Voting practices differ "American Idol" Other Popular Reality Competitions

Reality television shows are depending more than ever on viewer participation to guide the outcome of their competitions, asking audience members to vote on who stays in the jungle on “I’m a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here!,” who should stick to a diet on “The Biggest Loser” and who keeps waltzing on “Dancing With the Stars.”

Those votes sometimes have more in common with Politburo polling, however, than with democratic elections. So when auditions for the next season of “American Idol” begin in Boston on Sunday, singers who dream of standing in the winner’s spotlight next spring will need more than just a set of well-trained vocal cords.

Their success will also depend on their ability to inspire legions of fans to devote hours to sending blocks of votes into the “American Idol” polls. But the growing role of block voting also threatens to disenfranchise the viewers who are some of the show’s most fervent fans. Just how big those block-voting efforts can get was demonstrated by Erika McMahan of Conway, Ark., who with two of her friends sent in 11,700 votes by text message on the final night of this year’
s “Idol.”

That such practices are having an outsize effect on “American Idol” results is the obvious conclusion presented by a strange anomaly that has grown over eight seasons of “American Idol.” Even as the show’s audience has declined in recent years, the number of votes being cast has risen sharply.

Just how many people are casting block votes — which seem to be at odds with the show’s own rules — is unclear. The Fox network and the “American Idol” producers refuse to reveal all but the barest details of its voting process. Since Kris Allen defeated Adam Lambert for the eighth “American Idol” crown last month, no one in a position to know has officially disclosed even the margin of victory.

The voting practices on “American Idol” differ from those on other popular reality competitions. “Dancing With the Stars,” the ABC series that is the second-most-watched show on television behind “Idol,” restricts its viewers to a limited number of votes each week, and viewer votes are combined with judges’ scores to determine the results.

“Britain’s Got Talent,” the series that generated worldwide fame for Susan Boyle this spring, reveals its final vote margins at the end of the season. That show’s producer, FremantleMedia, also produces “Idol.”

Viewer voting is undoubtedly the ingredient most responsible for the success of “American Idol,” because it creates a built-in audience for the contestants’ recordings.

A belief by viewers that their participation is meaningless if they don’t cast votes by the
hundreds or thousands could limit their interest in the show, said Susan Murray, an associate professor of media, culture and communication at New York University and the co-editor of “Reality TV: Remaking Television Culture.”