Interesting article in eonline today, here's the link:

http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,10405,00.html?eol.tkr

The producers better do something about this problem.

(c) 2002 IceCat Originals, Inc. All rights reserved.

• RE: Is American Idol fixed ?,PackMan, 08:50 AM, 08-19-02
• RE: Is American Idol fixed ?,sticks, 01:26 PM, 08-19-02
  • RE: Is American Idol fixed ?,katem, 04:14 PM, 08-19-02
    • RE: Is American Idol fixed ?,sherlock, 05:53 PM, 08-19-02
  • RE: Is American Idol fixed ?,Draco Malfoy, 11:09 AM, 08-20-02
• Link to interesting Christina article,sticks, 10:46 AM, 08-20-02
  • RE: Link to interesting Christina article,Draco Malfoy, 11:13 AM, 08-20-02
• I'm on a roll....,sticks, 12:52 PM, 08-20-02
  • RE: I'm on a roll....,toddE, 04:26 PM, 08-20-02

I read a similar article in the Raleigh News and Observer this morning. I could see this definitely becoming a problem now that they're down to only four contestants. Of course, it may have already had its impact. I doubt CBS is going to publish the vote totals for each contestant, but 250,000 votes (which could be made by a single caller with the proper equipment and access to unused phone lines) represents 2% of the voting totals for a single week. This could be the difference between staying and going.

http://24hour.newsobserver.com/24hour/entertainment/story/501920p-4000799c.html

'Power dialers' bombarding 'American Idol' voting system

By RON HARRIS, ASSOCIATED PRESS

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Producers of the hit Fox show "American Idol" say the talent contest is being slammed by "power dialers" trying to influence the results by making as many as 10,000 votes a night from a single phone line.

With fast Internet connections and powerful computer autodialing software, about 100 "phone phreaks" are casting thousands of votes with the touch of a button, producers acknowledged this week in response to questions from The Associated Press.

"They're all over the country and they tend to be slamming the system at all ends," said Michael Eaton, vice president of home entertainment for FreemantleMedia, the show's London-based producer.

So far, these calls have had a "statistically insignificant" impact on the outcome, Eaton said, but he wouldn't release any data on individual contestants and their vote totals.

Still, an individual viewer who lacks this technology doesn't stand a chance at matching the influence of the power dialers. Redialing manually maxes out at a few hundred calls per evening, Eaton said.

He also said that 95 percent of all calls are getting through to the toll-free numbers representing each competitor. The calls then are tabulated to determine each week's survivors and loser.

The show's producers could have frustrated efforts to skew the results by imposing stricter ground rules or insisting that each voter punch in a code or number during the call, said Dave Hoch, an expert on telephone systems.

"There's different levels of security. This is no security. What it is, is a very dumb system which is great for generating call volumes, but does nothing for security," said Hoch.

Instead, Fox Broadcasting Co. has been promoting the calling volume as a sign of the show's success. Vote totals have grown during the show from 9.2 million on July 30 to 14.5 million Tuesday, and the show has been among the top 10 in the ratings, according to Nielsen Media Research.

"We're actually thrilled that America is so obsessed with the show that they're willing to log in this many phone calls," said Fox spokeswoman Michelle Hooper, who insisted the system is fair.

Viewers in each time zone have a two-hour window of opportunity to vote after each Tuesday night show, which airs live in the East and is tape-delayed elsewhere. To prevent voting overlap, AT&T blocks calls from regions of the country where the show has not yet aired.

Week after week, the field of performers is narrowed as the lowest vote-getter is cut. The last singer standing on Sept. 4 wins a recording contract with BMG, one of the world's largest music labels.

If the power-dialing volume skews votes toward one of the four remaining contestants, Eaton said they may contact the people responsible and ask them to stop.

"We know who these people are and we're tracking them, and if it gets to a point where they're starting to support a specific person over another then there are steps that we have discussed that we may take at that time," Eaton warned.

The vote skew could get much worse, said Hoch, president of Technology Arts, which makes a speed-dialing device used by concert ticket resellers and golfers trying to secure coveted tee times.

Hoch's device pales in comparison to the technology people are using to slam "American Idol." Based on the volume of power-dialing Eaton confirmed, Hoch said they are likely using broadband connections and powerful software that can generate thousands of calls simultaneously.

Determined fans with access to a broadband network of unused phones or numbers - such as in a business office after closing time - easily could generate 250,000 calls in about two hours, Hoch said.

