hidden widget placeholders show on sidebars

Where did you download this theme from?

WordPress: Countrymusic by Tamara Smith

I can’t find any reference to that theme in https://www.ads-software.com/extend/themes/

I have used this theme for about two years. I have not had the problem until I updated WP to 3.4.2. There must be some coding in the sidebar area that would suppress showing an empty placeholder from a hidden widget.

I also couldn’t find it listed on WP but I did find it this address:https://wpcreme.com/item/info/10562/country-music.

That site has nothing to do with www.ads-software.com. And your chosen theme is not released under GPL as it contains obfuscated code blocks that may be inserting all kinds of things into your site. Non GPL products are not welcome in the WordPress community. Official WordPress policy states that all plugins and themes that are publicly released are required to adhere to https://www.ads-software.com/about/gpl/

Also, given this particular theme, I would strongly recommend that you read this article and consider changing to a theme from a reputable source asap.