NYT: AT&T influenced idol vote for Kris with texting cheats to the large Allen parties

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/27/business/media/27idol.html?hpw

SNIP of the full article -

There appear to have been no similar efforts to provide free texting services to supporters of Adam Lambert, who finished as the runner-up to Mr. Allen.

Since then, angry supporters of Mr. Lambert have flooded online chat boards with messages claiming irregularities in the competition’s voting.

Officials of Fox Broadcasting declined to discuss the situation. In a statement issued Tuesday, a spokesman for AT&T said, “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.”

Representatives of AT&T helped fans of Mr. Allen at the two Arkansas events by providing instructions on how to send 10 or more text messages at the press of a single button, known as power texts. Power texts have an exponentially greater effect on voting than do single text messages or calls to the show’s toll-free phone lines. The efforts appear to run afoul of “American Idol” voting rules in two ways. The show broadcasts an on-screen statement at the end of each episode warning that blocks of votes cast using “technical enhancements” that unfairly influence the outcome of voting can be thrown out.


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so they showed literally - thousands of people how to send 10 (or more) block votes with one single text that would only take 15 seconds to send, and with my math, I figured it taking 30 seconds to send - and over 4 hours, just 500 people doing it every 30 seconds would produce over 2 million votes for Kris - and even if it was just 250 people, that would make enough votes for the million vote difference Idol said decided it. It could have been over a 1000 people. So much for their nail-biter close contest.

I hate corporations.

I have trouble believing that someone inviting friends to a party to watch "American Idol" would also invite a corporation.

But not surprising.

I am just glad I cancelled my iPhone service because of my financial situation, this horseshit is just making me sign up with Verizon when Apple starts supporting them next year. Fuck AT&T, I never wanted them in the first place, but I was a legacy Cingular customer that had no choice.

I wanted an iphone, but the prices are ridiculous for service. I wonder if it will drop with competition. It "should". I have a 30 buck a month plan for 500 min and unlimited everything though with Sprint, and even though that's not a lot of minutes at all from 7-7am, it works well enough for me for such a great price. The employee referral plan I'm on though is not in active service anymore, so I was one of the last. I can sell my line to someone else though, how cool is that? They can even add a line to the 30 plan and make it 60 for two phones with unlimited everything (text, picture, net use) and 500 min. day use.

I've had nothing but problems since the AT&T switch.

But yeah, I heard next year is when it opens up.

The television program is produced and broadcast by a commune or Buddhist monastery someplace?

so, the free performances of Adam Lambert & Allison Iraheta provided fresh new talent to watch grow over the years.

I still hate corporations, regardless of what I use them for, as they use me at times.

That is a perspective I had not considered.

If you haven't seen Dan Choi's short speech on the front page yet, check it out I think he's great, I had no idea he could speak PUBLICLY so well. DADT should be ended in the military. It's shameful the president hasn't done it, and says Congress should. They all want to protect their re-elections. When it's right, you just do something about it. Like Rosa Parks did!

Those AT&T employees who "just happened" to do this were right-wing Christians fulfilling their mission of "witnessing" by making sure the gay guy got beat.

I'm a Christian (but I'm gay, so I don't count in most of their minds), and I find it so weird when people go out of their way to try and puff up a contestant for their faith (in any competition) not because they're the best.


Seriously, WHO could listen to Kris sing a couple songs and then Adam and not say, that Adam has superior talent, other than Kris' family and friends, oh and people only in lust for his looks, which aren't that much more 'dreamy' than Adam's! ha

But, bless him, Kris is an interchangeable boring white bread kid to me. He looks like every frat boy I saw when I lived in Tempe, walking around the ASU campus.

Adam, OTOH? Totally smoking hot. It's not even that he's pretty (and ye gods, he is), he's got that kind of natural charisma and sensuality that just screams "I'm a fucking rock star".

AND HUNDREDS OF PHONES WERE LENDED!

wow...


I thought, well, you watch they'll come out and say it was only a few phones, and 300-400 people were at the local parties...

wrong!


over 2000 people as I guessed originally and lots of phones!!! = a million votes for Kris - he didn't win! How dirty.