hurd's pick of Melanie Amaro won the previous season's X Factor, and the two female contestants needed to get more votes against Tacky Stacky for for what would have been a double victory for both Zinn and Everman. In the final result, Fifth Harmony was declared the act in third place, leaving Zinn's pick of Sonenclar and Della Terza's pick of Tacky Stacky to await the winner of the winner of X Factor. However, when it was revealed that Sonenclar was declared the runner up and the subsequent first and only loss on X Factor, Everman released a torrent of expletive Facebook posts about the loss. Fans in the Cat Pound began throwing pop bottles and other objects on the stage. In one such notable post Everman called someone a "fucking cunt" to a woman she identified as Heather after the woman got into a physical fight 25 years earlier which resulted in Everman's sister (Elisa) being expelled from Claypool Elementary School in Muncie. The woman posted on the web site's Facebook page:

Did a bitch (Holly Everman) just call me a fucking cunt cause Tate Stevens won Xfactor? (Cracks me the fuck up) Ctfu yeaaap sure did. (Laughing my fucking ass off) lmfao, bitches I am a grown ass woman and ain't got time to argue over (who the fuck) wtf won Xfactor. BUT TATE WON BAHAHA HOPE I DON'T HAVE TO FUCK A BITCH UP OVER A FUCKING T.V SHOW....hahaha

—Facebook post from December 20, 2012

During The X Factor season final performance, members of the public were also outraged when an unnamed producer seen approaching Zinn (who is also the executive producer) and speaking to her. This sparked rumours that the producer told Zinn vote off Fifth Harmony, and that Zinn may have been unsure whether to go with her own feelings or follow the producer's instructions.

2017