[Richard Crowley]

"muzician21" wrote ...
Also, when I said digital reverb earlier I meant to say modeled
reverb, which would render a more convincing sound of a church or
theater setting.

Yes, if we were talking about a conventional recording, then
you would have a very good point. But the priority here is to
make the singer comfortable with her performance so that the
recording represents here abilities. The acoustics that the singer
hears from the room while performing are a critical part of
achieving this.

The judges are primarily interested in how the singer performs,
not particularly how nice the recording sounds. That is the nature
of an audition recording vs. a commercial release.