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Think you know who's going home on Idol? TiVo knows (maybe)!

by Jason Hughes, posted Apr 10th 2008 1:42PM

TiVo for DummiesWe all know that DialIdol has been predicting who gets voted off of American Idol for years by tracking busy signals on the phone lines for each contestant. Well, there's a new player in town. As reported on TMZ and elsewhere, TiVo has announced that for the past four weeks they've been analyzing their second-by-second viewer statistics to determine viewership for each contestant's performances. They can see which ones are getting viewed again and which ones are getting skipped altogether.

They say they've gotten the last four eliminations correct and now they're ready to say that TiVo predicts this week's American Idol elimination. You didn't think i was going to tell you here, did you? You'll have to wait to find out...

...after the jump (SPOILER WARNING--MAYBE!)

It's actually a pretty sound idea. It would make sense that people with DVRs are going back and watching their favorite performances again; that's what my DOUBLEPLAY is all about, but I'm a little surprised that people would be fast-forwarding through some performances. Are they really judging people based on a few seconds of their performances, or none at all? That could explain why Syesha shows up at the bottom of most polls no matter how she does. Maybe people just don't like her and they skip her. It's the creepy baby cry thing, isn't it?

Need more American Idol? Get an inside look at Season 7's contestants and think back to these scathing (and hilarious) Simon Cowell quotes.
Also: Don't forget to choose your favorite Idol!
Well, speaking of Syesha, that's who TiVo predicts is going. They've got David Archuleta at the top of their rankings; it's a shame they can't send the whole list. Interestingly, while DialIdol agreed that Syesha was one of their lower vote getters, it was Carly that came in dead last over there. DialIdol has been the gold standard for a few years now on predicting American Idol eliminations, and now TiVo has stepped into the ring to challenge them. And right out of the gate they disagree (yes I know DialIdol still indicates that Syesha could go based on their margin of error, but that's not the point).

I could see either Carly or Syesha going tonight as both have seen the bottom three; Carly wasn't great Tuesday and America seems to hate Syesha for some reason. Personally, I'd go another way (*cough* KLC *cough*) even though she's had a few good weeks.

Do you skip through Idol performances?
Yes205 (55.7%)
No163 (44.3%)

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NikkiLyn

I personally replay both good and bad performances. I rarely fast forward through anything on the show, unless it's Brooke's hideous voice and ugly face. I don't understand why everyone loves her so much!?!! She SUCKS! And, the judges continuously lick her ass, week after week after week. They all give her praise when she does NOT deserve it. Myself, and a few other people, agree that she is planted on the show. Kristy Lee Cook with her horrible voice is better than Brooke! I cannot wait until the day Brooke White is sent home.

April 16 2008 at 12:08 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Dan

My GF and I can't watch Idol unless we have enough of a cushion from TIVO (well, Cox Cable DVR) because it's just impossible to sit through most Kristy Lee Cook (though she's actually been pretty good the last couple weeks) and ALL David Archuleta performances. We usually replay David Cook and Jason Castro and skip anything that Paula or Ryan says We still don't understand the appeal behind David Archuleta, he's been our least favorite since Hollywood when he talked about Star Search and his "vocal paralysis" which was probably just his voice cracking during puberty...either that, or being overworked by his stage dad. Either way, great artists don't come from those kinds of situations, they live real lives and have actual emotions and not "Gosh, golly gee".

April 15 2008 at 3:11 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Phish

haha thats full of crap, since michael johns went home!
so much for dialidol and Tivo!

unless ofcourse, the show is rigged.

April 10 2008 at 10:42 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Thom

That does take the fun out of it, doesn't it? :p

I would love if they were both wrong though. That would be awesome! A real, true shocking elimination!

April 10 2008 at 3:31 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
C. Hernandez

It doesn't take me long at all to decide if a performance is one I'm hating. Those are the ones I skip.

April 10 2008 at 3:29 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Scott Schrantz

"I'm a little surprised that people would be fast-forwarding through some performances."

In my house, you can tell that my wife really loves a performance when she doesn't fast forward through it. We get through most shows in 20-25 minutes. Doubleplays don't happen, unless it's me watching on YouTube the next day to see what I missed.

April 10 2008 at 3:24 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Emily

I would put my vote with Dial Idol since they are measuring the phone lines.

I have indeed repeated performaces - good and the really, really bad ones, but I have never voted.

April 10 2008 at 3:09 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Jim

TiVO is right!

April 10 2008 at 2:39 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Thom

"DialIdol has been the gold standard for a few years now on predicting American Idol eliminations, and now TiVo has stepped into the ring to challenge them. And right out of the gate they disagree (yes I know DialIdol still indicates that Syesha could go based on their margin of error, but that's not the point)."

Yes, that is the point. They do not really disagree. DialIdol does not claim a single individual will be eliminated unless the margin of error is wide enough between them and everyone else. Unlike DI, TiVo is making the claim that a single individual will be eliminated based solely on raw numbers.

And let's look at it another way: DialIdol is actually measuring the medium by which votes are tabulated. TiVo is an indirect measure at best.

If Syesha goes, then you can't say TiVo is right and DI is wrong.

Personally, I'd love to see Carly or Brooke go.

April 10 2008 at 1:57 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Thom's comment
popbuzz

Well, by not the point I meant it was beside the point because I was wanting to make a challenge between TiVo's pick and DialIdol's pick. If I accept the margin of error, then there's no challenge and what fun is that?

April 10 2008 at 3:11 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply

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