Calling the Pop Idol result a fix... well, perhaps that was unfair. But maybe it is not truly representative of the public's opinion or the deserved outcome.

Quote from the BBC article on the result:

A BT spokesperson said the volume of calls had threatened the national network, and the company was forced to limit the number of calls that got through.

So, since this was a battle between North and South, and since the vote was partly rigged by the bookies favourites and pre-vote hype suggesting that the result would be the opposite... is it possible that the limitation on voting influenced the result? Is it possible that the southerners were more able to vote than the northerners?

I wonder whether the entire show has not be dogged by BT's inability to switch the calls they are receiving to their final destination... it's interesting how the geographically supported people have been quick to go - Hayley from Brummie-land, Aaron from Geordie-land... perhaps this is all BT's fault?

Someone's screwed up somewhere. Surely they should have predicted demand and either set up local call centres, or had the program makers give more time for voting...

We'll probably never know!