American Idol “Voted Off” Wrong Contestants

National Study Reveals American Idol “Voted Off” Wrong Contestants

-- American Idol eliminations contradict viewers’ choices due to flawed methodology --

Flemington, NJ, February 26, 2010 – A series of national studies conducted among 5,025 American Idol viewers revealed that the contestants who were “voted off” during the first semifinal elimination last night did not accurately reflect viewers’ choices.

During last night’s show, Ashley Rodriguez, Joe Munoz, Janell Wheeler and Tyler Grady were eliminated from the competition. In contrast, viewers participating in the national Idol Democracy study, which employs a “one person, one vote” system, reported that Todrick Hall, Jermaine Sellers, Haeley Vaughn, Ashley Rodriguez should be eliminated from the competition.

The Idol Democracy study was conducted during February 23-25, by HCD Research using its mediacurves.com website, to obtain American Idol viewers’ perceptions of which contestants should be eliminated on the first semifinal results show of the season. HCD Research is conducting a series of studies among a nationally representative sample of Americans, which parallel American Idol voting to determine the weekly winners based on a democratic, “one person, one vote” methodology.

The American Idol voting methodology allows viewers to vote multiple times for multiple contestants. However, the Idol Democracy study only allows viewers to vote one time for one contestant. To view detailed results visit: www.mediacurves.com/americanidol/idoldemocracy

“Intensity of support is very different from majority of support. The major flaw in American Idol methodology is that it relies on intensity of support, which is not an accurate measure of the contestants’ performances,” commented Glenn Kessler, president and CEO, HCD Research .

Among the findings:

Respondents were asked to pick the one contestant that they thought should advance to the next round of the competition:

Contestants:
The Women/ % that voted for contestant to move on

Crystal Bowersox/ 16.3

Lilly Scott/ 12.7

Katie Stevens /11.1

Siobhan Magnus /8.8

Janell Wheeler /8.4

Katelyn Epperly /7.2

Michelle Delamor /6.9

Lacey Brown /6.5

Didi Benami /6.1

Paige Miles /6

Ashley Rodriguez /5.9

Haeley Vaughn /4.2

Contestants:
The Men /% that voted for contestant to move on

Casey James /22.2

Andrew Garcia /11.7

Tim Urban /9.9

Michael Lynche /9.0

Lee Dewyze /8.7

Alex Lambert /8.4

Aaron Kelly /6.9

Joe Munoz /5.2

Tyler Grady /5.1

John Park /5.0

Todrick Hall /4.7

Jermaine Sellers/ 3.2

ENDS

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