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'Idol' worship gets turned upside down
By Maria Elena Fernandez
Times Staff Writer
May 2, 2005

For at least three weeks now, fans of "American Idol" have been pondering a deep philosophical mystery: How in the world has charisma-challenged R&B balladeer Scott Savol managed to survive this competition, jumping ahead of the magnetic Nadia Turner, the soulful Anwar Robinson and total-package Constantine Maroulis?A group of wireless rogues thinks the answer lies with a little social experiment they began last year, one that, were it not for judge Paula Abdul's personal woes, would have qualified as this season's wildest controversy: a call for viewers to vote for the least talented contestants, in the hopes that "American Idol" producers will get stuck with marketing a lemon at the end of the season.After noticing that his favorites kept getting voted off last year, Dave Della Terza, 22, and a group of college buddies, took matters into their own hands. They created their online campaign, votefortheworst.com, to throw the competition off course. ("American Idol" votes are supposed to be cast in favor of contestants whom fans want to keep each Tuesday. Fans can call or text message as many times as they want in a two-hour period.)"The show is less of a contest for who America picks and more of who the show's producers will influence to win," said Della Terza of Santa Clarita. "The producers and the judges tend to say, 'We like this person' ... 'This person is going to win' — and then America just tends to vote along with them. This season it's been Carrie and Bo. So we know it's going to be between Carrie and Bo. Whatever. So, we were like, 'Wouldn't it be funny if ... we pick somebody else and vote for the one [who has been told by the judges], 'You're going home, you're terrible."To date, that person has been Savol, 28, who has drawn the ire of Simon Cowell week after week, and who last Tuesday inspired the cranky judge to tell him to pack his suitcase because of his rendition of "Dance With My Father." But on Wednesday, Savol had earned so many votes that he landed in the