Oprah’s network denies rigging contest votes, ensures legitimacy

But it has been found that a set of spam blogs is actually behind that vote-rigging.

People were asked to vote online and choose one capable candidate on ‘Your OWN Show: Oprah’s Search for the Next TV Star,’ who would get to host a show on OWN.

The two top contenders of Oprah’s Search for the Next TV Star
Over 10,000 hopefuls participated through online audition tapes and open casting calls at four Kohl's stores. The number would eventually go down to 10 finalists chosen by online votes and by judges from the live castings.

According to the online votes, the two top contenders were Phyllis Wick-Turner, a Florida college professor, and Zach Anner, a 25-year-old from Austin.

Anner, who is restricted to a wheelchair because of cerebral palsy, was quite a hit with humorous, self-deprecating manner. In his audition tape, Anner describes cerebral palsy as “the sexiest of the palsies.” Citing his own experiences, he had pitched for “a travel show for people who never thought they could travel.”

Anner was widely talked about as being a really capable candidate and was mentioned on several celebrity blogs including singer John Mayer’s personal web site and 4chan.

Phyllis Tucker-Wicks, a college professor, is his strongest competitor. She says that she always “wanted be a Hollywood actress,” and had pitched for a ‘teacher reality show’ that portrays “the days and the lives of a teacher and the drama in the classroom."

Hackers manipulate voting, accuse Oprah of racial discrimination
As long as Anner stayed on the top, everything was running smooth but when Phyllis’ votes started surging, Anner fans accused the network of foul play. They accused the show-makers of racial discrimination, as Anner is white and Tucker-Wicks is African American.

This is Oprah -- she helps people for a living. To think people are saying she's rigged the voting against me doesn't compute for me. It's not what I believe -- Zach Anner

However, it was later found that the whole controversy was created by some hackers, who even manipulated search results to make ‘Oprah rigs contest in favor of African American’ the most searched term on Google.

Anner refuses to believe Oprah rigged the voting
Anner had clearly refused to believe the vote-rigging reports against Oprah. Addressing the issue, he said, “This is Oprah -- she helps people for a living. To think people are saying she's rigged the voting against me doesn't compute for me. It's not what I believe."

The network has ensured the fans that all votes will be screened to ensure legitimacy of voting results.

Anner is currently leading with 8.3 million votes while Tucker-Wicks is close on his tail with 6.6 million. Voting will end on July 3.