American Idol a Terrorist Front?

LOS ANGELES, CA –  Everyone’s favorite so-called “talent” show (that nobody seems to watch) is continuing its decade-long stranglehold on America’s television ratings. But after ten seasons and six different judges, American Idol may have finally gone too far–and the nation’s security could be at risk.

Many viewers know that American Idol started in the UK as Pop Idol. However, few realize that the show’s roots can be traced deeper to a nationally-broadcast singing contest in Indonesia known as Dephfir Tng-Ka, roughly translated as “Survival of Singers.” Although the Indonesian program bares little resemblance to the Fox mega hit (aside from an inordinate amount of Coca-Cola product placement), an important connection was revealed on Monday.

Each week, millions of viewers call Fox’s toll-free number to vote for their favorite performer. The roughly twelve million phone calls and text messages are received at Jayakarta Djakarta, a call center in Jakarta, Indonesia, according to Tenkrit San Phosphani, an NPR correspondent reporting on mass media in Southeast Asia. “It’s a madhouse,” says Phosphani. “It’s hard to believe that [the call center] can handle so many callers.”

And over the course of the season, the call center boasts only a 2% margin of error. How can this be? “Our workers are trained to handle many calls at a time,” says Detabek Jabodetabek, co-manager of Jayakarta Djakarta. The center is also responsible for calculating the results of Indonesia’s national and regional free elections. But in January 2010, ASEAN Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan called Indonesia’s national elections, “fraud beyond all known uses of the word.” So why does Fox rely on Indonesia for its vote counting?

The answer lies in an overlooked part of the USA Patriot Act and the deceitful actions of News Corporation CEO Rupert Murdoch. In a 2006 interview, Fox president Kevin Reilly revealed that he, Murdoch (an Australian by birth), and Fox chairman Peter Rice invested close to 3 billion dollars in Detabek Jabodetabek in 2001, just months before the premier of American Idol. Why would Fox be interested in funding an Indonesian call center? “The American government monitors all international telephone messages,” says Phosphani. “However, they ignore international SMS [text] messages sent to toll-free numbers.” Therefore, says Phosphani, rogue agents in the USA could easily transmit classified information to Indonesia during American Idol telecasts. Once the information reaches Detabek Jabodetabek, it is out of the eyes of the United States government.

But why would Fox want to help terrorists plot against America? “It’s all part of their big plan to take over the world,” says Caleb Ductko, member of Americans Against American Idol (AAAI), a non-profit group dedicated to exposing the truth behind the facade of the reality show. “Murdoch’s a foreigner, and he’s been after the USA ever since he became Fox’s CEO,” says Ductko. With millions of calls streaming to Indonesia every Tuesday during live American Idol performances, terrorists can send their secret documents without interference.

So is the show a complete farce? Not so, says Ductko. “Some of those people can really sing, but most of them are just anti-government agents hand-picked by Murdoch.” Jennifer Hudson, Ruben Studdard, and season four runner-up Bo Bice are among those listed by the AAAI as anti-American spies. But Ductko insists that William Hung is not a terrorist. “He can’t sing worth spit, but he’s one patriotic SOB,” says Ductko.