AI: Did Anyone Else Notice Something Weird About Wednesday Night?

[eclectics]

To be fair, until there is a one-person-one-vote system put in place, claims that the voting was "wrong" are more than valid. The vote results are biased towards people who have more friends, or who have more technical-saavy friends, not towards folks with more talent.

I've listened and watched it over again almost a dozen times now, on three separate occasions. There is nothing there to hear; nothing there to see. The most convincing evidence of this is what was mentioned before: Chris Rock was in the audience. If anything like that actually happened, you KNOW Chris Rock would be sure we knew.

Although one could argue that AI is about who America wants, not who has the most talent. Hopefully the two should go together, but sometimes they don't. The people who exude so much effort to repeatedly vote for the person of their choice are fans in the true sense of the word and I think the contestant should be rewarded for their fans tireless efforts on their behalf. Plus, I don't think I've ever met a under 30ish person (the demographic who most likely votes on these type shows) who wasn't technically savy. Over 30, that's another story!

 

[Planogirl]

Although one could argue that AI is about who America wants, not who has the most talent. Hopefully the two should go together, but sometimes they don't. The people who exude so much effort to repeatedly vote for the person of their choice are fans in the true sense of the word and I think the contestant should be rewarded for their fans tireless efforts on their behalf. Plus, I don't think I've ever met a under 30ish person (the demographic who most likely votes on these type shows) who wasn't technically savy. Over 30, that's another story!

I suspect that all of the contestants have fans who vote for them many times. I can't imagine that any of them would have enough friends to make a large impact considering the number of votes that are made but who knows? That's really the trouble, no one knows.

 

[bicker]

Although one could argue that AI is about who America wants, not who has the most talent.

Absolutely. I think, though, that more precisely, AI is about who America would most idolize. Making free telephone calls isn't a way to determine that. I've always thought that the best way of fixing the AI voting system is for AI to go in with MusicMatch or iTunes to sell the individual performances from Tuesday night (for, say, $0.25 each performer), and then based who goes home on who sold the fewest copies.

Plus, I don't think I've ever met a under 30ish person (the demographic who most likely votes on these type shows) who wasn't technically savy. Over 30, that's another story!

Well, due to a bug in DialIdol that was recently fixed, up until a few weeks ago, there wasn't any technology out there that would have let me have my vote entered repeatedly without me manually initiating every vote.

 

[nliedel]

I did notice a strained calm but I chalk it up to Mandissa going home before some people who are not as talented.

Oh and that remark about people over 30 not being technically as saavy... well let's just say all us old foggeys ain't dumb.

 

[dizagain]

Ok...here's my totally different take on the situation...

This is what happened to my family as we watched the announcement...

The way Ryan presented it so quickly by saying something to Mandisa and immediately saying Elliot's name, made ME think he was sending Elliot home instead...that along with the strange behavior of audience members (especially family members) made me think they didn't know quite what was what either at first. Now, my family understood fine that Mandisa was gone, but it took me a minute to be sure.

So, that's what I thought the sudden silence and confused facial expressions were all about. Then I think people didn't know how to react because they liked both of them and were shocked.

Until I read this thread, I didn't realize this was a hot topic! Hoping the rumor is not true - I'm betting it's not.

 

[Free4Life11]

Something must of happened, besides just the shock of her name beimng announced. If you watch the clip, Ryan announces Mandisa, and the jeers start building, then complete silence, shocked silence.

If the audience was reacting in shock to Mandisa's name, the silence would of come 1st, as they processed what they were hearing, then the jeers would of started. But the jeers started, and then HALTED. Then, everyone, slowly gave her a standing O. You can see the other contestants, looking around, in shock and horror.

As for why this did not make it onto major news media, I am glad. It would only incite anger and things might get ugly. It may also encourage other pigs to try and do the same thing, for the media attention. The girls who did that do not deserve one second in the spotlight.

Yep I agree with you! SOMETHING must have happened because the audience went completely silent and then I swear I heard someone say "Ohh" when they showed the video of the judges table. There is nothing in the audio though, maybe they had a chance to bleep it out?

 

[eclectics]

I've always thought that the best way of fixing the AI voting system is for AI to go in with MusicMatch or iTunes to sell the individual performances from Tuesday night (for, say, $0.25 each performer), and then based who goes home on who sold the fewest copies.

Well, then again maybe not so fair? You could have a kid with no means to have a iTunes account and you could also have a kid using Daddy's unlimited charge card. I can't think of a voting procedure that won't cause some sort of controversy.

 

[ilovemcbride]

Mandisa was awesome, IMO. I can't believe she was voted off. I didn't pay any attention to comments from audience members or whatever. I do, however, think that the other contestants looked totally shocked. I guess they all have their bad days, and that Shania Twain song just didn't do her any justice. Oh well there goes my prediction on who will win!

