‘American Idol’ legitimizes mass voting with SuperVote

New judges are not the only change Fox is implementing for Season 12 of >American Idol.

Two years ago, American Idol introduced online voting in addition to the primary voting by phone. Beginning tomorrow, March 5, fans will now be able to allocate 50 votes between americanidol.com, the mobile app and Facebook to either one or multiple performers, thanks to the new ‘Supervote’ capability, reports USA Today.

This news comes nearly four years after voting controversy rocked Idol. According to MTV, claims emerged stating that Kris Allen’s win on season 8 was due to faulty voting procedures. Apparently, AT&T employees had given viewers phones and taught them how to “power vote” via text message. With power voting, they were able to send upwards of 10 texts with a single click.

However, those behind the scene on Idol have always been quick to support the validity of their measures.

“Fox and the producers of American Idol are absolutely certain that the results of this competition are fair, accurate and verified,” they stated back in 2009 after the scandal surfaced.

It is unclear what impact SuperVoting will ultimately have on the show, but it is evident those with a large fan-following online will be at an advantage.

As of last week, American Idol has narrowed down its search to the top 20 contestants: Adriana Latonio, Amber Holcomb, Angela Miller, Aubrey Cleland, Breanna Steer, Candice Glover, Janelle Arthur, Kree Harrison, Tenna Torres, Zoanette Johnson, Burnell Taylor, Charlie Askew, Cortez Shaw, Curtis Finch, Jr., Devin Velez, Elijah Liu, Lazaro Arbos, Paul Jolley, Nick Boddington, and Vincent Powell.

Who are you rooting for?