Kari S

Emily is 6, maybe 7 now (I read your blog). According to the terms of use on www.ourstage.com AND www.facebook.com, all users and account holders must be at a minimum of 13 years of age. Whether or not you assisted your children in the voting process, their accounts are against the terms and agreements. You lied.

And I am not smallminded enough to think that you are the only one to cause the outcome of the voting, you were just smallminded enough to get caught. And if you did this, I am sure you are not the only one who did too, I just have evidence against you. I guess it sucks to be you.

I am always unsure how to navigate the Ourstage website and I always have difficulty finding the original page. So I am sure that this will only reach you if you check this page.

First I'd like to say that my comment about how to rank people in order to help Mindy (and I did this for several artists) is called strategy. My post was asking about how to vote. I didn't understand what the process was and why certain artists came up more than others. There were songs in the top 10, when all songs could still be voted for, that I thought were absolutely horrible. And so if I choose to rank *anyone* above the songs that I disliked, I assumed it would help other songs that were better advance faster. I remember Casia's song was right with Mindy's song - somewhere around 15 or 16 and I thought it was so much better that other songs before it. A lot of the really good artists that I voted for in this manner ended up in the top 10. Are you really small minded enough to think that I alone caused this? Whatever though, it is called strategy. And there is nothing wrong with strategy. And it is certainly not cheating to vote how I wish to vote

As far as the post, I have never before posted on her blog before that post and I don't know her. So I did not go into detail about what I meant about the strategy, nor did I go into detail about using the Facebook pages. So for you to say that your interpretation of my post is the only correct conclusion is just your opinion. I have explained it when you asked and short of me saying exactly what you want to hear, nothing will change your opinion. So I am done explaining. And what I don't understand is how you can't realize that whether I was helping my kids or even if it was just me using the account, it actually is more time consuming and less effective to have to register each account, switch between accounts and then start the voting process. It is much more likely to have the artists I like come up if I am only on one account. So really a person is getting to vote LESS if they do it that way than if they just stick with one account. But a couple of my kids thought it was cool, so I did it with them. If I chose to only say that I used my kids' Facebook accounts, then actually that statement it true b/c I did use them - with my kids.

And you know what is really sad about what you are doing and what you are accusing me of? I got to vote for Mindy when she was in the top ten for like 10 minutes. It wasn't until she sent out an email about her new album that I wondered about the contest and found info that said you could only vote until 9pm. It was 8:15 and after voting for 10 minutes something went screwy with the internet and I couldn't vote. So you have this idea in your mind that I was some sort of crazed woman with like 8 computers going in between each of them trying desperately to make Mindy win. And it’s sad that you think that one person's voting for a couple hours is what made her get to #1. So, so sad.

And if I have the time to set up an email account that I can use for one day only, I will give you that email. I think you are vindictive and I would never give you my personal email address. I don't know what kind of inequality you grew up with, but that has no bearing on what happened here.

You have caused a big stink over probably like 1% of her votes and you have soured the competition for so many people. And you did originally say something to the effect that Mindy was encouraging her fans to cheat. But maybe that post *mysteriously* disappeared before someone could get a screen shot.

The only reason I keep responding to you or to your accusations is because you seem to have singled me out. I am so tired of people taking words and twisting them. You can't claim to know the whole story of the post that you say is such damning evidence. You have taken your crusade over one person's votes so incredibly far that you just can't say "Okay, I'm sorry." You have no evidence that my explanation is invalid so you hang on to a blog post that I tried to make as brief as possible. You have just got a burr under your saddle and you can't let it go

In a way I am flatter that I am *THAT* important that my votes outweigh everyone else’s. You make me feel so important that my account was somehow magically rigged to have 50% more voting power. Gosh, I have so much power! (not

Hi Kari,

Sorry I haven't gotten back to you sooner, I didn't realize that you had sent me a comment rather than a message until just now. I certainly have the information that you requested, but unfortunately, I cannot send you the screen shots via ourstage.com, it would need to be through an actual email address, but if you do not wish to send me your personal email address, I certainly understand.

I suppose that I can understand an honest mistake of accidently posting a comment under your daughter’s account, especially with a multiple- user computer. I have a family as well (with one on the way), and mistakes happen. I accidently sent my own mother an email from my husband’s account (and let me just say that things did not turn out well ). I just found it odd, is all.

There is no doubt in my mind that your children exist, or that they enjoy the music of Mindy Gledhill. My concern, again, lies with the comment that you posted on Mindy’s blog. Word for word, your comment states, "So....if I rank anyone who is ahead of Mindy in the 3rd or 4th position and anyone that is behind her in the 1st or 2nd, does that help her? It frustrating because California has only come up once. And Mindy, I used my kids facebook accounts to vote for you too - I have 4 kids (one who is named Jackson (he's 15).

“I used MY kids facebook accounts TO VOTE FOR YOU TOO.” Not ‘I had my kids vote for you’, or ‘My kids voted for you”, but “I used MY kids facebook accounts TO VOTE FOR YOU TOO.” That is where my concern has been raised from. This is blatant evidence of cheating to me.

