Posted on 05/08/2006 4:22:13 AM PDT by silent_jonny
"Katharine McPhee deserved a parade, and she deserved a meeting with the Governor. Sure there is a lot going on in California, but of all states, they should recognize the importance of television. This being Hiollywood."
Okay. I just don't agree with this. I don't think anybody "deserves" a meeting with their governor, and they don't "deserve" a parade. Where exactly was this parade to have been? Hollywood is not her hometown, and Sherman Oaks does not have a Main Street. Had she been from some other city in California - even San Diego, her reception would have been much bigger.
I agree. It should be a courtesy extended, not an obligation deserved. "American Idol" is a TV show & shouldn't be expected to be a priority. It would have been a nice gesture, but I understand a governor may have more important things to contend with.
http://www.realitytvmagazine.com/blog/2006/05/american_idol_d_2.html
American Idol: Do You Believe The Percentages?
American Idol finally revealed the percentage of votes for each of the American Idol finalists, and the closeness of the vote was incredible. In fact, it was too incredible for some American Idol fans, who are questioning the accuracy of the numbers. Ryan Seacrest announced the percentage breakdown of the fifty million votes cast as 33.68%, 33.26%, and 33.06%. A Reality TV Magazine reader named Deb wrote in to say, “No way were those votes 33 blank percent each contestant. NO WAY was 50 million in votes split in 3rds. I have MORE of a chance of winning the lottery for heavens sake!”
The exact order of finish was not revealed, but it was revealed that Elliott Yamin had the lowest percentage of 33.06%, and he was eliminated from the competition. Some fans are also questioning the timing of this information. Could it be an attempt to address the controversy surrounding Chris Daughtry’s elimination? Is it being shown so that viewers will know how thin a margin separates the finalists and thus make Daughtry’s elimination more believable?
While most were predicting a very tight finish between Katharine McPhee and Elliott Yamin, it is the fact that Taylor Hicks’ percentage was so close to the other two that is surprising many fans. While Seacrest never revealed if Katharine McPhee or Taylor Hicks had the highest percentage, it would seem like Taylor Hicks who has never been in the bottom group and has been named as the favorite by Simon Cowell would have a larger lead. While they clearly note their results are not scientific, DialIdol.com has been amazingly accurate in their predictions, and the site showed Taylor Hicks as having close to a three percentage point lead on Katharine and Elliott in recent voting. One also only has to look as far as the turnout for the hometown visits for each of the Idol finalist to start wondering how the voting could ever have been that close.
As unbelievable as the percentages might sound, there is one explanation that could explain them, which might not be too pleasing to American Idol fans. A frequent complaint among American Idol viewers is that they encounter busy signals while attempting to vote for their favorite singer. A Reality TV Magazine reader named Terri recently wrote in to tell us, “Do you realize how unfair it is, to the viewer participants, who are trying to vote, and to continually get some sort of busy sound or message? These are intended votes for the contestant.” Could the vote percentages be so close because the phone lines are being flooded and each contestant is getting the maximum amount of votes that can get through? If this is the case, then it could certainly go a long way in explaining all the surprise eliminations.
Earlier this year, American Idol executive producer Ken Warwick denied that there were problems with the phone lines at national levels, but he did admit to possible problems at the local switchboard level. Warwick stated “A lot of the problems have not been genuine, you know, that have been published. There is never any congestion at national grid system level. The only time there is any congestion is at local switchboard level, and that’s going to happen, there’s nothing I can do..” Could it be that the next American Idol will be decided based on which American Idol finalist has the best local switchboard systems in their home state?
In California - I KNOW so!
Actually, they could have had a parade down Ventura Boulevard for her, but Angelenos who must drive on that boulevard every day would have been VERY ticked off at the resulting traffic jams and many would have voted against Katharine just out of spite!
you would have been rerouted to the 405/101 and that would have affected those commuters too!
The top 12 contestants are given a healthy weekly allowance to shop for clothes and accessories. As the weeks wind down to the top five and fewer, they are given gifts. Every season, Paula has given the final girl contestants a piece of jewelry. This led to Paula now having her own jewelry line, which she debuted on QVC recently. It was the most watched QVC show ever. Just goes to show that Idol is golden right now with everything it touches.
So maybe the watch was a gift to Taylor.
You're welcome. Sirlinks asked for help posting them last night. Was glad to oblige. You should use the links he provided to see the rest of the photos, including the ones of Kat playfully mounting Taylor. Those were obvious set-up shots, so I didn't use them on the thread.
