SYTYCD: Did a contestant buy Twitter followers?

With so much focus from the fans about Twitter on last season's Dancing with the Stars, I decided to take a look at So You Think You Can Dance.  Fox has each contestant create a new account with the season and their name.  It is a level-playing field and the audience can decide who to follow during the season.  I think this is incredibly fair way to handle everything if the producers decide to do any Twitter voting. Fans spent half the season of DWTS arguing over the number of Twitter followers for Disney star Zendaya and how unfair any Twitter voting was for the celebs. While the SYTYCD contestants are in a different situation, I like the way the network handles the social media aspect of the show.

On Thursday, I created a Twitter list for the contestants so I could follow them without cluttering my already over-cluttered feed.  I wrote down how many followers each contestant had as of Thursday, June 20, thinking it would be fascinating experiment to see who is the fan favorite early on.

Last Thursday's Twitter count.

If you can read my chicken scratch in the photo above, notice that Malece Miller topped the Top 10 girls while Brittany Cherry was at the bottom. For the Top 10 boys, Nico Greetham was at the top with 2,410 followers and Carlos Garland had only 661 followers. If you checked their numbers today, you would see an increase for all of the contestants by now.

However, over the weekend, I noticed one contestant's numbers jump astronomically: Paul.  He went from 729 followers to over 5,000 within two days.  Really?  It made me think that only one thing happened: He bought followers. You can buy about 5,000 followers for about $75 via several internet sites. It's a deceiving way to make people think you have more followers than you actually do. Many of the accounts following you are fake or inactive when you buy them off of the internet.

What many people do not know is that there is a site that will track the percentages of fake followers. I did a little sleuthing and this is what I came up with for Paul's account.

His account is showing that over half of his followers are inactive on Twitter. Let's compare his account to Nico who had the most followers last week:

Nico, who is now up to 3,131 followers as of Monday, only has 13% of inactive followers. That is a a pretty typical number. Every Twitter account has some fake and/or inactive followers because of spam accounts or people who only open an account to follow celebs, but are inactive tweeters. The real number to focus in on is how many of the accounts that are following you are "good." This is where I raise eyebrows.  Nico has 84% and Paul has only 44%. Also, remember that Paul's follower count jumped from Thursday to Saturday...not on a show night after the audience watched him dance.

I am suspicious. I'm pretty sure that Paul bought followers because the pressure is on to be "America's Favorite Dancer."  Maybe he feels even more stressed to perform since he won SYTYCD Armenia? We all know how important social media is to connecting to the fans. I just think it's a really sneaky way to do it.

Chime in! Let me know what you think about social media, buying followers, and SYTYCD. Am I wrong? Is Paul wrong to do this?  I look forward to your feedback. 

Hugh Jackman: The Wolverine Trailer

Did you see the new The Wolverine trailer? If you haven't, it's time to see Hugh Jackman back in action as the incredible Marvel hero.

IMDB is describing the July 26 film saying,  "Wolverine makes a voyage to modern-day Japan, where he encounters an enemy from his past that will impact on his future."

I'm ready, are you?



In other Marvel news, see Jennifer Lawrence's smokin' hot body as Mystique here from X-Men: Days of Future Past.

A Farewell to Fringe

I know so many of you out there are fans of the show Fringe which didn't get all of the ratings and praise it deserved during its five season run.  I had the pleasure of interviewing some of the cast at the 36th and 37th Annual Saturn Awards and they couldn't be nicer.  Here's a little tribute to the show and its cast.  My interviews with Anna Torv, Lance Reddick, and John Noble.

Thanks for a great five seasons!  Watch the two-hour finale tonight on FOX at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

Be sure to check out my photos from the 36th and 37th Annual Saturn Awards. 

Don't forget to enter my Metric CD giveaway.  10 of you will win!!!

The Friday Five

Another week has come and gone so quickly because I am prepping for an overseas trip next week.  All of those important things you have to do for international travel:  passport,  converters for electronics, hotel, flights, my script (Yes, I am working over there.), and making sure my team is in place to take care of my house (Yep, there are people there, it's not an empty house), kitty, and my calendar while I am away. Before I go away, here are my favorites of the week, The Friday Five:

1.  Spy Kids:  I mentioned my interview with Jessica Alba a few weeks ago for Spy Kids: All The Time In The World.  They did the press junket a little early because of Jessica's due date.  She is now a proud mama of two.  Welcome to the world, Baby Haven!  See my interview for iVillage here.

2.  Disney: Earlier this week, I was on the Disney Burbank lot to see a screening of Fright Night.  Then I did a super secret interview for Disney on Wednesday. (More on that in October!)  Finally, this weekend, I am headed to their ultimate fan fest, D23, in Anaheim. I will be tweeting all day on Saturday, so be sure to follow me if you want to join the ride.

3.  Klout:  If you aren't familiar with Klout, but you are active in social media, it's time to check out this site.  It measures the amount of "klout" you have across multiple platforms in areas of expertise, interactivity, and influence. You will understand what I mean when I say, "I'm a 63".  To reward you for your "klout", the site will give you fun free items like my FOX VIP package which included a hoodie and a sneak preview of two fall shows, Terra Nova and New Girl.

4.  iPad 2:  Remember when I won this?  Well, it finally arrived 3 months later!  I appreciate the gift from Glimpsed, but their marketing company kind of dropped the ball on delivering the prize in a timely manner.  Either way, it is here and it will be with me all day at D23.  Thank you, Glimpsed!

5.  Hollywood: My super secret interview took place high up in Hollywood.  It is wonderful to see the city from this view from the awesome Santa Monica Mountains to the rooftop of the Kodak, there is nothing like Hollywood.



As the days dwindle on the dog days of summer, enjoy your weekend.  I will be back on Monday with my D23 coverage or follow me on Twitter if you just can't wait.

So You Think You Can Dance

Okay, So You Think You Can Dance Fans (SYTYCD), Season 8 is upon us and the live shows began last night on FOX.  Earlier this week, I was lucky enough to interview judges, Mary Murphy and Nigel Lythgoe, about the Top 20 dancers and their predictions for this season.  They both mentioned that the talent is top notch and the talent is better than ever, but remember, they have the luxury of watching the 7 previous seasons.  Let's hope that the contestants did their homework! Check out my short video interview with them on a hot Hollywood day:

Photos courtesy of Mingle Media TV.