Some fans of the recently booted "American Idol" beauty Ryan Starr think power dialing is unfair because not everyone has access to the technology.

"If I could have had that knowledge, I would have done that for Ryan Starr in an L.A. second!" said Brian Perfetto, 44, of Palmdale, Calif.

Perfetto said he cast a mere 1,000 votes in two hours in a furious feat of manual redialing.

"I woke up the next morning and my thumb and index finger were still jerking back and forth. I thought I had injured myself," Perfetto said.

Aaron Pinto, 24, of Wichita, Kan., runs a Web site dedicated to the perky performer who saw her luck run out on July 31. He figures a few geeks smitten with Nikki McKibbin could be to blame for keeping what he considers a less-talented contestant in the game.

"I think Nikki might cater more to the computer nerd group," Pinto said. "A lot of these computer nerds, they're kind of like closet anarchists."

We are not in a position in which we have nothing to work with. We already have capacities, talents, direction, missions, callings. - Abraham Maslow

Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing is like shoveling the driveway before it has stopped snowing. - Anonymous

I read something similar from a Florida newspaper (sorry I don't have the link). It was an article about Christina Christian. It said that she was typecast as the poised one and that she was never really herself on the show because the producers didn't want her to be.

She also said that they were given a list of twenty songs for which FOX had paid the copyright fees allowing them to sing. On the night that Christina sang When a Man loves a Woman (one of her worst perfomances IMO); she actually wanted to sing Natural Woman, but Kelly got to instead. The judges keep harping on song selection, but twenty is not much of a selection.

I don't think this is fixed, but I think that producers can manipulate how the audience feels about certain contestants.

P.S. On another website someone mentioned that AJ had said the show was fixed, but he later retracted his statement. AJ was the only former finalist not in the audience last week. Has anyone heard anything about this?

>P.S. On another website someone
>mentioned that AJ had said
>the show was fixed, but
>he later retracted his statement.
> AJ was the only
>former finalist not in the
>audience last week. Has anyone
>heard anything about this?

Things that make you go mmmmm !!!!!

The network wants ratings and they want the most diverse group of contestants they can find, and I'm sure they have their favorites as well. AJ was probably one of them, they wanted his story in the final ten.

Also, if he made that statement, he has to remember that he is under contract with them until the show is over, so he can't be saying anything.

Don't know why he wasn't in the studio last week, but it would be fun to speculate though

(c) 2002 IceCat Originals, Inc. All rights reserved.

Maybe he still thinks that it was fixed and i\was forced to retract the statement.

Elementary, my dear Watson!

>P.S. On another website someone
>mentioned that AJ had said
>the show was fixed, but
>he later retracted his statement.
> AJ was the only
>former finalist not in the
>audience last week. Has anyone
>heard anything about this?

Really? Where was this? I did find it very odd that he wasn't in the audience last week.

But then again, I also think Simon got reprimanded for being too harsh and was suspended for that one show. I'm like Oliver Stone, I see conspiracies everywhere.

The Artist Formerly Known As DarkLotus
Daddy, there's a monster outside my room. Can I have a glass of water?

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/entertainment/columnists/evelyn_mcdonnell/3851350.htm

talks about song selection; her audition song to Simon was staged, other stuff

She's pretty brave, coming out with all this, I'm sure that the AI people could have quite the lawsuit if they wanted to from this. I guess she's pretty confident that she'll be getting a contract from someone else.

Anyone want to take bets on whether AJ and Christina will be mysteriously "dropped" from the AI CD?

The Artist Formerly Known As DarkLotus
Daddy, there's a monster outside my room. Can I have a glass of water?

This article talks about the fine print of the rules of the American Idol contract. The biggest one being THE SHOW IS NOT BOUND BY THE RESULTS OF THE VOTE TO DECIDE THE AMERICAN IDOL. So I now have no faith in this show.

http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/2002-08-19-idol_x.htm

There is also an article in today's Los Angeles Times discussing the same thing. They had to sign a thick agreement which included the fact that the show is not bound to follow the voting results.

I found it fishy since the week when Ryan got voted off and Justin was in the bottom two. I have to wonder if Justin was really in the bottom two, etc.

They may or may not follow the voting, but I don't know how honest the voting is,anyway, with people voting thousands of times. Funny how that "news" breaks just as AI gets into its last few shows, bringing even more attention to it.

And if you lived in LA and watched the Fox "News," you'd be amazed how news-worthy those contestants are.