Vote for the Worst

Last updated

VoteForTheWorst.com
Vftwlogo2.png
Type of site
Entertainment website
OwnerVoteForTheWorst.com
Created byDave Della Terza
CommercialYes
RegistrationOptional
Launched2004
Current statusShut Down June 2013

VoteForTheWorst.com (VFTW) was a website devoted to voting for the worst, most entertaining, most hated or quirkiest contestants on the Fox Network television series American Idol as well as the NBC Network television series The Voice. Smaller campaigns have also been started on the site for CTV's Canadian Idol , Fox's On the Lot and The Next Great American Band , NBC's America's Got Talent , and ABC's Dancing with the Stars . The website was started in 2004 during the third season of American Idol. Vote for the Worst also had a weekly radio show that has featured guests such as Ayla Brown, Trenyce, [1] Leslie Hunt, [2] Steffi DiDomenicantonio, [3] Alex Wagner-Trugman and Todrick Hall. The site closed down in June 2013. [4]

Contents

History

VFTW started at the Survivor Sucks message board [5] and moved to a GeoCities website during season three of American Idol. The very first VFTW pick during Season 3 was Jennifer Hudson, dubbed "Boomquisha Santiago" or just "Boomie," during the semi-finals, but the site never picked her again as she improved in further weeks. [6] When Hudson sang "Circle of Life" during finals, the camera went to a shot of Hudson's family members, with a cousin who sat with her arms folded while the others cheered. This cousin was dubbed "Whatevia," the namesake of VFTW's annual awards. The site began to upset regular Idol viewers with their support of John Stevens and Jasmine Trias, but it was largely unknown to the general public at this time.

During American Idol's fourth season, the site moved to its own domain name. VFTW gained its first bit of notoriety when Scott Savol outlasted Constantine Maroulis in the top 6 of Idol's fourth season [7] and again appeared in the news when young crooner Kevin Covais made it to the top 11 in season five. [8]

Season six of American Idol became a turning point for the website due to its support of candidates Antonella Barba and Sanjaya Malakar. Vote for the Worst was one of the first websites to break the story about Antonella Barba's racy online pictures. [9] The site then made headlines by proving that the raciest pictures that appeared online (involving a Barba lookalike performing a sexual act) were not of Barba. [10] After Barba and Sundance Head (another VFTW candidate) were voted out of the competition, Vote for the Worst selected Sanjaya Malakar as their pick. Malakar went on to last 6 more weeks in the competition, becoming a cultural phenomenon while gaining momentum along the way with support from celebrities such as Howard Stern. [11] Entertainment Weekly called Malakar "the most popular Vote for the Worst candidate ever" and Malakar helped make Vote for the Worst a household name. [12]

Season seven of American Idol saw the site stir up some major controversies. As the season began, Vote for the Worst posted a blog that season seven was being stacked with contestants with prior music industry experience [13] and the controversy was picked up by news sources, including MTV, who decided to ask American Idol producer Ken Warwick about the issue. [14] The site went a step further to also prove that Randy Jackson, a judge on American Idol, was the vice president of A&R at MCA Records while Carly Smithson, a season 7 contestant, recorded an album there. [15] The second controversy started by the site was exposing contestant David Hernandez as a former gay stripper. [16] Outside all of the controversies, Vote for the Worst supported Kristy Lee Cook and Brooke White when more popular Carly Smithson was eliminated. [17]

During season eight of American Idol, Vote for the Worst's longest running contestant was Megan Joy, [18] a quirky singer from Utah who made bird noises. [19] The site also posted pictures of popular contestant Adam Lambert kissing another man, [20] leading the general public to question Adam's sexuality due to the fact that he had not discussed this topic on the show. [21] Bill O'Reilly ran Vote for the Worst's pictures of Adam during a news segment, but the show cropped the pictures to eliminate the actual kiss. [22]

During season nine, Tim Urban broke the record for Vote for the Worst's longest-running American Idol pick ever, as well as tying for longest pick ever with Jaydee Bixby of Canadian Idol Season 3. He remained their pick for nine weeks: from the top 24 to the top seven. He was eliminated in 7th—the same week as Sanjaya Malakar in Season 6. Michael Lynche was originally selected for Top 5 week, but after the performances, the website switched to Casey James, marking the first time the website had changed its mind on which contestant to vote for based on performance alone. VFTW chose Lee DeWyze for the finale, and he won. This supported VFTW's theory that a female will never win the show again. According to bloggers at VFTW, the seasons have resulted in "3, white, male, brunette, soft-rockers" winners in a row.

