American Idol controversy

American Idol has generated controversy over the years in numerous areas. Among them:

Voting procedures

The voting procedures on the show have been criticized on several fronts. People have complained that the "best" singers have been voted off, while poorer ones remain. Two theories have been suggested to explain this. One holds that busy phone lines immediately following the end of the show discourage fans from trying to vote. Another theory suggests that fans become complacent about voting for the "best" singers, assuming their favorite contestant will continue to the next round whether they vote or not.

The voting rules have also come under fire for allowing multiple votes from the same household, with many advocating a one person, one vote system. Opponents to the idea counter that it would be difficult or impossible to enforce such a restriction. Nor is it clear how the current voting system (known as plural voting) might favor one contestant over another. Regardless, there are obvious business & commercial reasons why the show and its sponsors (particularly AT&T and Cingular Wireless) are unlikely to support a one person, one vote system. For example, Cingular charges standard text messaging rates for each text-vote sent through their system. Adoption of a one person, one vote system would greatly decrease their text-messaging revenues on voting nights.

Other voting controversies

Out of 24 million votes recorded following the Season 2 finale, Ruben Studdard finished just 130,000 votes ahead of Clay Aiken, and there remains controversy over the accuracy of the reported results. There was much discussion in the communication industry about the phone system being overloaded, and that more than 250 Million votes were dropped just by AT&T and SBC (over 30% of the market), making the results statistically invalid. Since then the voting methods have been modified to avoid this problem. In an interview prior to the start of the fifth season, executive producer Nigel Lythgoe revealed for the first time that Aiken had led the fan voting from the wild card week onward until the finale. [http://www.realitynewsonline.com/cgi-bin/ae.pl?mode=1&article=article9455.art&page=1

During the first and second seasons, defendants faced charges by the Federal Trade Commission for deceiving approximately 25,000 consumers who were trying to vote for their favorite contestant. Consumers who misdialed a wrong number were directed to dial a 900 number to cast the vote instead of the toll-free. They were not notified of the Pay-Per-Call. The complaint was filed by the United States Department of Justice.

During Season 4, incorrect phone numbers for some contestants were displayed at the bottom of the TV screen during the recap of one show. Fox decided to throw away all the votes and ask viewers to re-vote the next night. They had the results show on Thursday, instead of the usual Wednesday. It ended with Mikalah Gordon being voted off.

During Season 5, there was additional controversy the week Chris Daughtry was voted off. Some voters claimed that phone calls dialed for Daughtry during the first few minutes of voting were misrouted to Katharine McPhee's lines, when they heard her recorded message thanking them for voting. Other voters claimed similar problems voting for other contestants, in some cases resulting in votes going to Daughtry that were intended for another contestant, Elliott Yamin. It is not clear whether votes were actually tabulated for the wrong contestant, or if the 'Thank you for voting for me' messages callers heard were incorrectly assigned. (If the recordings were incorrectly assigned, votes would have been counted for the correct contestant despite the caller hearing the wrong contestant's 'thank you' message.)

A campaign to bring Daughtry back into the show was started by Daughtry's fans, and garnered some attention in the popular press. Internet petitions in support of the cause were started and collected thousands of signatures.^*^* Ultimately, the campaign failed to gain support of the show or its producers, and Daughtry was not returned to the competition.

Career control

American Idol has also come under fire for maintaining what some claim to be total control of the careers of the any of the contestants that sign with their management company, 19 Management. Former cohost Brian Dunkleman referred to the show as "owning" the contestants, noting that signees sign contracts to only record with companies owned by the show's producers and to allow related agencies to manage their careers. It should be noted that contestants are advised of the conditions and requirements for taking part in the contest and that signing the contract is optional, but a requirement if they want to participate in the competition. Even knowing the restrictions, many contestants sign the contract anyway, as AI provides most of them an opportunity for success and visibility not otherwise available.

National Geographic Channel investigator and journalist Eric Olsen wrote:

In his article, Olsen lauds Fuller for his ingenuity while at the same time berates him for the contract his contestants must sign. In essence, the agreement stipulates that the finalists are "forever and throughout the universe" properties of 19 Management.

Idol rules

During the course of Season 2, Ruben Studdard became known for wearing 205 Flava jerseys representing his area code. Shortly after the end of the contest Studdard sued 205 Flava, Inc for two million dollars for using his image for promotional purposes. Flava responded by alleging that Studdard had accepted over $10,000 in return for wearing 205 shirts, and produced 8 cashed checks to validate their claim. The allegations, if true, were a clear violation of the American Idol rules. The lawsuit was settled out of court. [http://www.realitytvworld.com/news/ruben-studdard-settles-lawsuit-against-birmingham-jersey-maker-205-flava-2109.php No action was taken by American Idol.

Contestants

Christina Christian was not present on the night of her elimination having been hospitalized.

Jim Verraros was the first and so far only openly gay contestant on the show. He was told to remove all gay comments from the show or else they would have let him leave early.

Adriel Herrera was asked to perform at the wild-card show but apparently turned down the offer for no apparent reason. There was a rumor that he might have been sick on the night of the show and didn't show up.

Corey Clark was disqualified when the producers found out that he lied about his criminal history. Later he claimed to have had an affair with Paula Abdul. The producers did not believe him since he was dishonest to them earlier.

Trenyce was arrested for shoplifting but she told the producers and she was not disqualified.

Frenchie Davis was disqualified from the show when she was discovered to have topless photos on the internet. This happened years before the show started.

The first song on Fantasia Barrino's CD has some mature content.

Scott Savol was arrested for disorderly conduct but, he told the producers that and he was not disqualified.

Bo Bice was arrested for possession of cocaine and marijuana, but, he told the producers and he was not disqualified.

Jose Penala was rumored to have a record deal with his band.

Bucky Covington was arrested for impersonating his twin brother in a minor automobile collision, and was not disqualified since he told the producers.

Taylor Hicks was arrested for possession of paraphernalia and marijuana, but he told the producers and he was not disqualified. Charges were dismissed when the arresting officer failed to show up in court. ^* Hicks later went on to win the season.

Mandisa's opening statement for her performancs of Mary Mary's "Shackles (Praise You)" she made the comment "This song goes out to all those who want to be free." People thought that she meant a gay lifestyle but she was really talking about her addiction to food.

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