VOTING

Total Votes – By Season:

•Estimated 1.7 billion votes have been cast in the five years of the show

•Season 1: 110 million

•Season 2: 240 million

•Season 3: 360 million

•Season 4: 500 million

•Season 5: 580 million

Total Votes – Season Finales:

•Season 1: 15.5 million votes

•Season 2: 24 million votes

•Season 3: 65 million votes

•Season 4: 37 million votes

•Season 5: 63.4 million votes

Text Messages – By Season:

•Season 2: 7.5 million

•Season 3: 13.5 million

•Season 4: 41.5 million

•Season 5: 64.5 million

(Sources: Cingular: We've Got Another Hot One, America! Cingular's Text Messaging Results Set New Record on the Fifth Season of Fox's 'American Idol'; May 25, 2006; http://cingular.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=press_releases&item=1562; Fox Publicity Via Atlanta Journal Constitution: http://www.myajc.com/post/idolblog/111_stats_from_fox.html; Variety: 'Idol' by the numbers: A look at how the show has influenced sales, viewers, votes; 11/19/06; http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117954194.html?categoryid=2373&cs=1; Cingular Wireless via MSNBC: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16595402/from/RS.3/; Billboard: Hicks Crowned Fifth Season "American Idol"; 25 May 2006; USA Today: 31.4 million tune in to 'American Idol'; 5/27/04; http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2004-05-27-americanidol-finale_x.htm; Forbes: Idol’s Busy Circuits; 2/2/0/07; http://www.forbes.com/home/intelligentinfrastructure/2007/02/16/idol-voting-fox-tech-intel-cx_df_lr_0220idoltext.html)

Voting snafus:

•Season Two: some 1,100 people complain about the voting system when Clay Aiken loses to Ruben Studdard by fewer than 140,000 votes out of some 24 million votes cast; there is speculation in the media about the phone system being overloaded.

•Season Three: many fans are outraged when contestant Jasmine Trias makes the final three over a more adept and polished performer, LaToya London. Trias appears to have benefited from an outpouring of votes from Hawaii, her home state; many voters from other areas complain they were unable to get through on phone lines.

•Season Three: the U.S. Department of Justice settles FTC charges against several Utah-based defendants alleged to have deceived 25,000 consumers, who tried to call “Idol” to vote for their favorite performer during the 2002 and 2003 seasons.

•Season Four: For the first time, the producers call for a revote. After incorrect voting phone numbers are displayed during the performance recap at the end of a Tuesday show. The producers decide to throw out all of the votes and ask "Idol" viewers to revote Wednesday night.

•Season Five: finalist Chris Daughtry is voted off, prompting an online petition, with more than 16,000 names attached, calling for a recount, stating their calls had misdirected to Katharine McPhee's lines instead of Daughtry’s.

After the Season 5 finale, nearly 10,000 people used an auto-dialer from DialIdol.com to attempt to place votes, the site’s creator said

Tech-savvy “Idol” fans placed a total of 2.1 million phone calls but just a quarter of those registered as votes; the rest led to busy signals.

(Sources: Federal Trade Commission: Defendants Settle FTC Charges They Deceived Consumers Trying to Vote for Their Favorite “American Idol” Contestant; March 18, 2004; http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2004/03/americanidol.shtm; LA Times: Unwanted wrinkles for 'Idol'; An aging audience, the dreaded teen flight and a voting controversy chip at Fox's huge hit; 25 May 2004; MTV: 'American Idol' Gives Wrong Numbers, Calls For Revote; Mar 23 2005; http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1498876/20050323/id_0.jhtml)