2009 Idol Contest Rules

Who

Anyone can play as long as they follow the rules below. This means that you are more than welcome to forward this on to other family and friends even if I don't know who they are. All are welcome!

Please let your invited friends know that this is just a fun GAME and that I use my own time to coordinate all the emails and points. Last year we had some issues with invited friends taking the game a bit too seriously.

When

The contest starts once the American Idol contestants have been narrowed down to 12 – this is usually sometime in March. The contest ends, of course, once the new American Idol has been crowned; usually in mid to late May.

What You Need to Play

All you really need to play is a valid e-mail address and $10. It would be helpful to have Internet access and a TV, but this is not completely necessary.

The Object

The player with the most points at the end of the American Idol season wins. Prizes will be awarded to the first and second runners up.

How to Play

As everyone knows, each week Idol has two shows. One is the performance show and the other is the results show. This contest is based on the outcomes of the results show. Each week you will need to email* me two picks.

The first pick is the STAY pick. This is the person who you think will make it on to the next week. You score more favorably if this pick is not in the bottom three.

The second pick is the GO pick. This is the person who you think will be voted off that week.

During the first week only, you will also make a third pick. This third pick will be the person who you think will be the overall winner at the end of the American Idol Season. If you are correct, you will score an additional 4 points at the end of the game.

Your weekly "picks" email must be sent to me by no later than 6 p.m. CENTRAL on the evening of the results show. (Results shows typically air on Wednesday nights.) If you do not meet this deadline your picks will be declined and you will receive zero points for that week.

*If you are unable to email between the end of the performance show and the deadline for submitting picks I will also accept text messages or phone calls but please try to keep these at a minimum or else I may have to start billing out portions of my cell phone bill! My cell phone number is 612.991.5326.

The Catch

The catch has to do with your STAY pick. You thought that sounded too easy didn't you? When making your stay pick you will need to keep in mind that you will only be allowed to choose the same contestant twice throughout the entire season. This means that you probably won't want to pick a frontrunner early in the competition otherwise you won't be able to pick this person later on in the season. So the best strategy will be to pick the person that barely makes it into the next week without being in the bottom three.

The person you pick as the overall Idol winner in Week 1 does NOT count as one of your stay picks.

As for your GO pick, you are allowed to choose the same contestant as many times as you wish. There is no catch with the GO pick.

The Points

STAY Pick:

2 points - Correctly picking someone to make it to the next week who is not in the bottom three
1 point - Correctly picking someone to make it to the next week who is in the bottom three but is not voted off
0 points - Your pick is voted off that week.
0 points - You pick someone who you have already twice picked in previous weeks.

GO Pick:

2 points – Correctly picking the person who is voted off that week
1 point – Your pick wasn’t voted off but is in the bottom three that week
0 points - Your pick is neither voted off nor in the bottom three that week

Third Pick: (This pick is sent in Week 1 only and points are awarded in the final week)

4 points - Correctly picking the overall winner of American Idol
0 points - Your pick is not the overall winner of American Idol

Each week there is a possibility of earning a total of 4 points. The exception to this is the last week when you can earn the normal 4 points plus an additional 4 points if you correctly picked the overall winner during Week 1.

The Bottom Three

Last year there was quite a controversy over when contestants are considered in the bottom three/two or not. In the last few weeks there are not enough contestants left for a bottom three so Idol uses a bottom two instead. The same rules will apply to a bottom two as apply to a bottom three.However, in some situations Idol does not officially announce a bottom two or three. In these cases I will take my cues from the use of stools (or similar) or an official announcement from Ryan Seacrest or one of the judges. If nothing official is clear, I will err on the side of awarding the full points possible for the picks made.


The Prize

The prize will be determined by how many people play. The pot will be equal to $10 X the number of people who play. The winner will receive 60% of the pot. The first runner up will receive 25% of the pot and the second runner up will receive 15%.

In the event of a tie, prizes may not be awarded for third place, or possibly second place, depending on how many players are tied. Instead the prize money will be divided up accordingly to the top placed contestants. Please note, however, that a tie is highly unlikely due to the many different possibilities of earning points.

Want to Play?

If you want to play you will need to send me your name (if I don't know you), your email address and most importantly $10. If I do not have $10 from you before the first week of picks you will not be allowed to play. Sorry, no exceptions and no IOUs. If we get enough people to play it will be too hard to track who has paid me and who has not. So consider that your ticket onto the standings board. My address is 7899-E Forest Blvd, Woodbury, MN 55125. If you don't want to waste a stamp I believe most online banking sites let you send money to a person via Bill Pay for free. You may also hand me $10 in person if I happen to see you before the contest starts.

Communication

Each Wednesday I will send all players two emails. The first email will be to remind you to submit your picks before the deadline. The second email will be sent prior to the airing of the results show. It will be a chart showing the picks that everyone has made. This also will allow you to keep tabs on me so that I can play without you thinking I'm a cheater. On Thursday I will send out a third email showing everyone's point totals and the standings board.

Please note that this year I find myself pregnant and due to deliver sometime in April. If the baby decides to show up around an airing of an Idol show, continue to email me your picks prior to the stated deadlines with the knowledge that I may not be able to send out any communication until I return home from the hospital. Once I get home I’ll sort through the picks emails and award points accordingly. Thanks for understanding!

Questions?

If you have questions or need clarification on the rules please email me or submit a comment on the website. Before the first week of picks are due I will also send an email telling you exactly what to do, so no worries if you are a bit confused right now.