GOT `MCPHEEVER'? IF SO, PUT YOUR DIGITS TO WORK.Byline: FRED SHUSTER Staff Writer So you wanna wan·na Informal 1. Contraction of want to: You wanna go now? 2. Contraction of want a: You wanna slice of pie? vote tonight for Sherman Oaks' own ``American Idol'' sweetheart Katharine McPhee? Get those dialing digits warmed up. You'll have a hard time dialing faster than some local supporters who've come down with ``McPheever.'' Since ``American Idol'' doesn't limit the number of votes from each viewer, diligent digits can rack up as many as 300 votes during the two-hour polling window. At Kat Pack parties around the area, it's feasible that thousands of calls and text messages are generated each Tuesday. ``I vote for two hours straight,'' said Susie Welby, a McPhee supporter and friend of the 22-year-old singer. ``The first week, I voted like 20 times, then I talked to a couple who said the two of them voted 600 times each week. ``I felt like a rotten friend when I heard that. So, I really stepped it up.'' With ``Idol's'' season finale approaching May 24, McPhee -- the first Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. native to make it big on the smash hit Fox-TV talent contest -- faces off tonight against Taylor Hicks Taylore Reuben Hicks (born October 7, 1976) is an American singer-songwriter. Hicks got his start as a professional musician in his late teens and performed around the Southeastern United States for well over the span of a decade, during which he also released two independent and Elliot Yamin. And L.A. is rooting for her. Signs around town proclaim ``Vote for Katharine -- Catch the McPheever,'' ``She's McPhine'' and ``McPhee is Our Favorite.'' Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Antonio Ramon Villaraigosa (born Antonio (Tony) Ramon Villar, Jr. on January 23, 1953) is the mayor of Los Angeles, California. He is the first Latino mayor of Los Angeles since Cristobal Aguilar in 1872. even showed up at McPhee's alma mater, Sherman Oaks' Notre Dame High School Notre Dame is the name of the following high (secondary) schools: Bangladesh
The three contestants will perform from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m., with voting open from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. ``For the first 20 minutes, it's very hard to get through (on the phone), and every third one after that is busy,'' said Diane Davis, a Kat supporter and family friend who has hosted McPhee voting parties at her Studio City home. ``We figured we can dial for two hours straight and get three votes in per minute on cell phones. Plus, we use all five of our land lines.'' A recent ``McPheever'' gathering at the Davis' home included 75 guests. The two weekly ``American Idol'' broadcasts draw an average total of 54 million viewers, with about 45 million voting each Tuesday. About half those votes are text-messaged by way of Cingular Wireless, the official telecommunications sponsor of the show. Most ``Idol'' voters are between ages 18 and 35, and it's the younger end of the spectrum that uses the text-message voting option, polls show. ``For a lot of people older than 25, it's harder to text-message, even though it's not really that hard,'' said Jamie Davis Jamie Davis (18 April 1981, Pontefract, Yorkshire) is an English actor best known for his role as Harley Lawson on the popular British television series Footballers' Wives and the ITV2 spinoff, . , 22, of Studio City. ``I started out using text messages, but switched to cell phone for my vote because the redial In telecommunication, an automatic redial is a service feature that allows the user to dial, by depressing a single key or a few keys, the most recent telephone number dialed at that instrument. button lets me get more votes in much faster.'' While it's safe to say McPhee is a front-runner, the show does not announce vote tallies for each contestant, only the total number of votes received. Three years ago, only 134,400 votes out of 24 million separated runner-up Clay Aiken Clay Aiken (born Clayton Holmes Grissom on November 30, 1978) is an American pop singer who began his rise to fame on the second season of the television program American Idol in 2003. and winner Ruben Studdard Christopher Ruben Studdard (born September 12, 1978) is an American pop/R&B/gospel singer who rose to fame as winner of the second season of the American Idol television program. . ``Idol's'' producers warn that while the telephone network is designed to handle huge volumes of calls simultaneously, there may be times when it will not be able to take every call due to the sheer volume. If you call during your voting window but can't get through to cast your vote, simply try again. Results are announced on Wednesday's elimination show. But don't even try to outsmart out·smart tr.v. out·smart·ed, out·smart·ing, out·smarts To gain the advantage over by cunning; outwit. outsmart Verb Informal same as outwit Verb 1. the network. The show has a system to stop ``power dialing,'' the practice of generating huge blocks of votes using computer modem enhancements that can place thousands of calls in mere seconds. ``We put a load of really expensive equipment in place to phantom these guys out ... But the truth of the matter is, in the whole time that we've had that apparatus in, not once has it ever been needed to be used, which leads me to believe that the whole (``power dialing'') issue was a prefabrication prefabrication, in architectural construction, a technique whereby large units of a building are produced in factories to be assembled, ready-made, on the building site. The technique permits the speedy erection of very large structures. in the first place,'' said show producer Ken Warwick This article refers to Ken Warwick, the television producer and director. See also Ken warwick (disambiguation) Ken Warwick is a television Executive Producer and director, most noted for producing the reality television series American Idol and . In Tarzana, Kat supporter Welby says she and her husband use both cell phones and their home's several land lines to notch up votes for McPhee. ``It was nerve-racking at the beginning,'' Welby said of her first multi- voting attempts early in the series. ``Now, my fingers go back and forth between the buttons and I try to focus on something else at the same time. It's become kind of addictive. I never thought I'd call in like this for anyone on a TV show. ``And I even got my mom to do it. She's 76 years old and lives near Chicago, but she does the same thing as me every Tuesday night.'' fred.shuster(at)dailynews.com (818) 713-3676 CAPTION(S): 2 photos, box Photo: (1 -- color) Los Angeles' ``American Idol'' sweetheart Katharine McPhee (2 -- color) ``American Idol'' Voting Box: ``American Idol'' Voting SOURCE: American Idol, Fox |
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