Fight for Your Right To Party
'Nashville' Might Sound Very Different Next Season ...
Idol conspiracy? What conspiracy?
Well, if anything was clear after tonight, it was that the girls this season have bigger, stronger and fatter cojones than the guys do. That probably won't stop one of the boys from sticking around long enough to see the top two or three, though. Idol voters have funny ways of making us cringe.
It's not rigged, though, I promise. At least, I don't think it is -- and I have some good reasons to believe so.
Message boards are always filled with scandal and accusations of foul play. I don't know why, but people are always so quick to cry conspiracy even when better judgment says otherwise. Probably for the same reasons we believed the world was flat for so long ...
I think you have to ask yourself: What does Idol stand to gain by fixing the competition? Ratings? Maybe, but what does Idol stand to lose by cheating? Well, much more than they have to give.
I don't know all the specifics of the process, but I do know the votes are sent to a private company devoted solely to the purpose of counting American Idol votes. That company is overlooked by Fox's department of standards and practices; who are, in turn, scrutinized by lawyers and gold-diggers of all shapes and sizes around the world, just waiting to sue for foul play. A secret like that would be a veritable gold mine and pretty tough to keep quiet.
Something else to think about is the fact that both the TV show and the record label releasing the winner's album are essentially the same company. The winner would be the most popular and likewise would sell the most records -- in theory. That theory was shot to pieces now that Taylor is the first winner to sell under a million records, though.
Idol upsets are most likely the result of the instability of large amounts of votes cast over a long period of time. Too many things can go wrong. Public opinion can change quickly or power outages or whatever ... Maybe someone just gets overlooked one night.
Who knows really? It's getting late and my brain is fried from thinking about it. I really won't be surprised to see people up in arms tomorrow night after the results are in. I'm gonna withhold my predictions though. I'm saving those for next time.
[Jon Peter Lewis was a contestant on the third season of "American Idol." He has just released his debut album, "Stories From Hollywood." Visit his Web site, jonpeterlewis.com, and americanidol.com to download his single.]
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