Vote for the Worst was successful during seasons ten and eleven, supporting the 4th and 5th "white guys with a guitar," Scotty McCreery and Phillip Phillips, to win the title in five years.

In January 2013, the site's creator, Dave Della Terza, announced that the site would be shutting down, but not before covering one final season of American Idol. The shutdown was planned for June 2013, though it was not specified whether the site would simply be discontinuing all updates and left behind as an archive, or whether it would disappear entirely. [4] As of April 2014, visiting the site results in a page indicating that the domain name has been "parked" with Go Daddy and is available for purchase.

Expansion to other shows

Because of the success of their American Idol campaign, Vote for the Worst has expanded its site to sometimes include other shows. The site helped support Casey Leblanc's 6 week run during Canadian Idol 3, [23] Jaydee Bixby's unprecedented 9 week "worst" run from the final 10 to the final 2 during Canadian Idol 5, [24] and Bristol Palin on Dancing with the Stars.

Vote for the Worst's mixed bag extends to other shows. The site had some success with a group like Light of Doom during The Next Great American Band , [25] but was unable to help others such as Boy Shakira during America's Got Talent . [26]

Reaction from American Idol

American Idol producers rarely acknowledge the site, but Nigel Lythgoe, an executive producer, did issue a statement, calling Vote for the Worst "a fly buzzing around a cow" during season six of American Idol to play down any press the site had received about being influential. [27] In later seasons, Lythgoe has had a more playful repartee with the website, sending humorous tweets to the site's Twitter account. [28] Legal action has been threatened against the website from fans of American Idol, but to date neither Fox nor the series have issued statements regarding any lawsuits. [29] Della Terza claims that lawyers involved with the program have contacted him twice about filing a lawsuit, but nothing has yet been filed against the site. [30]

While many American Idol fans claim Vote for the Worst promotes hate speech and bullying on their message boards and online comments, some lesser known contestants from American Idol, have embraced the site. Josiah Leming, a contestant from season 7, is a member of the website and gave an interview to their weekly radio show. [31] Chris Sligh, a season 6 contestant, gave a shoutout to site creator Della Terza during the top 11 performance show by saying "Hi, Dave." [32] Sligh and fellow contestant Phil Stacey have also posted on the site's message board, [33] [34] along with many other former contestants such as Brenna Gethers, [35] Chris Labelle, [36] Phuong Pham, [37] and Montana Martin Iles. [38] Season 7 finalist Amanda Overmyer has also been vocal about her support of the website. [39] Even season 9 runner-up Crystal Bowersox has posted on American Idol's Facebook and Twitter that she loves VFTW. [40]

VFTW-supported contestants

American Idol

Season 3 [41]

Season 4 [42]

Season 5 [43]

Season 6 [44]

Season 7 [45]

Season 8 [45]

Season 9 [45]

Season 10 [45]

Season 11 [45]

Season 12 [45]

Canadian Idol

Season 3 [46]

Season 4 [45]

Season 5 [45]

Season 6 [45]

On the Lot

Season 1

America's Got Talent

Season 2

Season 5

Season 6

Season 7

The Next Great American Band

Season 1

Clash of the Choirs

Season 1

America's Best Dance Crew

Season 2

Season 3

Season 6

Dancing With The Stars

Season 5

Season 7

Season 11

I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!

Season 2

X Factor (UK)

Series 6

Series 7

Series 8

X Factor (US)

Season 1

Season 2

The Voice

Season 1

Season 2

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>American Idol</i> American singing competition

American Idol is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to April 7, 2016, for 15 seasons. It was on hiatus for two years until March 11, 2018, when a revival of the series began airing on ABC.

<i>Canadian Idol</i> Television program

Canadian Idol is a Canadian reality television competition show which aired on CTV, based on the British show Pop Idol. The show was a competition to find the most talented young singer in Canada, and was hosted by Ben Mulroney. Jon Dore was the "roving reporter" for the first three seasons. Elena Juatco assumed the role for season four, Dave Kerr had the role in season five and Jully Black in season six.

<i>Australian Idol</i> Australian singing competition TV series

Australian Idol is an Australian singing competition, which began its first season in July 2003 and ended its initial run in November 2009. As part of the Idol franchise, Australian Idol originated from the reality program Pop Idol, which was created by British entertainment executive Simon Fuller. Australian Idol was televised on Network Ten for its first seven series and was broadcast on the Southern Cross Austereo Radio Network between 2005 and 2007. The series returned in 2023 after Seven Network announced they would be picking up the show.

