Viewers aren’t believing the “American Idol” mishap

It’s all a big conspiracy.

I’ve been watching “American Idol” since the days of Justin and… It’s all a big conspiracy.

I’ve been watching “American Idol” since the days of Justin and Kelly. I fell in love with the show listening to Clay’s voice, and yelled at the judges when Fantasia won.

I’ve been following this year’s “competition” closely. Every season, the judges seem to have their favorites, just like the fans do. This year, Simon and company seem to be enamored with Anwar Robinson and Nadia Turner. With Robinson’s smooth voice and trademark dreadlocks, he’s a natural to go far in the competition. Turner, on the other hand, is reminiscent of last season’s La Toya London. She has stage presence and some real talent, but there’s just something missing. Maybe it’s the mohawk that threw me off, but after her Tuesday night performance of Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time,” I realized that at no point would I even consider voting for her.

After watching Tuesday’s performances, I was surprised. Robinson turned in a low-energy performance that wasn’t anything special, proving he is mortal after all. Once everyone was finished, I had a feeling about who would be the bottom three: Robinson, Turner and Barbara Streisand-Fran Fine-wannabe Mikalah Gordon. My votes went to Anthony Fedorov, the 19-year-old cutie from Pennsylvania, Bo Bice and Constantine Maroulis, the two rockers-turned-idols. I was eager to see if Turner would finally get the boot.

But no. Like the 30 million other fans who tuned in to see who was saying good-bye that night, I was greeted by Ryan Seacrest reintroducing each contestant and replaying their performances from the night before. Now granted, I was more than glad to watch Maroulis do his head-banger rendition of David Cassidy’s “I Think I Love You,” but this was ridiculous!

Turns out, the phone numbers run underneath three contestants’ names were incorrect. Not the large-print 1-866-IDOLS-01, nor the number that Seacrest read five or 10 times while some contestants reiterated the number with their fingers. It wasn’t even the numbers that were shown during the performances.

No, the number that was incorrect was the one in small print, underneath the IDOLS number at the end of the show. This left the slim possibility that fans who wanted to vote for Gordon would end up casting one for Fedorov, and so on.

So what did Idol’s officials do? They decided to hold a re-vote.

Now, I didn’t say anything when Ruben Studdard beat out Aiken by a small margin of votes when every Aiken fan I knew couldn’t get through, but Ruben supporters could. But this?

Isn’t it just a bit interesting that after two of judge Randy Jackson’s favorite contestants put forth lackluster performances that there had to be a re-vote?

Even more interesting is the fact that the show was recorded on Monday, and producers “weren’t aware” of the problem until Tuesday night.

Now, I don’t know if it’s just me, but I’m starting to wonder about these “American Idol” people. The contestants that Cowell and Jackson dislike are tossed off the show faster than Ryan Seacrest’s talk-show career. It’s not America’s voice that is heard here — it’s the producers of the show.

Now how is that fair? “American Idol” brings in almost 30 million viewers twice a week, every week, monopolizing the Neilson ratings. The show has taken Fox from a has-been network, specializing in shows that capitalize on the dirtiest of America’s laundry, to a ratings contender. The revenue the show generates in advertising is astronomical. Do the producers honestly need to go so far as to manipulate the results of their shows based on whom they think America wants to see?

Whether or not the “idol malfunction” was deliberate or not, die-hard fans will always have a bit of a doubt in the back of their minds when it comes to the integrity of their beloved show. Will this hinder ratings? Do Americans feel their vote still counts? We’ll see next week how many viewers tune in and vote.

As for the final results of that show, Fedorov, Gordon and Turner were in the bottom three, with Fedorov being the last to be told and the first to be relieved. Seacrest asked the judges which of the two ladies they thought deserved a second chance, causing Paula Abdul to abstain and Jackson to endorse Turner.

The loser? You guessed it — Gordon. Gee, looks like Jackson was right again.

Now if only he would use his power for the forces of good and get rid of that “Seacrest out.”

If American Idol ever comes to Pittsburgh, Daveen will be the first in line for auditions. Then again, she’ll also be featured on the blooper reel. E-mail her your ideas for audition songs at drk974@pitt.edu.