Controversy dogs Kris Allen’s American Idol win
May 27th, 2009 - 6:52 pm ICT by John Le Fevre
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Controversy overshadows the win by Kris Allen in the popular American television talent show American Idol, following revelations employees of communications carrier AT&T helped his supporters vote in the finale.
The accusations against AT&T, whose mobile phone network is the only one that can be used to cast votes on the shows outcome via text messaging, surfaced almost immediately after the decision last week.
Allen, a 23-year-old married college student from Conway Arkansas won the coveted American Idol crown based on tele-votes from the at-home audience, in a result that surprised some in the studio audience and the judges alike.
It has been revealed that representatives of AT&T provided phones for free text-messaging services and lessons in casting blocks of votes at two parties organized by fans in Arkansas.
Officials of Fox Broadcasting, producers of the show, declined to discuss the situation, while fans of Adam Lambert, the performer he beat, have flooded online chat boards with messages claiming irregularities in the competition’s voting.
Representatives of AT&T helped fans of Mr. Allen at the two Arkansas events by providing instructions on how to send 10 or more text messages at the press of a single button, known as power texts. Power texts have an exponentially greater effect on voting than do single text messages, or calls to the show’s toll-free phone lines.
When votes were tallied and the result finalized, veteran judge Simon Cowell visibly disagreed and refused to rise from his seat and join fellow judges in applauding the winner.
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- - american television
- - arkansas officials
- - controversy
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- - fellow judges
- - fox broadcasting
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- - irregularities
- - mobile phone network
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- - ryan seacrest
- - simon cowell
- - studio audience
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May 27th, 2009 at 7:12 pm
Your article is incorrect. The winner, Kris Allen, said “Adam deserves this” when he won. It was not the host, Ryan Seacrest who said it. Seacrest did not appear to show any surprise when he announced results.
So far as the rest of this goes, Lambert fans should be relieved he did not win. He seems to be getting a great if not better deal in contract than the winner, with more creative input than he would have as Idol winner. He’s also getting equal, if not more, press coverage for his appearance on the show.
May 27th, 2009 at 7:21 pm
You need to get your facts straight, Ryan Seacrest did not say “Adam deserves this”, Kris said it and he meant Adam deserves this too and not that he didn’t. Everyone know Simon is a jerk, and didn’t stand because he missed the prediction. You can bet Adam’s fans were power voting too. You just sound like a poor loser. I’ve read different boards on all seasons and people knew how to power vote before this season.
May 27th, 2009 at 7:32 pm
I’m afraid you are mistaken on two counts here. It was Kris Allen that said Adam deserved it, as much as he did. He wasn’t denying that he himself deserved it. And second, if you watch the last five minutes of the competition, you will see that Simon Cowell did indeed stand and applaud Kris, and only sat down again when Ryan Seacrest started talking again. Simon also shook Kris’ hand as he sang the final song.
May 27th, 2009 at 7:33 pm
All I can say (as an Adam fan) is: THIS IS RIDICULOUS! Give Kris the title. It’s the best scenario and he is a talented artist. He will do well under 19 Entertainment and Adam will have the freedom to be who he is. Do people not understand now this makes both Kris and Adam feel? They are happy with the outcome, why can’t the rest of the world be?
May 27th, 2009 at 7:46 pm
Yes, you are incorrect. It was Kris who said Adam deserved this. Whether or not representatives assisted in power texting, don’t you think that Adam Lambert’s fans had the same knowledge — it widely known amongst texting voters — and applied the same method of voting? Kris won. Additionally, I would like to see some validation with ATT that this happened. Nevertheless, Adam’s fans had the same opportunity and it is the system of voting — like it or NOT!
May 27th, 2009 at 8:01 pm
Power texts with phones provided by AT&T……this was not fair. AT&T be ashame. Power texts should be okay, but the fact that AT&T provided the phones, is very unfair.
Viewer that may not watch AI again.
May 27th, 2009 at 8:12 pm
Uh please! Everyone was well aware of “power-texting”…even glamberts are well aware of it and were practicing it as well….As far as giving phones to the fan-organized “voting party” only 3 phones were given as prizes for a competition held by kris allen fans…And yeah, Simon did stand, if you would have watched it properly before posting this article, you would have avoided this major mistake in your article….
May 28th, 2009 at 12:32 am
I’m not surprised by these accusitions whatsoever. I was a die hard adam fan and wanted nothing more than for him to win. When they announced that Kris had won, I broke down into tears but I knew that America was wrong. NOW to find out that AT&T helped this outcome, it’s upsetting. I understand that everyone had the chance to powertext or whatever (I had no idea that any of this was even possible) but there is absoloutely NO reason why the employees should have handed out extra phones. (CHEATING?) Oh well, Adam is better off anyway, he will make more money, and you know I won’t be buying tickets to the AI tour, I will be buying those of Adam’s tour, because he deserves it!
May 28th, 2009 at 1:52 am
I watched the last 5 min of the show several times to see the judges reactions. Simon did in fact stand and applaud Kris. He also shook Kris’s hand when he was singing No Boundaries.
Maybe next season they should limit phone calls/texts to so many per phone line, that way everyone will have a chance to vote. I always thought it was odd they never did that to begin with.
I liked both Kris and Adam, but I voted for Kris because I like his style of music more so than Adam’s. If AT&T did rig this, I don’t think it’s fair, all the more reason to limit calls.
But like other’s said above, I’m sure Adams fans knew how to power text as well.
May 28th, 2009 at 6:22 am
This this is just plain stupid. I agree that this sounds like an attempt at causing a stir and gaining some attention for yourself. I can GUARANTEE YOU that Adam Lambert fans were also power voting. If you want to argue this is unfair, you SHOULD be arguing that the entire voting system for American Idol should be revamped to only allow one vote per person for night. Everyone had equal opportunity to power vote and there are plenty tech savy people who understand how to send multiples of the same text without a “lesson”. I loved Adam and Kris equally and agree that this is the best scenario. Kris fits the 19 label better and Adam would have had less creative freedom had he won the whole thing. I’m actually surprised he didn’t “bow out” earlier. How dare you take away from Kris’ victory.
May 28th, 2009 at 6:26 am
A better use of your research time would have been to find out how many texts came from these phones given out and the difference in votes between Kris and Adam in order to see how the texts from the prize phones actually affected the entire outcome of the show.
May 28th, 2009 at 8:04 am
My only complaint is that AT&T being that they are associated with AI, their representatives,had no business providing phones for text-messaging services and lessons in casting blocks of votes. They should have done the same for Adam. I voted for Adam only because he is the most talented. His being gay had nothing to do with anything. Those of you who would not vote for him just because he is gay, shame on you. “Love the neighbor as yourself”. You do not have to condone his lifestyle, but you should not condemn him, leave judgment to He who died on the Cross for our sins.