<i>Indonesian Idol</i> Indonesian singing competition

Indonesian Idol is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by RCTI Production Team and FremantleMedia Asia. The show began airing on RCTI in March 2004 and became one of the most popular shows in the history of Indonesian television. Part of the Idol franchise, it was as a spin-off from the UK show Pop Idol.

<i>Project SuperStar</i> Singing competition show in Singapore

Project SuperStar is a singing talent search competition organised by MediaCorp and broadcast on Channel U in Singapore. Project SuperStar was organised to uncover and develop young talent in Mandarin pop in Singapore. Closely modelled after the Pop Idol, 24 contestants were selected to enter the Quarter Finals of the competition. For both seasons, it was hosted by Quan Yi Fong and Jeff Wang. Episodes were pre-recorded, and broadcast on Wednesday for male contestants, while episodes on Thursday feature female contestants. Season 3's Live-telecast will begin on 18 August 2014 and the finale is set to be on 26 October 2014. It is announced that Dasmond Koh, Jeremy Chan and Shane Pow will be the hosts for the third season.

<i>American Idol</i> season 3 Season of television series

The third season of American Idol premiered on Monday, January 19, 2004, and continued until May 26, 2004. The third season was won by Fantasia Barrino, who defeated Diana DeGarmo by an approximate margin of 2% ; the vote total was then the highest recorded vote total in the show's history. This season also featured future EGOT winner Jennifer Hudson, who finished seventh in the competition.

The American singing competition show American Idol has generated controversy over the years in numerous areas.

American Idol Extra is a television show that was shown on the Fox Reality Channel and Star! and billed as "the show that picks up right where American Idol leaves off". The program featured the first full-length interview with the most recent eliminated contestant and various behind-the-scenes material.

<i>American Idol</i> season 6 Season of television series

The sixth season of American Idol premiered on the Fox Broadcasting Company as a two-night, four-hour premiere special on January 16 and 17, and ran until May 23, 2007. Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, and Randy Jackson returned as judges, and Ryan Seacrest returned as host. A new record of 74 million votes were cast in the finale round, and a new record of 609 million votes were cast in the entire season. Jordin Sparks won the competition, while Blake Lewis was the runner-up.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DialIdol</span>

DialIdol is both the name of a computer program for Microsoft Windows and its associated website that tracks voting trends for American Idol contestants. The program allows users to automatically vote for the American Idol contestants of their choice using their PC's modem. The program then reports back to the main website, which keeps track of the results based on the percentage of calls for each contestant that result in a busy signal. DialIdol assumes that more busy signals means more callers are attempting to vote for that contestant. DialIdol was created during the fourth season of American Idol and was released to the public at the start of the fifth season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sanjaya Malakar</span> American singer (born 1989)

Sanjaya Joseph Malakar is an American singer who was a finalist on the sixth season of American Idol. He gained national attention on the series, controversially advancing to 7th place with public votes despite being poorly received by the show's judges, particularly Simon Cowell.

Antonella Maria Barba is an American singer. Born in Santa Monica, California and raised in Point Pleasant, New Jersey, Barba rose to prominence while competing on the sixth season of American Idol. She attracted media scrutiny after semi-nude photos of her were leaked online. The show was criticized for allowing Barba to continue to compete when producers had disqualified second season contestant Frenchie Davis under similar circumstances.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melinda Doolittle</span> American singer

Melinda Marie Doolittle is an American singer who finished as the third place finalist on the sixth season of American Idol. Prior to her appearance on American Idol, Doolittle worked as a professional back-up singer for, among others, Michael McDonald, Kirk Franklin, Aaron Neville, BeBe and CeCe Winans, Alabama, Jonny Lang, Vanessa Bell Armstrong, Carman, and Anointed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Idols Live! Tour 2007</span> 2007 summer concert tour

American Idols Live! Tour 2007 was a summer concert tour in the United States and Canada featuring the top 10 contestants of the sixth season of American Idol, which aired in 2007. It was sponsored by Kellogg's Pop-Tarts. The 59-date tour started on July 6 and ended on September 23.

