Editing American Idol (section)

===Audience voting===
From the semi-finals onward, the fate of the contestants is decided by public vote. During the contestant's performance as well as the recap at the end, a [[toll-free telephone number]] for each contestant was displayed on the screen. For a two-hour period after the episode ends (up to four hours for the finale) in each US time zone, viewers may call or send a text message to their preferred contestant's telephone number, and each call or text message was registered as a vote for that contestant. Viewers were allowed to vote as many times as they can within the two-hour voting window. However, the show reserves the right to discard votes by power dialers.<ref>{{cite web |title=American Idol FAQS |url=http://www.americanidol.com/faq/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110222034734/http://www.americanidol.com/faq/ |archive-date=February 22, 2011 |access-date=February 24, 2011 |publisher=Americanidol.com}}</ref> One or more of the least popular contestants may be eliminated in successive weeks until a winner emerges. Over 110&nbsp;million votes were cast in the first season, and by the tenth season the seasonal total had increased to nearly 750 million. Voting via [[text message|text messaging]] was made available in the second season when [[AT&T Wireless Services|AT&T Wireless]] joined as a sponsor of the show, and 7.5&nbsp;million text messages were sent to ''American Idol'' that season.<ref name="ATT 2003">{{cite web |date=June 4, 2003 |title=AT&T Wireless and American Idol Set Global Records in Text Messaging; AT&T Wireless |url=http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20030604005186/en/ATT-Wireless-American-Idol-Set-Global-Records |publisher=Business Wire}}</ref> The number of text messages rapidly increased, reaching 178&nbsp;million texts by the eighth season.<ref name="ATT 2009">{{cite web |date=May 22, 2009 |title=AT&T Announces the Eighth Season of 'American Idol' Smashes All-Time Record for Fan Engagement through Text Messaging |url=http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=4800&cdvn=news&newsarticleid=26832 |access-date=February 24, 2011 |publisher=Att.com}}</ref> Online voting was offered for the first time in the tenth season. The votes are counted and verified by Telescope Inc.<ref>{{cite web |date=July 15, 2010 |title=Harvesting cash from American Idol TV votes |url=http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard-business/article-23856430-harvesting-cash-from-american-idol-tv-votes.do |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110303234743/http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard-business/article-23856430-harvesting-cash-from-american-idol-tv-votes.do |archive-date=March 3, 2011 |access-date=February 24, 2011 |website=Evening Standard |location=London}}</ref>