Pretty sure it's illegal to rig a competition like that. The penalties are pretty stiff if they get caught too.

AI isn't a game show...they run a disclaimer each show that pretty much gives them free reign to do whatever the hell they want. That said, I don't think they rig the results (although they have countless tactics to get the results they want).

Fantasia and Taylor Hicks are proof the show is in no way rigged.

They're creative people and, if they end up making more money with one outcome vs. another, they'll go with whichever makes the most money. Since it not only would be difficult to prove collusion but also they do not operate under strict guidelines like game shows, I see no reason why they wouldn't do this.

They rig it in enough ways, and they must abide by the votes.

You tell me who sold more albums this year...Jason Mraz or Axl Rose?

Adam's a great hairband knockoff but those kinda fans ain't exactly buying a sh#tload of records these days....or voting on AI...Kris played to a more mainstream audience for this day and age.

Adam has an amazing voice and was always entertaining to see what he would do. But as a musician (who was an all-state violinist and still plays frequently - not tooting my own horn, just trying to offer some support for why i think what i think), I prefer to see/hear someone who can play an instrument and musically phrase lines as well as sing. Kris did an outstanding job of all three.

to adam's credit, he did tone it down from time to time and show his ability to phrase and sing musically. just overall, his music isnt my style. kris is. so i was glad kris won. but adam was one of the most gifted singers to ever take the idol stage. i thought america got it right because i think they were the best two week in and week out this season. one of my biggest problems with danny was that i didnt feel he did a very good job of backing off and carefully complete his 'softer' phrases. he didnt show me an ability to do that until his last song of the year and by then, it was too late for me.

i think both kris and adam will be successful because they are both very talented. this year's top5 was far more talented than last year's and all 5 were probably better than ruben, taylor hicks, jordan sparks, fantasia, david cook, etc. so i think they'll be very successful.

Pig Phooey! There's been some cheatin' goin' on over in the Ozarks!

quote:

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AT&T, one of the biggest corporate sponsors of “American Idol,” might have influenced the outcome of this year’s competition by providing phones for free text-messaging services and lessons in casting blocks of votes at parties organized by fans of Kris Allen, the Arkansas singer who was the winner of the show last week.

Representatives of AT&T, whose mobile phone network is the only one that can be used to cast “American Idol” votes via text message, provided the free text-messaging services at two parties in Arkansas after the final performance episode of “American Idol” last week, according to the company and people at the events.

There appear to have been no similar efforts to provide free texting services to supporters of Adam Lambert, who finished as the runner-up to Mr. Allen.

Since then, angry supporters of Mr. Lambert have flooded online chat boards with messages claiming irregularities in the competition’s voting.

Officials of Fox Broadcasting declined to discuss the situation. In a statement issued Tuesday, a spokesman for AT&T said, “In Arkansas, we were invited to attend the local watch parties organized by the community. A few local employees brought a small number of demo phones with them and provided texting tutorials to those who were interested.”

...

Representatives of AT&T helped fans of Mr. Allen at the two Arkansas events by providing instructions on how to send 10 or more text messages at the press of a single button, known as power texts. Power texts have an exponentially greater effect on voting than do single text messages or calls to the show’s toll-free phone lines. The efforts appear to run afoul of “American Idol” voting rules in two ways. The show broadcasts an on-screen statement at the end of each episode warning that blocks of votes cast using “technical enhancements” that unfairly influence the outcome of voting can be thrown out.

And the show regularly states that text voting is open only to AT&T subscribers and is subject to normal rates.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/27/business/media/27idol.html?hpw

Seriously....there were a hundred million votes.


Does anyone really think an AT&T Vendor display booth, at a couple watch parties affected the outcome?

Why do people care so much. Kris appealed to a bigger audience. He played piano, guitar and sang a wide range of songs. Adam had a good voice, but screamed every single time he sang. It's not that shocking that Kris won.

quote:

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Seriously....there were a hundred million votes.


Does anyone really think an AT&T Vendor display booth, at a couple watch parties affected the outcome?

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Well 35million votes reportedly came from Arkansas alone, so there's a good chance it did affect the outcome.

I agree...it takes a lot to make a dent in 100 million votes. And since AI didn't even bother to say the difference this year (they even said it last year when it was 56/44...which isn't really that close), makes me think it was a total blowout in Kris's favor.

quote:

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Well 35million votes reportedly came from Arkansas alone, so there's a good chance it did affect the outcome.

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That leaves about 70 million from the rest of the country.

And again, I'm not talking about votes from Arkansas. I'm talking about the AT&T display booths that the article is complaining about. Do they seriously think it made a difference? Even if it accounted for 100,000 votes (which is highly unlikely), Kris still reportedly won by a HUGE margin.

Initial reports showed that even without Arkansas, Kris won by a huge margin.

The person that was really screwed here was Jermaine.

Ask NoAC about that....

ATT has since stated the 38 mil from Ark is false. Sounds completely implausible if you think about it. 40% of the vote is not going to come from one small state...especially when the overall vote total isn't significantly greater than the previous season (S7 finale had around 100mil votes as well).

For the "homophobes must have voted Adam out" crowed did you see that Clay Aiken didn't like him because he mugged the camera and was in your face all the time?

It came down to likeability and a broader appeal nothing to do with gayness.

Perhaps I missed it above, but what was the seperation in the total votes between the two?

Don't think it was ever said...which implies blowout. AI usually plays up a close vote.

Seriously, the suggestion that this somehow "fixed" the outcome is ridiculous. Here is what we know:

quote:

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Representatives of AT&T, whose mobile phone network is the only one that can be used to cast “American Idol” votes via text message, provided the free text-messaging services at two parties in Arkansas...

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quote:

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“A few local employees brought a small number of demo phones with them and provided texting tutorials to those who were interested.”

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So there were two parties where a "small number of demo phones" were provided. Let's just say that "small number" was 1,000. It was probably more like 10-20, but to be generous, I'll go with 1,000. Each phone could vote 10 times per call. Let's say then that each person with one of these phones called in 100 times. Again, very unlikely, but just to be generous, let's say each one called in 100 times. At 10 votes registered per call, that comes out to a total of 1 million votes(1,000 x 100 calls each x 10 votes/call). Assuming that the margin of victory was greater than 56 to 44 (since they never said how close it was), let's say Chris won with 57% of the vote(57 million votes). If 1 million of the 57 million votes were rigged by this AT&T situation, let's throw out all of those votes and see what's left. We're left with 56 million votes for Chris out of 99 million total votes, which still gives him 56.6% of the votes.

Play with the numbers even more. For the AT&T situation to have really caused a change in the results, let's see what would have been necessary. Let's say AT&T gave out 10,000 phones and each person called in 100 times. That amounts to 10 million fraudulent votes(10,000 x 100 x 10). Throw those out and you're left with 47 million votes for Chris (57 million - 10 million) out of 90 million (100-10), and Chris still wins with 52% of the vote!

All of these situations seem very implausible. I highly doubt there small number of phones was anywhere near 1,000-10,000, and I highly doubt each caller was able to place 100 calls.

So this is a non-issue. It's embarrassing for AT&T and American Idol, but in no way did it shape the outcome.

I suppose it could emply blowout...but it seems to me that with the revolations of the AT&T things, a very close vote could be even more reason not to disclose the vote totals.

It's been reported that it was a blowout by a ton of outlets, but I havent heard any numbers....for what it's worth.