The sixth and final season of Canadian Idol is the sixth and final installation of the Idol series in Canada and premiered on June 3, 2008, on the CTV Television Network. It is again hosted by Ben Mulroney, with the addition of Jully Black as a special correspondent and general mentor to the contestants. Farley Flex, Jake Gold, Sass Jordan and Zack Werner all returned as judges. This season saw a number of major and minor show format changes in an effort to keep the franchise fresh and innovative. The final episode of the season, in which the Canadian Idol was crowned, aired on September 10, 2008. The winner of the sixth season was Theo Tams. The sixth season became the final season of Canadian Idol following its cancellation in 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tim Urban</span> American singer

Timothy Joseph Urban is an American singer who was the seventh place finalist on the ninth season of American Idol. Following his participation in the series, he released two EPs: Heart of Me in 2010 and New York Sessions in 2014.

<i>Survivor: Nicaragua</i> Season of television series

Survivor: Nicaragua is the 21st season of the American CBS competitive reality television series Survivor. It premiered on September 15, 2010, at 8:00pm, moving to the Wednesday timeslot for the first time since Survivor: Borneo. Applications were due in January 2010, filming started from June and ended in July 2010. Nicaragua and the following season, Survivor: Redemption Island, were filmed near San Juan del Sur in Rivas Department on the Pacific coast of Nicaragua.

<i>Survivor: Redemption Island</i> Season of television series

Survivor: Redemption Island is the twenty-second season of the American CBS competitive reality television series Survivor. It premiered on February 16, 2011. Applications were due in January 2010, and filming lasted from August to September 2010. The season was filmed near San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua, the same location as the previous season. The show featured returning players Russell Hantz and Rob Mariano and 16 new players to Survivor.

The eleventh season of American Idol premiered on Fox on January 18, 2012, and concluded on May 23, 2012. Ryan Seacrest returned as host, while Randy Jackson, Jennifer Lopez, and Steven Tyler all returned as judges. Interscope Records chairman Jimmy Iovine, a songwriter and producer, also returned as an in-house mentor to work with the contestants on a weekly basis. This season followed the same format as the tenth season. Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler both announced that they would be leaving the show two months after the finale, although Lopez later returned as a judge for the show's thirteenth season.

<i>American Idol</i> season 14 Season of television series

The fourteenth season of American Idol, also known as American Idol XIV, premiered on the Fox television network on January 7, 2015. Ryan Seacrest returned as host, while Harry Connick Jr., Jennifer Lopez, and Keith Urban returned as judges. Randy Jackson stepped down as the in-house mentor and was replaced by Scott Borchetta. Long-time sponsor Coca-Cola ended its relationship with the show.

