All the gambling money shifted to Lee Dewyze this past week, and tonight’s result confirmed the gamblers’ collective suspicion.
But can you imagine if you bet on Lee to win at the start of the semi-finals? On February 22, you could have won $50 for every $1 bet. Meaning, your typical $20 bet would pay out a cool $1,000.
Notice that the last 2 Idol winners have been dark-haired guitar players from the middle of the country, who were barely televised in the audition rounds. Could it be possible that these under-exposed Idols have the best gambling value? I know next year, I’ll be checking out the long shots.
According to Bodog, Lee Dewyze is a 2/5 favorite to win.
This is a far cry from the trends throughout this American Idol season. Crystal has been the clear favorite up until this point, having been a less-than-even-money favorite since April 5.
Do the gambling wise guys know something we don’t? Personally, I’d take the currently-posted 19/10 odds on Crystal.
Tim Urban is clearly the worst of the remaining Idol contestants, which itself is arguably the worst Top 12 in the show’s history. Despite this consensus, we can’t seem to get rid of Tim Urban. Is the Vote For The Worst site really impacting votes that much?
Let’s assume that they are. Maybe when predicting the next elimination, we should choose the 2nd worst contestant. On VFTW’s voting poll, that’s Andrew Garcia. Watch out for Andrew to be in the bottom 3 this week.
I love gambling lines, because they help reveal the opinions of those in-the-know. Online gambling site Bodog has updated their odds for the American Idol winner, as well as added new, interesting wagers.
Crystal Bowersox heads the list as a 7/4 favorite to win American Idol. Early favorites Andrew Garcia and Katie Stevens have dropped down the list, coming in at 10/1 and 22/1, respectively. Buoyed by strong performances in the semi-final rounds, screamin’ Siobhan Magnus (5/1), big Michael Lynche (5/1), Casey James (7/1), and Lee Dewyze (13/2) have emerged as Crystal’s toughest competition.
Just as interesting as predicting the winner, Bodog has introduced more “exotic” bets, where you can predict the last remaining male or female contestant, whether the winner will be male or female, and from which city the winner auditioned. These are my favorite bets to predict, but then again, I’m the weird guy who likes betting on coin flips and Gatorade colors during the Super Bowl.
You can find the entire list of wagers on Bodog’s American Idol betting page.
Watching American Idol is enjoyable, but for me, predicting the eventual winner is more fun.
Reality Rate and Predict has a new feature: predict when each contestant will get eliminated. Found on the home page, there are 5 choices: Top 24, Top 12, Top 5, Runner-Up, and Winner. Top 24 means you think the contestant will get eliminated in the semifinal round, Top 12 means you think they’ll get eliminated between 6th and 12th place, and so on (I hope it’s pretty self-explanatory?).
Tell your friends about it. It’s more fun when you can compare predictions against one another, so you can have that gratifying “I told you so” moment.
You know what the judges thought of the performances. What did you think? Rate Tuesday’s American Idol performances from the 12 girls in the top 24. Aggregate ratings will update every 5 minutes, so your votes won’t immediately get counted.
Loved Siobhan. Crystal’s great, but can’t see her winning… American Idol really doesn’t fit her talents.
In a bid to keep up with Internet geek trends, the Top 24 American Idol contestants have all been given official Twitter accounts and Facebook pages. On this site’s contestant pages, you’ll see their latest tweets, with links to their Twitter and Facebook pages.
In theory, this should bring the contestants closer to their voting fans, allowing us to form stronger bonds with them and their journey. In practice, it’s almost worthless.
Look at the timestamps for each contestant’s tweets: they’re all within 20 minutes of one another. I’m speculating, but it feels like there’s a social media consultant telling the contestants to tweet at a specified time. Chances are, they’re being edited before being published. And that type of editing blunts Twitter’s magic: it’s powerful BECAUSE it’s unedited.
Hopefully they’ll loosen the reigns as time goes on, so we can really get to know the contestants on a personal level.
We’re back with a new look, and a bunch of new features. Here are some of the highlights:
We’ve also created dedicated pages for all episodes and contestants:
Episodes - In addition to rating performances, we’ve provided a sampling of each episode’s judges comments from Simon Cowell and the gang. There are fan comment boxes where you can converse with your fellow American Idol fans, using either your Facebook or Google accounts.
Contestants - Every contestant will have their own page, chock full of information:
I’m really excited for this upcoming season, and I think this site will be a fun companion while you enjoy watching American Idol. Ready to explore the new site?
Go to Episodes home page | Go to Contestants home page