This is the catch 22 of the dev industry.

If the server stays up for the big event, then, you can wonder if they are being as careful about quality when they aren't on TV. Maybe they use resources for that one guy that they wouldn't ordinarily use, making the big demo a fraud.

On the other hand, if the server fails on the big event, that doesn't necessarily mean it would fail for you on an average day when you didn't have an unusually large number of people trying to track you.

Certainly, its egg on the face, but I feel their pain.

I hope they work it out... its all good experience, if they can hang on until the next iteration...