Votefortheworst.com was started in 2004 to support voting for the entertaining contestants who the producers would hate to see win on American Idol. We vote en masse for the contestant that we feel provides the most entertaining performances that go against what the producers want in a winner and that annoy the viewing public. We don't necessarily vote for the worst technical singer; we take into account many factors like the contestant's personality, how well they dance and move around the stage, if they talk back to the judges or have an attitude, and how likely they are to annoy everyone when they stick around. So we don't just vote for the worst singer, we vote for the most entertaining contestant using our own criteria. Why do we do it? And are we ruining American Idol and crushing dreams? Click "read more" find out the answers to these questions and more.

During the initial auditions, the producers only let a fraction of the people who audition advance. Many good people are turned away and many bad singers or over the top personalities are kept around.

Now why would the producers do this? It's simple: a show like American Idol is not about singing at all, it's about making good reality TV and enjoying a guilty pleasure. The contestants are TV personalities. At Vote for the Worst, we get that. The producers purposely cast the show with contestants who they know will never become the next big singing sensation. Ever notice how the top 24 is never indicative of the best singing talent in America? That's done on purpose. We think that the less-loved contestants are more entertaining than the producer favorites, and we want to acknowledge this fact by encouraging people to help vote for the amusing antagonists that annoy the judges. VFTW sees keeping these contestants around as a golden opportunity to make a more entertaining show.

The show starts out every year encouraging us to point and laugh at all of the bad singers who audition. If American Idol was really a show about finding the next great talent, these bad singers wouldn't be allowed on the show, let alone allowed to advance through 3 auditions to see Simon and the gang, right? We want this entertainment to continue into the finals, so we choose the contestant that we feel provides the most entertaining performances that annoy the judges and the viewing public and we start voting for them. The show encourages us to vote for whomever we'd like. If the producers and judges put Sanjaya and others through to the top 24, why do they get so mad when we start voting for the people they picked?

The American Idol producers don't like this because they've already spent time "pimping" the contestant that they want to win. Because the producers don't like our site, the show has called us "hateful" and "mean spirited". Doesn't it seem a tad hypocritical to say that when the show has weeks devoted to making fun of bad auditions? The producers also profited from a "Worst of American Idol" DVD set. How can the producers let Simon mock some of the contestants but then let us be called "vicious" when a campaign exists to help those very contestants? We don't hate the people we vote for, we actually love them!

Vote for the Worst encourages you to have fun with American Idol and embrace its suckiness by voting for the people who the general public and the producers are rooting against. We rally behind one choice so that we can help make a difference and pool all of our votes toward one common goal. Join us and vote for the VFTW contestant as many times as you can each week. Our aim isn't to win every single week, but to get a controversial contestant as far as possible. If our VFTW pick is ousted from the competition, we'll move on to someone new. If we can help someone in trouble get one spot closer to winning, that's a great success! We care less about succeeding every single week than we do just enjoying the performances as they happen.

People may tell you "VFTW makes no difference, their votes don't count." Executive producer Nigel Lythgoe called us "a fly buzzing around a cow." Obviously this makes no sense, because every vote counts. We're a fanbase just like the fangirls who somehow thought Chris Richardson was a good singer. If this show actually counts votes, then our votes are just as legitimate as any others. And if our votes in a large bloc don't count, then a tween's votes for her favorite non-threatening male certainly don't count. Besides, how else can you explain Sanjaya Malakar's stay on the show last year?

Last year our picks included Antonella Barba and the mighty Sanjaya Malakar. We've had other VFTW victories in the past with contestants like Scott Savol, Kevin Covais, and Taylor Hicks. And now we're ready to take on season 7 of America's Largest Karaoke Contest. So, go on, embrace the cheesiness of American Idol. Help us Vote For the Worst!