Question

Eighty-five percent of contestants on American Idol

was/ were not flown in for the first round, but Mufasa
made the cut.
What right? Was it were?

Answer 1

Were.

Step-by-step explanation:

When using the plural form on 'contestant', anything after needs to show a relationship therefore 'were' would show the relationship between the many 'contestants'.

'Was' is used for singular, so if you bring up one contestant, then you use 'was'.

"a contestant on American Idol was not flown in...."

VS plural

"10 contestants were not flown in.....

(this works for percentage too).

Answer 2

the correct word is “Were” not