LOL! I chose the kicking one because of the expression on Kat's face. Even in jest, that girl can look MEAN. Grin...
I've been watching from day 1 season 1. There are too many unanswered questions that cause me to believe it is not merely up to the American public.
This analysis is bunk. The guy most likely to win (Taylor) is the guy who gets the MOST busy signals not the least. If you follow dialidol.com this is quite obvious and they have been very accurate in their predictions. So it seems that busy signals are not really a factor, they are just an indicator of who is going to win and that will very likely be Taylor. He has been ahead for many weeks.
Of course I would like to see Kat win since I just like her style better. But I'm not hopeful.
Someone who has significant statistics talent needs to calculate the probability of this occurring. I would think it would be astronomical.
Do you think one vote per phone number would be a smart move for the popularity of the show?
In order to get higher incoming volume, they have text messaging. They aren't about to redesign the US phone system to handle American Idol voting.
http://newsmax.com/scripts/printer_friendly.pl?s=pf&page=http://newsmax.com/archives/ic/2006/5/19/121407.shtml?s=ic
Friday, May 19, 2006 12:01 a.m. EDT
British Royals Love 'American Idol'
Even British royals need a dose of reality sometimes - reality TV. Prince Charles and his sons, William and Harry, appear with comedians Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly in a TV interview to air Saturday.
Among the shocking royal revelations: Charles is a fan of Canadian folk singer Leonard Cohen. His sons, meanwhile, have an appetite for reality TV, watching shows such as "The X Factor."
"He won't admit to it but we did both watch it, especially the American 'Pop Idol,"' said the 21-year-old Prince Harry, pointing to his older brother, Prince William.
The lighthearted interview - excerpts of which were released Friday - was made as part of the celebrations surrounding the 30th anniversary of The Prince's Trust, a charity founded by Charles to help the underprivileged.
Charles' office said there were no ground rules for the interview, but that it was done as part of an entertainment extravaganza to mark the Trust's anniversary.
During the interview, Charles grumbled about his sons' taste in music and shed some light on his own preferences.
"I tell you who I also think is wonderful is a chap called Leonard Cohen, do you know him?" Charles said of the brooding poet and singer- songwriter known for songs such as "I'm Your Man."
"He's remarkable. ... I mean the orchestration is fantastic and the words, the lyrics and everything, he's a remarkable man, and he has this incredibly sort of laid-back gravelly voice, it's terrific stuff, I think. I enjoy the jazz and things."
William, 23, joked about his younger brother's music tastes, saying they were "pretty shocking." He gave no examples, but said they did like some of the same groups.
The royal duo often fight over the television remote control.
"'Friends' is always a safe bet," said Harry, a recent graduate of Sandhurst military academy.
A concert at the Tower of London on Saturday will mark the anniversary of The Prince's Trust. Scheduled performers include Ozzy Osbourne, Annie Lennox and Lionel Richie.
"I can't believe it is 30 years, do you know that?" Charles asked the comedians, known as Ant and Dec. "It is rather worrying. And I'm still alive."
I still question why choke it to guarantee the same percentage of votes for each contestant? Why do that if they know it is not representative of true demand?
I may be able to swing that. Let me work on it.
Ok here's the thing. For two weeks we text and call for Elliott. And get less than a handful of busy signals for the entire two hours.
Then last week, I not only have a lot more busy signals, but an incredibly high rate of "the call you were trying to make..." or whatever that recording is.
Even then I am ok.
At almost exactly one hour into the show, we suddenly cannot get a text message to go anywhere, with any of the three numbers. But promptly at 2 hours, when voting no longer counts, the texting worked fine again. The dilemma for me is why the text votes could not be sent for the entire second hour. As if all of a sudden a lot of Seattlites decided to vote for Elliott? And with texting... Not very likely, imo. And not that specifically within such a well-defined time frame. And not for the second hour, which is when the busy signals typically left for the landline voting.
Sounds like maybe you were a Power-dialer and the AI police sent someone to your neighborhood with a wireless jamming device, and it screwed up your regular phone service too.
The only thing that makes it seem possible that there is some sort of fix going on is that there is no way in the world that there are that many people who would vote for Elliott. Whenever the point comes up in conversation around here, everyone week after week expressed shock that anyone would vote for Elliott. If he sells 250,000 cds I'll be shocked.
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