As much as we might not want to admit it, "American Idol" is all about the drama. If it's not about how such and such a person shouldn't be on the show because of a previous recording contract or how someone secretly had previous connections to one of the judges, it's about something else. Often the controversy is about the voting methods of the show. No voting method is going to be completely fair, so no matter how they go about having people vote, there is going to be someone complaining. There are several different and sometimes interconnected voting controversies.
Unfair Voting Methods
One of the biggest voting controversies involves simply the belief that the voting methods are not fair. Some people own phones that are going to dial faster than other people's phones. Some people have friends who are also going to vote for that person. There are online programs that people have to help them get in more votes. Texting a vote is quicker than calling in the vote, so some people think that teenagers and young adults have the advantage, because they are the ones who are going to be faster at texting their votes. This way they can vote more times in a shorter amount of time. Some people can just sit there for a couple of hours after the show and just vote. Many people believe that it is the teenagers doing this. Other people will put in a few votes for their favorite/s, and then they are done voting for the day. This means that one viewer might vote five or six times while another viewer votes hundreds of times. People feel that it's unfair for one person to get in more votes than another person simply because the one person has more time to vote. This means that the person who is really the most popular might not get the most votes.
For some people, the solution to the unfair voting method would be for people to only get a certain amount of votes per phone. This is the voting method that "America's Got Talent" uses. Unfortunately, this still would not solve the problem. Some people have more than one phone. There are people with two cell phones and a home phone. This would still allow this person three times the votes of someone who has only a cell phone (or a home phone). No matter how they decide to have people vote, the process is not going to be fair. Someone is going to find a way to cheat the system.
Vote-For-the-Worst
Yes, vote-for-the-worst is its own "American Idol" voting controversy. It is a web site where people are encouraged to vote for a certain singer who is believed to be the worst that is still left in the competition. This site has been attributed to keeping people like Sanjaya Malakar and Taylor Hicks in the competition while others who are thought to be more talented were voted off. There are people who feel that vote-for-the-worst has too much power and that it is making a mockery of the show. Of course, there are those who think that the whole show is a joke. There are people who think that without this site, the results of the show would be different.
There is really no solution to vote-for-the-worst. The only thing that real fans of the show can do is to vote a lot for those whom they want to keep in the competition and to encourage their friends to also vote for the more talented contestants. If this is done, the real fans might be able to cancel out the votes of those who want to make fun of the show.
Good Looks Sell
There are those who do not vote for a contestant based upon the contestant's talent. Instead, the person will get a large amount of votes no matter how badly the person has sang. Teenager girls will vote for the cute male singer. Teenage guys will vote for the hot female singer. Of course, adults and younger kids are probably also guilty of doing this, but teenagers get the credit for keeping in the attractive singers who might not be the best singers. The practice of voting for people based upon their looks can be annoying to people who really want the most talented singer to win the competition. This can cause a controversy and cause some people to think that there are some people who should not be allowed to vote for the "American Idol. Connected to looks is people voting for someone based upon their hometown, their religion, fun facts about the person, or other factors that have nothing to do with the person's singing talent.
Unfortunately, there is no real solution to people voting for someone based completely on that person's looks or other factors that are unrelated to the person's singing talent. Everyone is entitled to their own vote or votes for whom they want to win the competition. People are going to vote for their favorite contestant, and there's really no way of making sure that the person is voting for a certain contestant based upon the contestant's singing and not another factor.
Judges Sway Viewers
The judges do not hide that they like certain contestants more than others. This is especially true when it comes to Simon. The judges will say things about the performances, and sometimes these are really good things, but sometimes these are really bad things. Simon is definately known for not holding back. Often even if you don't agree with them, their comments make sense. What the judges say can sway the way the viewers vote. Some viewers will vote for someone just because Simon seemed to like that person's song. Others will vote for a contestant out of pity. They feel sorry for someone, because that person got his or her performance torn apart. Instead of people voting based only on their own opinons, the people vote based upon what one or more of the judges said. Of course, since most of the judges generally know what they are saying, this might not be a huge problem.
Season 8 has just added to this controversy as the Judges' Vote was added to the mix, alllowing them to really have a say when they feel someone should stick around. This year, they saved Matt. That may have made some people reconsider how they want to vote the next week. After allowing other people to go, they made a huge statement about their feelings concerning Matt when they saved him.
Elimination of the judges is really the only way to make sure that they don't sway viewers. I don't think that too many people would like this idea, though. The judges are a real part of the show, and they do help viewers to see who stands out as the better singers. Although people complain about how the judges play too big of a part in deciding the winner, eliminating the judges would cause a whole different controversy.
Were The Votes Counted Right?
There have been times when people have claimed that they attempted to vote for a certain person only to actually vote for another person. Some people will say that the lines were open too long or too short during a certain time zone. There have even been arguments that the producers or the judges are actually the ones deciding who stays and who goes. They claim that the viewers' votes really mean nothing.
Unless it can be proven that the voting process isn't the way it appears, there's really nothing that can be done about the situation. Even if the voting lines are open longer or shorter in a certain area, is it really going to make a difference? Unless there is a reason why people in that certain time zone would vote for a contestant, having the phones lines open a longer or shorter amount of time probably isn't going to make that much of a difference.