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OK let the drama from this years American Idol begin. AT&T, one of the biggest sponsors of American Idol, may have played a role in Kris Allen’s victory over Adam Lambert according to a new report in the New York Times.
The paper goes on to say that the phone company distributed cell phones with free text messaging and taught Kris’ fans how to “cast blocks of votes” at two parties in the singer’s hometown of Conway, AK. AT&T is the only mobile provider that allows users to cast American Idol votes via text message. Fox and American Idol’s producers along with 19 Entertainment issued a statement today confirming their final vote was secure and fair.
A spokesperson for AT&T admitted yesterday that the company did participate in some viewing parties, stating…
In Arkansas, we were invited to attend the local watch parties organized by the community. A few local employees brought a small number of demo phones with them and provided texting tutorials to those who were interested.
It also appears that no AT&T employees provided free text messaging or power-text tutorials for any viewing parties for Adam, which has thousands of supporters streaming onto message boards to cry foul despite the fact that nobody has confirmed such events did not take place. During the competition, many of Adam’s fans expressed outrage over a post at Kris Allen fansite Kris Allen Nation that featured instructions for power texting and using online phone program Gizmo. Sites supporting Adam, like Adam-Lambert.org also urged viewers to use Gizmo and “power vote.”
Since American Idol never made clear the final gap in votes between Kris and Adam, it’s hard to truly know whether these Arkansas parties played any role in Kris’s victory. Claims that Arkansas alone cast 38 million of the nearly 100 million votes submitted in the finale were quickly debunked in the days following Kris’s win. Fox has made no comment regarding the allegations against their major sponsor, but a disclaimer at the end of each episode warns that votes cast using “technical enhancements,” like power texting, would be thrown out.
Here the official statement from Fox and Idol team…
Fox and the producers of American Idol are absolutely certain that the results of this competition are fair, accurate and verified. Kris Allen is, without a doubt, the American Idol. We have an independent third-party monitoring procedure in place to ensure the integrity of the voting process. In no way did any individuals unfairly influence the outcome of the competition.
What do you think? Post your comments below.
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