Pop Idol or Politics?
I'm really going to have to put my personal views about reality TV contests aside on this story today.
On Wednesday night, 29 year old from Birmingham, Alabama was crowned the winner of the 2006 American Idol song contest.
Described as a "prematurely grey soul singer", Taylor beat off stiff competition from some of America's finest to win the fifth series.
But what's been getting people talking about this years finale is the extraordinary number of votes cast.
A record 64 million votes were cast by the viewing public to decide the winner of this years contest, more votes than have ever been cast for a single presidential candidate in a US election.
I've been trying to digest the figures, and they certainly don't suggest that more people in America voted for Pop Idol than they did in an election! But it does question why reality TV contests attracted more votes from the public than the head of state.
What does it say about people's attitudes to politics? Are you surprised by the figures?
is thoroughly fed up with the whole thing, and raises a sceptical eyebrow at all the multiple voting.
Whatever the real reason behind the huge number of votes, it's certainly made people question why it's so popular.
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