When American Idol Season 5 began it's elimination rounds, a site called Dial Idol sprang up, claiming it could predict the bottom three/four contestants based on each contestants' telephone numbers' busy signal. Initially, AI kicked up a storm and the DI website was unavailable for a few days. But the storm blew over and DialIdol was up and running and spewing out predictions on Tuesday nights after that. Quite ingenious but not foolproof, as in the first two weeks Dial Idol's predictions were way off. This could be due to the SMS voting being completely ignored and the higher number of contestants.
However, since the number of singers dwindled down, Dial Idol's predictions have not been very far off base. Two weeks ago, it predicted Katharine McPhee and Ace Young would be in the bottom three and they were - 2/3 is impressive.
Last week, Dial Idol predicted Mandisa, Elliot Yamin and Paris Bennett would be in the bottom three - and on Wednesday's results night, they all were. And exactly as Dial Idol predicted, Mandisa had the lowest number of votes!
The difference between the presentation and voting scheme for American Idol and the recently concluded first season of Sirasa Super Star are:
American Idol
One landline for each contestant (toll free)
One wireless (SMS) number for each contestant (standard text message rate)
The phone lines are open for two hours from the end of each program on Tuesday night.
Fans make hundreds of posts and comments on the show's official website American Idol.
Sirasa Super Star
One landline (SMS) number for each contestant (standard text message rate) - not all messages were delivered to this number and when dialled, it's apparently not in use
A common telephone number 114-620062 for all contestants, the caller has to enter the contestant's number and then press #.
A common wireless number 7788 (a net cost of Rs. 11.50 per SMS per vote)
The phone lines are open from 4pm on Saturday (the show is on Saturday night from 9pm to 10.30) and close at 9am on Sunday morning.
Sirasa has no functioning website or message board for viewer feedback. Random letters appear in weekly newspapers and some blogs/message boards on the net.
SSS really should follow the example set by AI in terms of dedicating two numbers for each contestant, fixing a voting time limit and encouraging viewer feedback. The credibility of a station also depends of the decisions made once the program is in its final stages. Stand by decisions already expressed to the public, and you are on safe ground. Start wavering every few minutes, and people are bound to notice something is horribly wrong!!
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