Last week, "American Idol" hopeful Joanna Pacitti was disqualified from the show without explanation. Speculation centered around the fact that Pacitti had been working in the industry for a while, and now it's been discovered that in 2002, Pacitti was one of the young people profiled in "True Life Presents: First Year." The special showed Pacitti as she tried to make her way in the music industry, including meeting with and performing for A&M Records executives.

"I was really nervous and trying really hard not to think," she said about performing for the executives. "I didn't want to screw up and I wanted it to be perfect."

During the performance for the label, she sang her song "Miracle," which later became her first single. "There is definitely pressure for the meeting. It's a little scary, 'cause it's the first time they're going to see me, and if I screw up or if anything happens then I blew it," she said. "I got the most amazing reaction — something I didn't even expect. In the back of the room people were standing on their seats. It was awesome."

It also shows the up-and-coming star at home watching the 2002 Grammy Awards, wishing that one day it would be her walking down the red carpet. "Since I was little I always was annoyed watching them, 'cause I see the people and I know I should be there," she said. "But it won't be long, I'm sure — after a while I'll be like, 'Another awards show.' "

The singer also spoke in-depth about being cast in the Broadway show "Annie," and how she was replaced when she contracted bronchitis. "When I was 11 years old something happened to me that changed my life forever," she shared. " 'Annie' was one of the greatest things that ever happened to me in my life. It was one of the hardest things to overcome.

"We all decided that I would leave the show. The next day the press got it that I was fired. [I was in seventh grade,] and the kids are torture. It made my feel like I wasn't good enough. The whole 'Annie' thing did that to me."

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