MSNBC doesn't believe it either ....
http://www.msnbc.com/news/743584.asp?0cv=CB20
May 22, 2003 / 12:17 a.m. ET
‘Idol’ by the numbers — not! So now we know. Ruben Studdard is Idol in Chief. And Clay Aiken is Idol in Waiting. The smirky, know-it-all host of “American Idol” told us right from the beginning: “You’re not going to believe how close this is.”
And you know what? He was right. I don’t believe it. Nor, I’m sure, do the Clay Aiken “Idol”-ators who’ve been crying foul for weeks, claiming the producers were loading the dice in Ruben Studdard’s favor.
Ryan Seacrest talks with Katie Couric about the final tally that gave Ruben Studdard the win.
Frankly, it doesn’t matter whether they were loaded or not. But it’s no help for truth and the American way when the show itself can’t get the numbers right. Host Ryan Seacrest announced at the top of Wednesday night’s “Idol” capper that only 13,000 votes separated the two contestants out of 24 million. Then, two hours later, he made a correction, telling all of us brain-addled fans that it was, in fact, only 1,335 votes between them.
Man, I thought, not possible. That makes George Bush’s election over Al Gore look like a landslide. Then you think of Florida and the U.S. Supreme Court, and you realize anything is possible.
Trouble is, when you do the math, both of Seacrest’s figures were wrong by whopping margins. If, as we were told time and again, Ruben got 50.28 percent of the vote and Aiken got 49.72 percent, the real difference between them was 134,400 votes. Well, an inch is as good as a mile. Besides, confusion over the numbers is fitting. Last night’s show seemed like a political convention anyway — including the bombast, the state-by-state vote results, the favorite-son posters, the hometown crowds and the confetti.
If at times the production strutted like it was crossed with a tent revival (complete with gospel choir in a reprise of Tuesday’s sing-off) and a Vegas stage show-cum-lounge act (featuring a chorus line of “Idol” finalists practicing for their tour), that was all to the good. The show turned out to be more entertaining than I expected and more than it deserved to be. I’ll settle for that, milking and all.