‘Idol’ voting
Thirty-five percent of "American Idol" voters believe their votes on the singing competition count more than or as much as voting in a presidential election, according to the latest navel-gazing study of the Fox series — this one by Washington-based public opinion research firm Pursuant Inc.

This may be because on "Idol" you're encouraged to vote early and often, whereas in the presidential election you get to vote only once, except maybe in parts of Florida where "over-voting" looked like it might catch on in 2000.

And, mercifully, in "Idol" elections, 1 vote = 1 vote, unlike our system for picking our president.

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But, hey, why rain on another study on "American Idol"?

According to this week's "Idol" study, more "Idol" viewers — 39 percent — are likely to be from the South.

Maybe that's because most of the contestants are from the South — at this point four of the remaining five.

But, hey, why rain on the latest study on "American Idol"?

More interesting is why Pursuant — whose clients include the American Dietetic Association Foundation, Dairy Management Inc., Kaiser Permanente and the National Institutes of Health — did a study on "American Idol," other than the obvious "for publicity, stupid" reason.

Pursuant President Melissa Marcello, who is an adjunct instructor at Georgetown University in the communication, culture and technology master's program, says her background is in political sociology and she's interested in what all this "Idol" stuff means for "civil society."

"There's a lot of information here we should study," Marcello told The TV Column, preaching to the choir.

"There are things that one could learn — politicians."

Like?

"Why it's so popular, and what this might mean for the presidential primaries."

We've known all long that "American Idol" was educational but were pleasantly surprised to find anyone else in Washington who was willing to publicly pretend to also subscribe, and asked for elaboration.

"I think there's something to authenticity here," Marcello said.

"They are not stars; they are young people who have big dreams. We're getting a window into their worlds. It's not always pretty, not perfect, they're potentially torn apart by Simon [Cowell] on any given week, but they're really putting themselves out there," she said. Kellie Pickler, who was booted last week, "says things like 'snot rag,' which is not a pretty word . . . but we do see something about authenticity.

"So much of what happens in politics is so scripted. One of the things I'm constantly struck with is the lack of authenticity in politics. . . . Wouldn't it be refreshing to see a politician make a misstep and say, 'I'm sorry.' There's something about that, that we're lacking."

CONTINUED: Which 'Idol' is most presidential?

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