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Does anyone know how this show is going to work?

I know that the American Idol in it is Kelly Clarkson, and the Pop (UK) Idol is Gareth somebody, and the Australian Idol is Guy Sebastian, other countries I think are Germany, France, not really sure. My point is, won't each country just vote for their own? I know I prob'ly would, coz i love Guy, and no one has even heard of him yet overseas, which brings me to my next point - Guy has been the Australian Idol for like, 2 weeks, whereas Kelly Clarkson has already had a hit song and has been on tour promoting her album - isn't this like an unfair headstart?

They already had a similar dilemma when they did the Middle East version because, yes, people want the contestent from their country to win. I don't think it's any different from some people voting for Carmen Rasmussen because she's Mormon or some people voting for Clay because he is from North Carolina. How many people (including the actual judges) choose people solely upon their singing ability? Unfortunately, the answer seems to be hardly anyone.

As you said, you are going to vote for the Australian contestant, so why should expect viewers from the UK to vote for someone who isn't from their own country?

So far Kelly Clarkson's "tour" consists of three dates (all in the USA, so it won't influence voters in other countries) - December 5 in Los Angeles, December 11 in New York, and March 16 in Texas. I doubt that the two shows she is doing before World Idol airs will affect anyone's votes since anyone who buys a ticket to see her will probably vote for her because they are already fans, not because they saw her live.

If the amount of time each person has been their country's idol is a factor, then Will Young (the guy from the UK) should win the World Idol title hands down since he won the UK competition two years ago and is supposedly very popular in Europe.

With all that said, viewers are not allowed to vote for the contestant from their own country which should make it interesting. I don't think it's a big deal since the title doesn't mean a whole lot IMHO.

Don't get me wrong - I watched American Idol, but I don't think winning or losing makes or breaks anyone. After all, Clay Aiken, the runner up on American Idol 2, sold over 600,000 copies of his album the week it was released while Kelly Clarkson, the original American Idol winner, sold only 297,000 copies the week that her album came out. Maybe I'm just idol-ed out.

What's the point if you can't vote for the one from your own country? What if that person is really the most talented? It all seems like a waste of time to me... But I'll prob'ly still watch anyway.

I meant the "tour" Kelly Clarkson did overseas - she came here, I don't know where else though. My point was that other countries have heard of her, heard her songs on the radio etc. whereas the people representing the smaller countries aren't as well known. But I guess in the beginning of the show none of them were well know, you get to know them as you watch week after week. And now I've just answered my own question.

I didn't know that Kelly Clarkson was touring other countries, so I see your point there. I am surprised that Simon's company was willing to pay for that!

I agree with what you're saying - if the person from your country really IS the most talented, then it's not fair to say you can't vote for them. On the other hand, I understand that they are trying to prevent people from just automatically voting for whoever IS from their own country. The more I think about it, the stupider this whole World Idol thing seems! There is no really fair way to do it, and like I said, it's just a stupid title. I read somewhere online that each contestant was paid $1400 to appear on the show though.