No More SA Idols?
After last weekend’s Idols final show fiasco, Mnet’s Theo Erasmus doesn’t think there will be another SA Idols until the voting system is quaranteed to run properly, according to IOL.co.za.
One would think Mnet and Idols would have sorted the voting system before this season started, as there have always been suspicion about voting and reality tv competitions.
About 600 000 uncounted sms votes came in before the cut off time at 6.05pm last Sunday, but the cellphone companies are denying that the blame is on their side.
So far both Vodacom and Cell-C put out statements saying their networks were running as usual and blamed Grapevine, who managed the SMS entries.
Mnet put themselves in this positition by allowing a hundred votes per simcard, not taking into account that simcards costs R2 and the pay channel’s viewers are more likely to have a disposable income .
The voting public could buy unlimited simcards and vote to their hearts content – or as much as their bank balance allowed.
Greed, more than the intention to find the best singer/performer directed the Idols competition, and now the local franchise has all but ruined its reputation.
Mnet can investigate until the cows come home, but there is nothing that can now be done to undo the damage of last weekend.
Neither finalist has done anything wrong. They deserve all the prizes they received.
It’s Mnet Idols who carry the blame for their greed and ineptitude.
