For a Good Time Dial 1-866 IDOLS13: Idol Braintrust Plagued by Porn

 
Posted March 12, 2009

The now infamous decision to declare an Idol Top 13 for the first time in its 8 season history, was apparently made in such haste, that the Idol organization did not have time to conduct the due diligence required to determine the changes’ impact on the Idol brand. How can such an innocuous decision affect a brand?  Well consider this; the standard 12 finalists each have a dedicated phone line ending in IDOLS1, or IDOLS2, all the way through to IDOLS12. The addition of Anoop Desai as the thirteenth finalist requires another voting phone number. Idol producers never inquired into the availability of IDOLS13 perhaps because of hubris or mere oversight. In either case, it turns out that this number is porn territory. Oops!

This caused Idol producers to scramble to find a thirteenth number for voting after Tuesday’s show, after which two finalists will be eliminated. Choosing a nonconsecutive number for the voting was further complicated by the fact that the enterprising pornography peddler had the foresight or sense of humor to purchase IDOLS00, and IDOLS13 through to IDOLS20. Idol Producers settled on IDOLS36 since there were 36 semifinalists this season. The only warning viewers had about this oddity was Ryan Seacrest’s  plea to viewers to “dial carefully.”