http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/entertainment/14420756.htm
Fans flock to dialidol.com
‘Idol’ site calls up surprisingly accurate results
By JAMES A. FUSSELL
The Kansas City Star
If you don’t want to know who may be voted off next on “American Idol,” stop reading now.
Still here?
OK. There’s a Web site — DialIdol.com — that predicts exactly that. The site’s software has correctly predicted 15 out of the 18 idols to be eliminated so far in Fox’s popular singing competition, earning an 83.3 percent accuracy rate. Last week it nailed the all-important “bottom three” in exact order: Paris Bennett was fifth, Chris Daughtry sixth and Ace Young was voted off.
How can it know the votes ahead of time?
It can’t. The show keeps those secret until Wednesday night’s show. But for the fans, it’s the next best thing to having a mole inside the show. The site gets about 2.5 million hits in the 24-hour period from Tuesday night to Wednesday night.
DialIdol lets users download an Internet speed-dialing application written by self-described computer geek Jim Hellriegel of Cleveland. On broadband connections, the software works through a user’s modem to allow fans to vote for their favorite contestant more quickly and more often. It also allows users to list their favorites and have the program direct their phone-in votes to whichever is most vulnerable each week.
More than 2,000 people are using the free software.
Here’s the key: DialIdol measures the frequency of busy signals on each contestant’s line. It then translates that information into which contestant is most likely to be voted off, assuming a higher frequency of calls indicates the contestant’s popularity. DialIdol isn’t perfect and it can’t measure votes by text messaging. But it’s close enough to have created a sensation.
After the voting begins following each Tuesday’s show, “Idol” message boards are filled with fans who have checked DialIdol for “results” in real time. If their favorite is doing poorly they make frantic pleas for support.
“Please vote for Elliott!” a poster wrote on one Web site. “He’s on the bottom on DialIdol! We have to save E!”
The fans aren’t the only ones who have taken note of DialIdol. Fox recently sent Hellriegel a cease and desist letter.
Hellriegel hired a lawyer, removed copyrighted material, added a disclaimer and kept the site running.
He got the idea last year doing laundry.
“I couldn’t dial the phone and do the laundry at the same time,” he said. “I liked Carrie and Bo, but I also liked Constantine and Lindsey. I noticed that Bo and Carrie’s lines were always busy. I took that to mean they were doing well. It was the opposite for (the other two). That was an indicator that they weren’t getting a lot of votes. I decided to write the software.”
Just can’t wait to see who will be voted off this week?
DialIdol and see for yourself.
SEASON 5 IDOLS : WHO ARE THE GOOD AND BAD INFLUENCES ?
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/commentary/0,6115,1186982_3_0_,00.html
KELLIE PICKLER
ROLE MODEL Dolly Parton
BAD INFLUENCE Jessica Simpson
PROFESSIONAL PLAYBOOK With her pleasingly twangy vocals, eye-catching fashion sense, and impeccable comic timing (''When all else fails, you better have great shoes, right?''), it's not hard to envision Kellie emulating Parton's success on the country-pop charts or on the big screen. What Kellie can't afford to forget, though, is that Parton's multi-decade career — not to mention her Dollywood theme park — weren't built solely on the basis of a larger-than-life persona. Indeed, Parton's always delivered the genuine musical goods, whereas fellow cartoonish blonde Simpson remains best-known for her tabloid exploits. Oh, and while we're on the subject of avoiding Simpson's missteps, is it too much to ask that Kellie's grandpa never be subjected to the sight of his pride and joy lathering up a convertible in a pair of Daisy Dukes?
PARIS BENNETT
ROLE MODEL Billie Holiday (artistically speaking, of course — we're not suggesting Paris pick up a heroin habit)
BAD INFLUENCE Beyoncé
PROFESSIONAL PLAYBOOK Heaven help us for turning to Paula Abdul for sage advice, but as Idol's loopiest judge pointed out during Rod Stewart week, Paris could cut an album of standards tomorrow and find herself on top of the charts. Indeed, when she channels old-school chestnuts like ''Take Five'' and ''These Foolish Things,'' Paris gives us the tinglies like no other season 5 singer, her jazzy phrasing and pitch-perfect vocals a thrilling throwback to another time and place. Conversely, though, when Paris aims for urban sexiness (like that hyperactive version of Beyoncé's ''Work It Out''), the results are downright creepy — kind of like watching a Kewpie doll perform a drag show as Jessica Rabbit.
CHRIS DAUGHTRY
ROLE MODEL Bono
BAD INFLUENCE Scott Stapp
PROFESSIONAL PLAYBOOK We've seen Chris' million-dollar smile during interviews and in footage with his adoring wife and kids, so how come he never seems to flash it during performances? As Bono and his U2 bandmates have proven for decades now, you can be earnest as heck without sacrificing a sense of fun — it's rock & roll, after all. Likewise, the Irish superstar never lets his hard-rockin' sensibility devolve into tuneless howling — an erreur fatale that resulted in Chris' worst performance of the season: a cover of ''What If,'' by Scott Stapp's old band, Creed. Not only that, but Stapp's unsavory off-stage antics (a sex tape with Kid Rock, an arrest for public drunkenness) don't exactly measure up against Bono's global humanitarian efforts. Just sayin'.
ELLIOTT YAMIN
ROLE MODEL John Legend
BAD INFLUENCE Justin Timberlake
PROFESSIONAL PLAYBOOK No doubt about it, Elliott's a convincing blue-eyed soulster — as long as he never tries to imitate a certain former boy-bander's hip-hop intonations and hip-grinding choreography. (Note to self: We don't need to see that!) Instead, Elliott should look to inspiration from Legend, a rising neo-soul star who doesn't get carried away with the vibrato — and who serves as proof positive that when you've got great songs brought to life by a powerful instrument, no gimmicks are necessary.
KATHARINE McPHEE
ROLE MODEL Christina Aguilera
BAD INFLUENCE Kelly Clarkson
PROFESSIONAL PLAYBOOK With her well-trained voice and cover-girl looks, Katharine is probably the Idol contestant who's most likely to go platinum — as long as she doesn't try to follow in the footsteps of season 1 champ Clarkson. Maybe that's because the polished, power-ballad Kat who scored big with ''Someone to Watch Over Me'' and ''Since I Fell For You'' was a lot more convincing than the rocker-grlll version who emerged on ''Bringing Out the Elvis'' during country week. And anyhow, with Whitney on the sidelines and Mariah working more of an R&B vibe, somebody's got to keep Xtina on her toes (although perhaps not in the ''Dirrty'' leather chaps department).
TAYLOR HICKS
ROLE MODEL Bonnie Raitt
BAD INFLUENCE Ray Charles
PROFESSIONAL PLAYBOOK Taylor's brand of southern-fried music has been a refreshing change of pace for Idol's fifth season. But make no mistake: There is only one Ray Charles, and no amount of swaying, humming, or self-hugging will turn the gray-haired dude into Ray 2.0. Thankfully, though, in recent weeks, Taylor seems to have backed away from his not-quite-flattering imitation of the blind soul legend, gravitating toward a style that's all his own (loved the dancing on ''Crazy Little Thing Called Love,'' by the way). In fact, if Mr. Hicks needs an artist to look up to, might we suggest Raitt, who's topped the charts, racked up Grammys, and won the admiration of her fellow artists without ever compromising her swampy blues-rock sound.