Voting - Manipulation/Questions/Comments

[Threshold]

The current system is far too arbitrary.

If two people have similar "fan bases", they are both far more likely to get booted off than someone who sucks but has a "fan base" not shared with anyone else.

For example, if the last three are 1) Clay 2) Joshua or Ruben 3) Trenyce, then Trenyce has a HUGE advantage. The two guys are going to be appealing to a lot of similar folks, while Trenyce has her "base" totally to herself. But if you could vote people *OFF*, the result could be very, very different.

[John]

Never happen, Threshold. As I've said before, Fox enjoys being able to claim "14 million people voted this week for their American Idol". If you voted for who was to be eliminated, that does two things:

1) They'd get a lot less votes
2) They couldn't claim that people were voting for their American Idol, since technically they'd be voting against them instead.

[Threshold]

Originally posted by John
Never happen, Threshold. As I've said before, Fox enjoys being able to claim "14 million people voted this week for their American Idol". If you voted for who was to be eliminated, that does two things:

1) They'd get a lot less votes
2) They couldn't claim that people were voting for their American Idol, since technically they'd be voting against them instead.

I know it won't happen..... largely, because it SHOULD.

FOX has got to have the most brain dead micromanagers at their network. The pattern they ALWAYS follow is this:

1) Someone approaches them with a very good, original idea (American Idol, Joe Millionaire, etc).

2) They turn the idea over to their internal staff whose efforts to "spice it up" and "improve it" instead bastardize it and make it worse.

3) The original idea, however, was so good that it survives their idiotic butchering of it.

[hazyshadeof]

I don't mind voting for your favorite. However, I do wish they would limit it to one vote per phone number.

[Threshold]

Hazy, I wish they would do that also.

My wife and I vote twice per night as we have 2 phone lines.

We could vote more, but that is just a pain in the butt.

This means you have the decisions being made by people with nothing better to do with 2 hours of their life than dial a phone.

[Azure]

We have a variation of AI here in Quebec where three performers are put "in danger" of being eliminated by "teacher-judges". These three then perform during a special show and the public votes on who they want to save.

AI could keep it's original format and claim that 14 million voted, etc. The bottom three could perform at the elimination show (which would make it a "show" and not a "farce") and people could then vote to eliminate the worst performer which could simply be announced at the following regular show. No need for this person to be humiliated in front of millions and we would be spared a last bad performance.

As I said, this is not an original idea as something similar is being done here.

[fluff]

The voting is a problem for me.
Last year things just got out of hand with people using diallers to call in thousands of votes for Nikki.

There were a couple of occasions when even she knew she should have been voted out but she survived.

[Azure]

You can't help people voting numerous times but at least all those who voted for the top performers could now concentrate on voting off the worst of the bottom 3, based on their last performances. Sorts of gives a second chance for the last 3 to redeem themselves. The three people in danger of elimination usually give their best renditions at that time. Anyway, I'm sure if it had been done this way Charles would not have been the one eliminated.

[pepper]

I doubt that they'd ever change the voting format because it allows the producers (and presumably the judges as well) to see who is gaining in popularity.

On the Tuesday Motown show, Simon made the "Motown the Musical" comment to Clay. But by the following Tuesday, he was already saying to the New York Post that he thought Clay would be getting "bigger and bigger" and was probably the one to beat. And on the Tuesday Movie show, he officially annointed Clay as the one to beat.

It wouldn't surprise me at all if the producers (or their staffs) moniter the internet to see how the contestants are faring, but the call in votes are an easy way for them to get a fix on who the viewership is responding to.

[spegs]

Okay, I said this in another thread but it fits here better.

They should just give everyone 2 numbers, i.e. 01 and 11, 02 and 12, etc. The second number is for those who wish to vote against that person. The "against" votes are subtracted from the "for" votes. Badda bing, badda boom: Fox can still say America voted FOR their american idol, they may actually get more votes to announce (I will be voting twice as often, for example, to vote for Clay and against Corey), and we all get the satisfaction of voting against those stupid pre-teen, no talent favorites.