References

  1. ↑ "VFTW Radio Presents Trenyce (American Idol 2)". Votefortheworst.com. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
  2. ↑ "VFTW Radio Presents Leslie Hunt (American Idol 6)". Votefortheworst.com. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
  3. ↑ "Vote for the Worst Radio Premieres THIS WEDNESDAY with Guest Steffi D!". Votefortheworst.com. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
  4. 1 2 "Vote for the Worst Will be Shutting Down After American Idol Season 12"
  5. ↑ Survivor Sucks Messageboard: "'Vote The Worst' Pledge; Jasmalien!"
  6. ↑ American Idol 3 | Vote for the Worst Archived March 31, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  7. ↑ "Constantine voted off American Idol 4; is Vote for the Worst campaign to blame?". Realityblurred.com. April 28, 2005. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
  8. ↑ Oldenburg, Ann (March 21, 2006). "'Idol' mystery: Sky isn't falling on Kevin". USA Today. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
  9. ↑ "Antonella's topless photos go unmentioned but Simon says Ryan is "trying to date" Alaina". Reality Blurred. February 22, 2007. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
  10. ↑ "February 28, 2007 Update: Antonella Barba Gets to Stay!". Idontlikeyouinthatway.com. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
  11. ↑ "Howard Stern Shoutout". Vote for the Worst. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
  12. ↑ Bruno, Mike (April 10, 2007). "August 29, 2008 American Idol | A chat with the creator of Vote for the Worst". Ew.com. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
  13. ↑ "The Truth About the Contestants of American Idol 7". Vote for the Worst. Archived from the original on September 28, 2018. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
  14. ↑ "MTV News: 'American Idol' Executive Producer Weighs In On Some Contestants' Professional Backgrounds". Mtv. January 15, 2008. Archived from the original on January 19, 2008. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
  15. ↑ "Randy Jackson Using American Idol to Push His Failed Artists?". Radar Online. October 27, 2008. Archived from the original on February 12, 2012. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
  16. ↑ "Strip club: 'Idol' once danced here". Cleveland.com. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
  17. ↑ "Carly Is Gone Celebration Radio Show!!!". Votefortheworst.com. April 23, 2008. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
  18. ↑ Anthony Castro (March 27, 2009). "Vote for the Worst declares victory as Megan Joy hangs on". The Journal Gazette. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
  19. ↑ "Utahn exits 'Idol' with a 'Caw Caw!'". Deseretnews.com. April 3, 2009. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
  20. ↑ "Adam Lambert Has Pictures of Himself Kissing Another Guy". Buddytv.com. March 3, 2009. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
  21. ↑ "Adam Lambert: America's First Gay 'Idol'?". ABC News. April 15, 2009. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
  22. ↑ "Bill O'Reilly Outs Adam Lmabert. Sort Of". Mjsbigblog.com. April 7, 2009. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
  23. ↑ "Canadian Idol 3". Vote for the Worst. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
  24. 1 2 "Vote for the Worst: Jaydee Bixby – VFTW's Longest Running Pick Ever" . Retrieved May 22, 2008.
  25. 1 2 "Next Great American Band Spoilers for 12/14/07". Votefortheworst.com. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
  26. ↑ "Boy Shakira Eliminated: Shame on You, America". Votefortheworst.com. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
  27. ↑ "The founder of Vote for the Worst talks about Sanjaya and 'American Idol'". Featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com. April 3, 2007. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
  28. ↑ "VFTW is Excited to Have Nigel Lythgoe Back... Nigel is Excited to Have VFTW Back". Votefortheworst.com. Retrieved April 23, 2012.
  29. ↑ Enjoying their worst Archived October 5, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  30. ↑ JEFF KORBELIK / Lincoln Journal Star (March 26, 2007). "Sour Note: Is a Web Site Altering 'Idol'?". Journalstar.com. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
  31. ↑ "Josiah Leming Talk to VFTW Radio". Votefortheworst.com. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
  32. ↑ Vote for the Worst: Top 11: BEST.SHOW.EVER. Sanjaya Rules and Sligh Gives Us a Shoutout Archived December 25, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  33. ↑ Vote for the Worst: Chris Sligh Archived December 25, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  34. ↑ Vote for the Worst: Phil Stacey Archived December 25, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  35. ↑ Vote for the Worst: Brenna on VFTW Archived December 25, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  36. ↑ Vote for the Worst: Chris Labelle in the house Archived December 25, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  37. ↑ Vote for the Worst: New to VFTW...AI 6 Alumnus... Phuong Pham Archived December 25, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  38. ↑ Vote for the Worst: Montana Martin Iles – The TRUE Winner of CI5 Archived December 25, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  39. ↑ "Chile Wedding Shoutout". Votefortheworst.com. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
  40. ↑ "Pigpen, err, Crystal Bowersox Loves VFTW!". Vote for the Worst. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
  41. ↑ "VFTW American Idol 3". Hall of Fame. Retrieved April 19, 2007.
  42. ↑ "VFTW American Idol 4". Hall of Fame. Retrieved April 19, 2007.
  43. ↑ "VFTW American Idol 5". Hall of Fame. Retrieved April 19, 2007.
  44. ↑ "VFTW American Idol 6". Hall of Fame. Retrieved October 3, 2007.
  45. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Master List of Past VFTW Picks" . Retrieved April 23, 2008.
  46. ↑ "VFTW Canadian Idol 3". Hall of Fame. Retrieved October 3, 2007.
  47. ↑ Lot #2b Circling the Drain.
  48. ↑ "You've Won Us Over – Everyone Vote for Boy Shakira on America's Got Talent". Vote for the Worst. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
  49. ↑ "Vote for Airpocalypse on America's Got Talent – 1-866-602-4803". Votefortheworst.com. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
  50. ↑ "Vote for Ronith on America's Got Talent – 1-866-60-AGT-06". Votefortheworst.com. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
  51. ↑ "Vote for Mary Ellen on America's Got Talent 1-866-602-4808". Votefortheworst.com. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
  52. ↑ "Vote for Those Funny Little People on America's Got Talent 1-866-60-AGT-03". Vote for the Worst. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
  53. ↑ View topic – Clash of the Choirs – LACHEYOWNAGE! VFTW VICTORY! | Vote for the Worst Message Board Archived January 15, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  54. 1 2 "Vote for Xenia and Raquel Castro on The Voice". Vote for the Worst. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
  55. 1 2 "Vote for Devon Barley and Curtis Grimes on The Voice – Our Pick Xenia Makes the Top 8!". Vote for the Worst. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.