During the Top 40 eliminations on Shine last Sunday, Dakara Cooper pronounced Iman Dillard's name wrong when she voted for her to leave the show.
Coming back after the audition tour, the judges introduced Shine fans to the Top 30 contestants. Initially it was supposed to be 40, but the judges had to cut back to 30 favorites due to Covid-19 restrictions.
But after the first challenge neared the end, the night quickly turned into a Big Brother elimination type process. The judges hit the Top 30 finalists with a twist. They had to pick one artist in the room they felt was the weakest link. Brandon Stewart, creator of the series and judge, warned them that 3 would be going home.
When it was Cooper's turn to vote, she awkwardly mispronounced Dillard's name. Though the moment only lasted a couple of seconds during the episode, it was something Dillard didn't miss.
Dillard took to her Instagram story with a caption that said, "Not her acting like she didn't know how to say my name."
Dillard did add that "it's all love."
Sources close to Cooper said she is "very loving" and "didn't mean to do that maliciously."
Dillard has been given quite a bit of screen-time up to this point, and seems to present a laid back type of attitude. Her audition in Nashville, Tennessee was a rocky one, though the judges were excited about her potential.
Cooper hasn't had as much screen-time as Dillard the last few episodes, but her audition was a fan favorite. Cooper was on the last season of Shine, and was eliminated before the Top 10. She's back with a vengeance.
The first challenge didn't show Cooper's Top 40 performance, but they did show Dillard's who looked to have improved since her "icebreaker" audition, as she worded it in her confessional last Sunday night.
Catch more from these girls on Shine Sunday nights, only on BTV.