Will Fox Reveal Weekly American Idol Vote Totals?  1/22/06

In a recent telephone press conference, a reporter asked American Idol Executive Producer Nigel Lythgoe if American Idol would ever reveal the weekly vote totals. "I don't think so," replied Lythgoe, citing as backup the voting pattern in Season 2, which ended with Ruben Studdard just edging out runner up Clay Aiken. "If you knew, for instance, that Clay Aiken was so far ahead every week, it would be a waste of time watching. You wouldn't vote for anybody else because you would think, well, he's never going to win; no one else is going to win. He [Clay] is so far ahead of the game." Lythgoe went on to say he believes that after second runner up Kimberly Locke left the show, her votes went to Ruben and tipped the balance in his favor at the finale.

Lythgoe revealed that he was under the impression that the weekly vote totals were made public at the end of the season. When asked where reporters could find the information, Lythgoe admitted that he was not sure that Fox did release the US vote totals, but that was the protocol followed in the UK.