LOS ANGELES, May 27 (UPI) -- AT&T, a corporate sponsor for "American Idol," provided supporters of Kris Allen free tutorials on text messaging their votes, detractors of the practice said.
Allen won the singing competition last week.
The New York Times said fans of runner-up Adam Lambert have complained in online forums that AT&T participated in two "AI" viewing parties in Allen's native Arkansas and showed people how to power text, that is, send 10 or more text messages by pressing a single button.
The phone company did not, however, offer such services to Lambert's followers, critics complained.
"In Arkansas, we were invited to attend the local watch parties organized by the community," an AT&T spokesman said in a statement issued to The Times Tuesday. "A few local employees brought a small number of demo phones with them and provided texting tutorials to those who were interested."
Usmagazine.com said Fox, "Idol" producers 19 Entertainment and FremantleMedia issued a statement Wednesday that said: "Fox and the producers of 'American Idol' are absolutely certain that the results of this competition are fair, accurate and verified. Kris Allen is, without a doubt, the American Idol. We have an independent third-party monitoring procedure in place to ensure the integrity of the voting process. In no way did any individuals unfairly influence the outcome of the competition."
