the plot thickens 
---------------------------------
Some callers claim "Idol" votes were
misdirected
Frustrated Daughtry fans
say they were greeted with message for McPhee
MSNBC staff and news service reports
Updated: 6:22 p.m. ET May 12, 2006
"American Idol" sent rocker Chris Daughtry home Wednesday night,
but Daughtry's fans aren't quite ready to let him go. At least one
online petition, with more than 16,000 names attached, is calling
for a recount of the "American Idol" votes.
MSNBC.com has received numerous e-mails and bulletin board posts
claiming that voters who dialed the first of Daughtry's two phone
numbers were greeted by a recorded message from "Idol" singer
Katharine McPhee, thanking the caller for voting for her. According
to Wednesday night's show, McPhee received the second-lowest number
of votes, after Daughtry. The Associated Press cited Tracey Adams,
a family friend of Daughtry's, saying that fans from his North
Carolina hometown were among those who heard another contestant's
voice when calling for Daughtry.
One fan who wrote to MSNBC.com said: "They had another voting
mess-up. When I called to vote for Chris, Katharine says Thanks for
voting for me. I thought I dialed the wrong number, so I tried
again to hear Katharine, again. People were trying to vote for
Chris...not Katharine! That's why Chris went home......GRRRR...REDO
please!?
Other voters claimed that they were able to get through on both of
Daughtry's numbers and heard his voice, not McPhee's. Still others
said that despite calling solidly for two hours, they were never
able to get through and place a vote for Daughtry.
A FOX spokesperson told MSNBC.com. "The producers and network have
gone to great lengths to insure the integrity of the voting process
on 'American Idol.' AT&T and the independent voting company
that oversee the voting have confirmed that there were no issues
with the phone lines after Tuesday?s show. While acknowledging that
dedicated fans may be unhappy with the outcome, the system only
reports the decision of the voting public. As we have said before,
you can't take votes for granted on this show. We encourage fans to
support their favorites and vote for the person they want to see as
the next American Idol."
Bulletin boards, of course, also offer up their share of inaccurate
information. Some Thursday and Friday postings claimed that Ryan
Seacrest had made an announcement that he had read incorrect phone
numbers, and that because of this, Daughtry would be returned to
the show. A replay of the Tuesday-night show does not appear to
show any incorrect numbers given, nor has Daughtry been returned to
the show as of late Thursday.
The news wasn't all bad for Daughtry this week. Thursday night he
was offered a job with the band Fuel. Bass player Jeff Abercrombie
and guitarist Carl Bell made their pitch on the TV show
"Extra."
"Chris, if you are watching, we?ve talked about this before, and if
you want to entertain it again we'll take it and go," Abercrombie
said. The buzz around Daughtry for weeks has been that he could end
up the band's lead singer. He performed the band's song
"Hemorrhage" on a recent "Idol" show. "Daughtry did not appear to
respond to the band's offer. His wife, Deanna, has been quoted as
saying she's not sure what her husband will decide.
"He's got a lot on him and hopefully he'll have a lot of wisdom
there,' she told the AP. "The public forgets so fast about those
idols once they get off the show. I just hope they don't forget
about Chris."
"American Idol" has faced complaints about its phone lines before.
In March of last year, incorrect phone numbers were listed for
contestants Anwar Robinson, Mikalah Gordon, and Jessica Sierra. The
phone numbers are always listed twice for each contestant, once as
a number and once in a kind of shorthand, incorporating the letters
on the phone that spell out IDOLS.
For Robinson, Gordon and Sierra, the numbers spelled out using
letters were correct, but the complete phone numbers printed below
those numbers were incorrect. Viewers who called the second numbers
intending to vote for Robinson, Gordon or Sierra would be instead
casting votes for contestants Anthony Fedorov, Carrie Underwood or
Scott Savol. The errors were not corrected before the show aired on
the West Coast.
A FOX representative blamed the errors on an outside contractor and
said that person had been reprimanded. The network then aired a new
performance show the night after the incorrect numbers were shown,
reopened the voting, and moved the results show from Wednesday to
Thursday.
© 2006 MSNBC Interactive
© 2006 MSNBC.com
(source: MSNBC.com)
