‘Idol’ Producers Stand by Outcome
Kris Allen, right, was the winner of “American Idol” last week, beating Adam Lambert. Fox reaffirmed the vote on Wednesday.
LOS ANGELES — Fox Broadcasting and the companies that produce “American Idol” said Wednesday that they were “absolutely certain” that the outcome of voting for the winner was not unfairly influenced by free text-messaging services offered to fans of Kris Allen, the winner, at viewing parties in Arkansas last week.
“Kris Allen is, without a doubt, the American Idol,” said a statement issued by Fox and the two production companies, FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment. AT&T, meanwhile, said it would advise its employees not to offer services that favor one contestant over another on “American Idol” or similar shows. The statements followed reports that AT&T representatives offered free texting services and instructions in sending multiple, simultaneous text messages at viewing parties in Mr. Allen’s home state.
When contacted Tuesday, Fox had declined to comment. The voting rules for “American Idol” forbid “power voting” using “technical enhancements.” Representatives of Fox and AT&T declined to comment on whether similar texting services were offered at other viewing parties this year or in previous seasons. A Fox spokeswoman declined to comment on the margin of victory that Mr. Allen held over the runner-up, Adam Lambert. But the Fox statement dismissed the possibility that the Arkansas parties had influenced the outcome of this year’s finale. “We have an independent third-party monitoring procedure in place to ensure the integrity of the voting process,” the statement said. “In no way did any individuals unfairly influence the outcome of the competition.”
AT&T said the offers of free texting services and instructions on how to send blocks of text messages at once were not a corporate initiative. Rather, the programs were the work of “a few local AT&T employees” in Arkansas. The company said that the Arkansas employees, whom it did not identify, were “caught up in the enthusiasm of rooting for their hometown contestant” when they brought “a small number of demo phones” to the parties to allow people to send free text messages. “Going forward we will make sure our employees understand our sponsorship celebrates the competition, not individual contestants,” the company said.
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I do not think Kris Allen deserves to win. Lambert should have won!
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