Interesting AI article

[Robinrs]

Concerning the "popularity" voting... quite on target!http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4649112/

 

[Towncrier]

American Idol is just like high school. The popular kids win all the elections and the deserving ones are left behind. Who thinks that John Stevens and Diana DeGarmo will be battling it out for the title of American Idol? Ewwwww.

 

[my3kids]

Great article, and yes, quite accurate.

 

[Robinrs]

True and it's truly sad.

I wonder if this year's fiasco will change anything. I do believe that they should do a Survivor, and vote for who you want to see GO. One vote should be allowed from any source and the source should have an email or telephone # link to limit their votes.

This 40 something year old Mama has WAY more important things to do than to constantly redial my vote.

 

[legs22]

Great article. I always thought it should be one vote per phone. How fair is the voting when you have the same people voting numerous times for one contestant?
Carmen V., John Stevens, and JPL lasted far too long.

 

[Jeafl]

That article was hysterical! I loved when she said "Jon Stevens version of My Girl was so flat you could slide it under a door!"

I have always said that one vote for the person you want to go would be the most fair way to judge this contest. Even one vote for the person you want to stay would be ok too. They have to find a way to limit votes though, or mediocre talent will continue to get through.

 

[helenabear]

Interesting article... sounds like a lot of what I was thinking last year as well... plays into part of why I don't bother with the show this year.

 

[grinningghost]

The article is right on. There are a fraction of people who actually vote for the good singers, while the majority are voting for who they LIKE best (for whatever reasons).

I'm not sure there's any easy way to let the people vote and not have it turn out like this. Even if they limited it to one vote per household.

 

[Mom2Em]

Robin,
I had read this article a couple days ago and fully agreed... I would love to have nothing better to do than sit for 2 hours redialing the phone... but alas life goes on...

 

[ead79]

A very interesting article, one that I agree with for the most part. However, I think that a prominent factor that helps people win votes was left out of the article--the fact that the judges/producers often help create "personas" for their favorite contestants. For example, the Ruuuuuben cheer that became so popular last year was started by Ryan Seacrest I believe. Now, don't get me wrong, I think that Ruben is tremendously talented, so I don't think he falls into the category of one of these contestants in this year's AI that are horrible but have a following. I do think that the judges/producers do try to drum up favor for their favorite contestants, some of which are deserving of the attention (like Ruben) and some of which might not be (like John Stevens--Simon always tempers any criticism of John with comments that Simon likes him even though his performance was bad).

Also, while I do agree that Clay has the most obsessive "People" ever, I didn't like the insinuation of the article that he is bad and just came in 2nd place because he had lots of "People." For me personally, Clay has a voice I love to hear. I don't really care that he was an "underdog" or that there are Claymates--I just LOVE his voice. Plus, I think both Clay and Ruben are class acts, and I love to see a class act succeed.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[Robinrs]

I think the producers definitely do have a preference but have you noticed that most of the people who have a BIG following is because of how badly Simon destroys them! I don't care how much people like someone, I have my own preference. If the voters are acting like lambs, it sure isn't prominent this year.

Josh Gracin was a favorite last year IMO because of his affiliation with the military. I truly believe people who voted for him thought they were doing it to "support the troops"! There were weeks that he SHOULD have been gone but his followers Of course this was not half as obvious as the voting is this year, just one example.

Regardless, the ratings will have to plummet before they consider a change, and I don't see that happening.

 

[Flyfly_Eclipse]

I liked Josh Gracin. Yes, I do believe the whole military thing helped, and it made me respect him, and made an excellent first impression. Some performances were terrible, like "Celebration" or whatever. Eeek! But then, he has a country voice, and how the heck are you supposed to sing disco with a country voice? I liked his version of "To Love Somebody" but I also loved Clay Aiken's version too! Neat to hear two different versions of the same song.

I hate how American Idol chooses the genre. Do they want someone who can sing every style? Odds are, they'll pick one, and stick with it when they produce an album.

I too feel that every person votes once, and that's it. But then, I still feel like producers pick the winner, and america chooses the second/third/forth places and so on.

 

[damo]

I think people need to get a grip. This is a reality tv show. A tv show. The winner is not going to have any power. Actually the winner will not even have any success for that matter, if "the people" don't buy the albums after the show is done. This is show business not a world altering election. In the real world, who really cares what happens on American Idol?

I honestly believe that people just have different tastes. I loved Josh Gracin last year and it had nothing to do with the military because I live in Canada.

I love the show as much as the next guy, but come on, it is only a show!

 

[Poohbear123]

Probably in about 4 years, we will be voting for the President of the US like this!