As though self-involved thespians masquerading as wacky contestants weren't enough, American Idol has been exposed by a longtime nemesis and the mainstream media as being nothing but a "boring hash of recycled pseudo-celebrities who weren't good enough to make it the first time around."

Votefortheworst.com was created four years ago to promote voting for AI contestants not favored by judges. The site has been somewhat successful, most notably in the talent show's sixth season: Were it not for the tender mercies of the site, America might never have been subjected to the long run of the consistently flat, raspy vocals of shape-shifting hairnut Sanjaya Malakar.

The top 50 contestants on this season of Idol have now been established, and it turns out the discerning fan will recognize at least a few of them. Here are just three of the several has-beens being recycled as Idol contestants:

• Carly Hennessy: A lovely Irish lass, Ms. Hennessy was once the face of Ireland's Denny Sausages. She was carted overseas by MCA in 2000, allegedly on her way to becoming the next big thing in the States. But by early 2002, the London Sunday Times was declaring that the "Irish answer to Britney" was "top of flops." Around the same time, the Wall Street Journal published a story detailing the millions spent by MCA on Carly's album, Ultimate High, and the few thousand dollars spent by fans who actually bought the 400 or so copies.

•Kristy Lee Cook: Kristy Lee signed with Arista Nashville in 2001, when she was just 17. Her website, kristylee.net, links the winsome blonde from Oregon with no less than allegedly bipolar popturd Britney Spears, proudly noting that "Kristy is also the first recording artist to sign under Britney Spears' production company, B&L Productions."

• David Archuleta: Just four years ago, Archuleta won Star Search as a junior singer. After some video footage of him singing started making the rounds, Idol producers came calling. The affair is referenced in the biographical blurb about David found on his old website, which appears to only be available currently through Internet Archives. Thankfully, Archuleta still has a profile page at the creepy but probably legit boysoloist.com.

American Idol has insisted since its premiere that it is all about making stars of regular old street folk. It now looks as though the five remaining believers still hooked on that fairy tale are in for some major disappointment.