Judges Comments & Hype ~ Do they Sway Your Vote ?

American Idol: Season 3 Forum

I have mentioned that the way things are hyped and spun aggravates the heck out of me !

For starters, let's take Week 1, the first group of 8 ... and the Fantasia & Diana win.

This is NOT a slam at either Fantasia or Diana, but a comment on what the judges did.


- Simon made several remarks, on other programs before the performance show even aired indicating that Fantasia was the best and Diana was great. He never mentioned any other contestant in Group 1.

- Positioning in a contest is VERY important. On the Group 1 Performance show on 2/10, Diana was in Position 1 and came out with an uptempo and memorable performance. Fantasia was in Position 8, the last performance we saw and then the last thing we saw in the little recap review they do.

- About the little recap reviews -- THEY edit the clip they give us in those recaps at the end. Watch them closely next time. See if YOU think they showed you the best of each contestant's performance.

- Also ... during the 2/10 performance show, all three judges fawned all over Fantasia with their remarks ... and they all made very positive comments about Diana as well.

- And ... when they did the judges "predictions" on the 2/11 results show, Simon found it necessary to add the remark that Fantasia would obviously be the winner. I presume by that he meant winner of the most votes for Group 1 ... but who knows ?

Interesting that Fantasia and Diana came in as the Top 2.

So ... do you think any or all of this influences the voting.

Do the hype, and the judges comments influence your vote one way or the other ?

I agree with you, OBAF. They do pick the put those preformers that the judges like in better positions. They play the pieces of songs in the recaps that aren't usually good, unless they like the person. It's VERY obvious, to me, that this show isn't all that they want us to THINK that it is.

I also believe that there could be something with the phone lines as well.
What's to say that they can't program to have specific peoples number have a busy signal, let's say 30% more than it should have! That could swing the votes however they want it.

The decks are stacked. Sure, America does get to make their own choices... but, when what you're seeing from message boards, polls, tv, radio, etc... doesn't add up to what the results are... you start thinking... "What the hell, am I in Florida? Are there any hanging chads?"

Ahh..... at last someone who also can see through the smoke and mirrors. If that was not the easiest bargain of the day for the judges. They picked your winner, they promoted your winner and they brought them to the winner circle courtesy of the comments that were made after each performer. And I will be the first to say that america's voters are a lie if they are not influenced by what the 3 judges on the panel have to say about the performer.

Some of the viewers were just seeing the performers for the 1st time on tues night. But for many of us, we have watched from the beginning of the season.Yet when it came time to vote we went exactly by what the judges gave us as far as their comments.

I am not convinced that the best two talents of that night came out of that show. However, I am convinced that the 2 people that the judging panel wanted to come out of that show will be in the finals.

Thank god there is a wild card show, and hopefully some of the better talent that is lost from the previous shows will get opportunities to show that they belong in the finals.
Most people forget that Clay was a wildcard, whose talent would have been lost without the 2nd chance.

I hope that the voters will use their own best judgement for the next 3 shows.. and do the right thing by selecting based on talent and not the panels remarks.

I ALWAYS use my best judgement on who I like.....

The judges do NOT sway me one way or another...

Last year...I stuck with Clay the whole time...no one pressured me into the Ruben thing at all!

This year...I like who I like...and nothing the judges say can change my mind...

Last year Simon loved Carmen for awhile during the competition and at one time he told her she was the best that night...and I remember that because I thought I was going to puke hearing that...he brought her back as a wildcard and she sucked!

It all comes down to a matter of opinion I believe....just because the majority on here see Katie as the one who should have gone through doesnt mean that the rest of America felt that way...Statistically speaking I dont think we speak for the rest of the 11 million votes that came through....we are just a wee small sample group who can hardly represent that big of a population.

So who you think is good, doesnt necessarily mean, for example, that I or others think they are good.

Polls are for the most part unpredictible of sorts because it all depends on where its being offered...say like the net...how many people actually have access to a computer at the time it is being done? And out of those people how many actually participated? Do they represent America? If they survey people...where are they getting their population from? Areas in one section of the county, or city...does gender effect it? Is there more girls than guys being polled? It all comes down to a factor of unreliability....and thats why Im not big into statistical polls. I think they are unreliable because another poll can show a different outcome...and that happens ALL the time.