 

[lbgraves]

If Dancing with the Stars can limit voting to a certain number of calls from each number, then AI should be able to do the same thing. I also agree that they just like saying the number of votes they get each week. They aren't interested in what is "fair."

 

[UrsulasMyHero]

While I don't hear anyone saying the "N" word, I do see, when they show Mandisa's family, the guy behind them saying "she didn't just say that" you can lip read him pretty well.

Mandisa was my favorite, Taylor is my 2nd favorite. Mandisa is such a positive influence, she's beautiful and full figured! Something (In My OPINION) that we need more of on television.

 

[damo]

Something must of happened, besides just the shock of her name beimng announced. If you watch the clip, Ryan announces Mandisa, and the jeers start building, then complete silence, shocked silence.

If the audience was reacting in shock to Mandisa's name, the silence would of come 1st, as they processed what they were hearing, then the jeers would of started. But the jeers started, and then HALTED. Then, everyone, slowly gave her a standing O. You can see the other contestants, looking around, in shock and horror.

As for why this did not make it onto major news media, I am glad. It would only incite anger and things might get ugly. It may also encourage other pigs to try and do the same thing, for the media attention. The girls who did that do not deserve one second in the spotlight.

I think there was silence because after Ryan said that Mandisa had the lowest number of votes, he then said "Elliott, you are safe" So those who were noisy were not sure that they heard correctly. If they missed the "Elliott" they might have been confused as to who was actually going home and who was safe. I think there was just confusion in the audience.

 

[damo]

While I don't hear anyone saying the "N" word, I do see, when they show Mandisa's family, the guy behind them saying "she didn't just say that" you can lip read him pretty well.

I lip read him to say, "What did he just say there?" I think he was confused as to who Ryan just booted off. But he said it with a smile on his face and the lady behind him had a smile on her face.

 

[MAKmom]

I tend to believe there's some truth to this, as right after Mandisa's exit was announced, the cameras quickly jumped from her family to Paris's family - all quite obviously, black people.

I thought it odd that they would zone in on Paris's family, as Elliott was the one left standing.

That's telling.

Paris's celebrity grandmother was there that night.

 

[bicker]

Well, then again maybe not so fair? You could have a kid with no means to have a iTunes account and you could also have a kid using Daddy's unlimited charge card.

Well, it is fair because it is reflective of each person's actual purchasing power. Remember, the winner of AI wins a one year contract as a commercial recording artist.

 

[bicker]

when they show Mandisa's family, the guy behind them saying "she didn't just say that" you can lip read him pretty well.

My wife is hearing impaired and reads lips. What she thinks he said was, "I didn't think he was going to say that." However, she clarifies that despite reading lips for four decades, there is no way she could say with any level of confidence what the guy said. However, his demeanor (as mentioned above, the guy was smiling) and the context of the sentence indicates he was referring to what Ryan just said, not anyone else.

 

[Virgo10]

Yep I agree with you! SOMETHING must have happened because the audience went completely silent and then I swear I heard someone say "Ohh" when they showed the video of the judges table. There is nothing in the audio though, maybe they had a chance to bleep it out?

You can hear that Ohh! on this clip from Wednesday night.

American Idol 4/5/06

YouTube is down for maintenence right now but should be back up later.

One other thing I noticed on that clip is that one of Mandisa's relatives starts to turn around towards the audience right after the vocalizations in question and the camera cuts away from her real fast. Come to think of it, I'm not 100% sure it's one of Mandisa's relatives or maybe Paris'. Not sure?

 

[damo]

The Ohhhh is from Mandisa's or Elliott's mike. You can Elliott say, "I love you Mandisa" in the same volume as the moan.

 

[inaminute]

I thought the guy said "I can't believe they just did that."

Nothing happened. Everyone was surprised and confused. Do you really think this would be covered up? Do you really think AI would be able to cover it up? The press is all over this show just he way it is. This story would have been all over the news for the past four days if it were even remotely true. Not to mention, it would be great fodder for talk shows. Add to it the prominent audience members (Whoopi Goldberg, Chris Rock). There is no way this rumor is true. Thank goodness.

 

[ozarkmom]

I thought the guy said "I can't believe they just did that."

Nothing happened. Everyone was surprised and confused. Do you really think this would be covered up? Do you really think AI would be able to cover it up? The press is all over this show just he way it is. This story would have been all over the news for the past four days if it were even remotely true. Not to mention, it would be great fodder for talk shows. Add to it the prominent audience members (Whoopi Goldberg, Chris Rock). There is no way this rumor is true. Thank goodness.

I agree the press loves stuff like that and Chris Rock & Whoopee do you really believe that they would let that go? I just read on Yahoo news an article about speculation that Madisa was booted over anti-gay issues and not one word about the N word there's just no way it happened and isn't in the news.