American Idol: Hearthrob Effect Impacting Results?

Alexis Grace's elimination rehashes an intriguing American Idol conspiracy theory, Los Angeles Times blogger Richard Rushfield said Thursday, being that crush-object boys are more likely to succeed on the show than their female rivals due to an aggressive, teenybopper voter base.

With Grace gone, the remaining head count is seven males and three women, which the blogger dubs "a byproduct of the producers decision not to mandate gender balance in the top 12 (or 13)."

Rushfield said that the trend was glaring last season, when then-contestants Jason Castro, David Cook, Michael Johns and David Archuleta received exponentially more fan mail than the girls that year.

He went on to note that the Tiger Beat effect does not trickle down to post-Idol careers as the show's alumna (Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Jordin Sparks) have had far better luck in their careers than the boys (Ruben Studdard, Taylor Hicks, David Cook) after the Idol spotlight fades. (Image Courtesy of FOX)