Jeff Says

This year’s American Idol finale was the victim of AT&T power texting. Kris Allen fans at www.KrisAlleNation.com posted a how-to set of directions to let fans vote longer and more often for their favorite singer.   

Is this cheating? I don’t think so, as they have figured out the system and are making it work. As everyone in America has the ability to power text and vote longer than the standard voting window, (with multiple phones) there is really no controversy.

Below is a copy of the directions on how to power text from the post on KrisAlleNation.com (as well as a screen capture):

Here are some great ways to increase your number of votes.

1. As soon as the recorded answer picks up, “Thanks for voting…” you can hang up and dial again.
2. You can start texting and/or calling usually five minutes before the show ends!
3. See information below to get in the maximum amount of votes through power texting.

Don’t live in the US, want to vote online? Want to vote for 4 hours instead of just 2? Click here to learn how to vote thru Skype and Gizmo5.

How to Power Text
 Kris Allen fans can triple (at least) the number of votes by power texting.  (I usually get 3000 to 5000 votes out in two hours.)  Adam and Danny fans have been doing this for weeks.

Essentially, power texting sends ten votes at a time instead of just one. 

Prerequisites:
• Must have a cell phone on AT&T. If you don’t have one, you can pick up a Go Phone for about $30 at Target, WalMart, or Best Buy.
• Must have unlimited text plan.

 Power Texting (note: these instruction may differ based upon which kind of phone you have!) 
1. You are going to create ten contacts in your cell phone (Kris1, Kris2, Kris3, etc.).
2. Create a contact group (also known as a distribution list) and name it something like “Kris For The Win” and add your contacts (Kris1, Kris2, etc.) to the group. If you don’t know how to do that, check the manual for your phone or go to the AT&T Support Site     
3. Add the voting number for Kris (570x) to each of the contacts.  At this point Kris has two numbers, but you can ONLY text to the FIRST number (Kris’s performance order number)! Do this during the show before the voting starts.
4. At the end of the show, send the message “vote” to your “Kris for the Win” contact group.  This sends the message to the ten contacts at once.  It will take a couple of seconds more than sending a single contact.
5. Now, resend or forward the same message to your contract group over and over for the next two hours.

Super Power Texting
Get a second Go Phone and have ATT give it a number on the opposite side of the country from you.  This will let you vote for two hours in Eastern Standard time and then for two hours in Pacific Time.