Does that accusation mean that American Idol producers know who the winner will be before the voting is done? No.

It does mean that the audience, you and me and millions of other viewers, have been hoodwinked by Randy, Paula, and Simon. Why?

To ensure that any one of the remaining Idol contestants would be a good “idol” and one that Americans vote for, not the best singer or potential idol, but one of those few selected to win the contest.

How do I know this? Take the Top 24 Idol contestants. 12 girls and 12 guys. We’ve been set up.

The Top 24 were selected, supposedly, by Randy, Paula, and Simon from among tens of thousands of Idol contestants in qualifying rounds in Boston, Denver, and elsewhere.

For some of the Top 24, the TV audience seldom saw them sing in the preliminary rounds or the Hollywood round. Why?

Importantly, out of tens of thousands of contestants, why did the judges select some for Hollywood, and some for the final 24, knowing they would never be voted as the American Idol for 2006?

Entertainment value. Many of those contestants who made it to Hollywood had no chance of making it to the Top 24, and less than no chance of ever being voted by callers to become the American Idol.

Why were they included? Entertainment value. They were selected as the court jesters of singing ability (or lack of).

American Idol’s Top 24 has entertainment ringers, too; contestants inserted into the competition so the audience would have someone to vote off the contest early.

Take the Top 24. In the first week, four Idol contestants, two guys and two girls, received the lowest votes from the viewing audience, and were dropped.

Those dropped could not have won the competition because they were ringers; brought to the show as talented filler to be sacrificed to the audience.

Why? Because the viewing audience, more specifically those who call in and vote, cannot be trusted to select the best singer, idol, performer as the winner of the contest.

American Idol provides a half dozen or so contestants who should easily make it to the final few, and the rest are there purely to be voted off as systematically as possible.

Look at the final 24 and the four voted off last week.

Stevie Scott; odd looking, strange personality, talented voice, but a mismatch for Idol. Patrick Hall: a semi-pro already, not enough ‘X-Factor’ to bring it home.

The same with big Bobby Bennett: likeable, but not enough magic. Why were these guys even in the Top 24? They were fillers, ringers, sacrifices on the alter.

The only exception was the beautiful ice princess, Becky O’Donohue. No Idol contestant had the bedroom look of Becky, but she left merely a few weeks earlier than expected.

Who goes next or soon? Bucky Covington, another ringer. Brenna Gethers, Ayla Brown, Kinnik Sky. They’re only in the Top 24 to be voted off early, so the real talent will rise to the surface.

Will Mandisa ever make the Top 10? Yes, but not the Top 5. Will Bucky hit the Top 5? Not a chance.

Who’s the real talent? Not geeky squeeky Kevin Covais. Not cutie Partdridge Family genetic spawn Will Makar, or crooner David Radford. They’re all filler material.

The real talent? Among the guys it’s Elliott Yamin, Chris Daughtry, Taylor Hicks, and Ace Young. All the other guys are ringers, set up to lose.

Among the girls it’s cutie pie, honey bunch Paris Bennett and sugar sweet Kelly Pickler who will stick around.

Mark my words. No blondes this year.

Who’s left? Katharine McPhee, American Idol for 2006.