Tobing was a gospel singer when she signed up for the first season of Indonesian Idol,[1] leading to some criticism since she was not considered an amateur.
[citation needed] During a press conference in November 2004, the team of Indomugi Pratama, BMG Indonesia, RCTI, and FremantleMedia, who hold the license for the Indonesian Idol program, claimed they were not sending Tobing to any Asian or World Idol because of this.
[2][3][4] In March 2005, Tobing terminated her contract with BMG Indonesia which, in September 2004, released her Idol album Terima Kasih.
At her press conference, Tobing and her lawyer stated that the reason she had long been treated unfairly, BMG Indonesia had never informed her about the selling of the album and did not give her any royalties.
One of the Top 4, Helena Andrian, canceled her contract and had to withdraw from the competition shortly before the grand final, causing her to be hastily expelled in the middle of the night from the apartment provided for the finalists.