So to say that the voters went with the judges isnt necessarily true....I think people vote for who they want and I think its kind of crazy to say that because people didnt vote for your preferred choice that they "sold out" to the judges.

IMO

Obaf ..............

I don't think that there's any situation in which the Producers would allow anyone involved with the venture to jeopardize their investment by doing something illegal to alter the outcome. The risk / reward ratio just doesn't support it.

Would they allow something "defensible" or excusable? In other words, a staged accident, to happen? Well, no. If they knew about it and then allowed it, that would be a conspiracy to commit fraud and would be a crime. It would still result in the show's concept being tarnished, perhaps irreparably.

Besides, there are really no reasons for them to resort to those measures or take those kinds of risks. The ratings speak to the success of their past efforts. Their focus is on continued improvement to those ratings and expansion of the show's concept to an even broader audience.

They have more than enough legal methods at their disposal in order to influence the outcome of the voting. And I believe they'll employ them relentlessly.

Just my opinions, of course.

Old Scout

I use my own judgement too regarding my vote and who I like best. As you saw I was/am in the minority regarding Group 1, but I weigh it all out, consider several things and make my own decision. I don't mind debating my opinion either

Simon singling Fantasia and Diana out beforehand certainly influenced me to look for what the experts might have seen -- but I also looked for what they might have missed in the others.

I think the comments and hype can hurt someone like Fantasia in the long run.
Some people may be influenced in her favor while others may get angry and vote vigorously to unseat her. She ( Fantasia ) is also in the cat seat and now must "bring it" every single week ! So in a way, the producers exert some influence every step of the way.

I hope the Final 12 ALL bring it every week.

More enjoyment for (selfish) me.

I am not influenced by mystic or scout either or what they said about arriving at their decisions ... but want to say "me too" to what they said. LMAO

ok, lets get the record straight, no where in the comment does it say "all " voters were influenced. But I am throughly convinced that a tremendous amount of the voters were swayed some for others, some against.

I saw 8 very good performances. Nothing spectacular but some better than others. I had to ask myself several questions..... Who could really sing? was the most important question. Because if I am not mistaken, this is a "singing"
contest.
There were some that night who gave a great show. There were some who sang very well. There were some who commanded the stage professionally.
There were some who portrait a great image.

After looking at all of that, for me it came down to who were the better singers.

We all have opinions on who we felt were the better singers on that night. And my comments are not to promote any particular one of them.

But when you get a comment that tells america "this show cannot go on without you". and then you rack up 23% of the vote. This panel does have influence over some voters.


"this is just my opinion"

Oh wait, that's not until next Tuesday evening

loc said:

But when you get a comment that tells america "this show cannot go on without you". and then you rack up 23% of the vote. This panel does have influence over some voters.

mystic replied:

"Thats just your thought on it...someone else could say...hey, I liked her and most people agreed with me that she was good...

See how the interpretation works ? ...

I say:


Um ... folks ... the comment was

" Fantasia, this competition MUST have you."

but ... the comment was made by Paula ... PAULA !

Does anybody listen to Paula ?

The judges do not sway me one bit. Do I care what Paula says? No, she can't sing very well herself. Randy and Simon also have no sway over me. Last season I heard Clay sing "Open Arms" and I knew he was the one. Did all of the crap Simon said influence me? NO.

I remember there being something in the fine print about the ultimate decision of the winner of American Idol being in the producers hands. It was very fine print, but Ron caught that last season. Yes, I think they try to push who they want to win with favorable slots and their comments. Ruben almost always went last during last season. Now we will have to watch what they try this one.

Obaf ............

In Post #11, you asked how long the $64,000 Challenge program was on the air before they got caught.

The original $64,000 Question program began in the summer of 1955. It spun off the $64,000 Challenge program later that same season (the 1955-56 season) and the two programs continued on the air at the same time. The success of those shows spun off another quiz show called Twenty-one in the spring of 1957 and the scandal broke when Charles Van Doren replaced another long-time contestant on that Twenty-one show. The crap hit the fan in the fall of 1958, so I guess I would say that the hanky-panky had been going on for at least one season but no more than 3 seasons.

I grabbed this off a site that I found online:

i think katie webber should of won, she can sing!!