In regards to the statement about me singling Mindy out, that is completely false. I posted another comment on Mindy’s song yesterday, but she has chosen to delete it. This is that comment in its entirety:

Hello all! I have a few more things to say, and it's not "re-advertising", Mr. Ellsworth. I quite enjoy the fact that even before the contest came to a close, I was deemed "the bad guy", purely because I spoke my mind. I am sorry that not everyone agreed with me about my opinions on other artists (i.e. Cassia, Alicia, Jenna, Emme, etc.), but that being said, it was simply my personal opinion. If fans in general don't agree with me, I'm alright with that. I can't wrap my head around people that I encounter who don't like the Beatles, but I can respect THEIR OPINION.

I will reiterate that I NEVER accused Mindy of cheating. I accused her fans, and only after I discovered proof of them cheating. It wasn't just "Kari"/ "Emily", there was also another blog subscriber under the name of "photography" that claimed they voted under the name "Wayne" (is this an absolute, out right declaration of cheating? No. But "Kari"/"Emily", I'm not just picking on you) (screenshots for that, too). And dmh102 said: “Oh come ON mimi pirate. Every contestant has brothers, sisters, parents, friends and fans who voted multipile times for them. Don't single Mindy out as some kind of villain and all her fans as dishonest people.” First off, EVERY contestant had people voting for them multiple times? I think some of the contestants might find that 100% incorrect, and possibly offensive. Secondly, I didn’t “single Mindy out as some kind of villain”. I posted these comments to raise concern, because it was MINDY’S fans that I found to be cheating.

And in my own defense, I feel I should call out bostonboulevard. This person is the one who originally said that they “smelled a rat”. I simply followed up on it. Jtim8891 agreed that something was off. I took it upon myself to do some research. Had I not found anything, I believe that all would have ended well. And I never called Mindy a “rat”, Heather Erickson. I restated what bostonboulevard said, and used the term in its correct context, meaning that something was off.

In regards to the “re- advertising”, “Kari”/”Emily” stated that she would turn herself in if I provided the screenshots for her, but interestingly, I have not heard back from her. She said things like “In reality, I only used my son's facebook page when he was with me and mine. Once I started voting using my daughter's, but realized it so I signed off her account so I could use my Facebook page to vote at the same time that I read updates on Facebook.”, but if anyone would take the time to read the screen shots that I have, or the previous comment I left with that blog quotation, they would see clearly that this is a lie.

Let me end with this. I am not here to strip any of the contestants of their winnings, or their chance to perform. I simply consider myself a person of integrity, and while things and my comments may have stepped out of line, my initial intention was to simply point out what I felt was wrong. Mindy has said herself that she wants to win a fair fight, and I think she has the decency to accept that she may not have gotten to first place by the “upstanding voting” of her fans. If anyone were to look at the artist agreement on ourstage.com, it states that the artist agrees to not allow multiple voting by their friends, family or fans. The artist agrees to that in order to enter the competition. Mindy did nothing to prohibit her friends and fans from violating the terms of the contest, instead opting to just delete their comments when anyone admitted to illegal voting using multiple accounts. She found out about this before the competition closed, and did nothing about it. Plain and simple, whether or not Mindy encouraged it, she was aware, and it violates the terms, making it unfair to the other contenders. It’s unfortunate that Mindy got sucked into this, as she seems like an upstanding, decent and morale person, but her fans did this, and I feel it’s only appropriate for the wrongs to be made right.

I do hope that all of the angles are examined by the judges in the end. Mindy, you have an enormous fan base, and you have obvious talent, and I certainly do not accuse ALL of your fans of cheating. Obviously, there are a lot of them that voted honestly, and you don’t deserve to be completely discredited for a handful of dishonest voters. But I also hope that the judges will weigh the severity of violating the terms and agreements of the competition. I believe in honesty and fairness, and I guess it comes across as being a “sore loser”

Best of luck and God bless,
Love, mimi_pirat

I am not naïve, and I am not vindictive. There were many artists (more than 2) that I liked in this competition. I may not have had the most constructive criticisms, but that is a fault I will own up to and work on in the future. I also will continue to not believe your explanations and “facts”, because the evidence I have says otherwise. There are only so many accidents that one can be willing to forgive, no matter how unfortunate it is

Kari, you are quite obviously an intelligent woman, and I wish to remain as respectful as I can without compromising my integrity and still standing up for what I believe in. It’s with my best intentions that I have continued this fight. I have grown up with a lot inequality, as have most of us, but I have seen few willing to fight for the change.

I will reiterate, I wish the best for Mindy, and if that means she still goes on to perform at Lilith Fair, then more power to her. If my comments and research is deemed illegitimate, false, or un-influential, I will still know that I have done all that I could within my power to make things right. I don’t wish to discredit Mindy, and I know that not all of her fans were involved in dishonesty. You are quite right that not many people could afford to spend 10 hours a day voting (myself included).

I just felt it necessary to point out what I found, and again, I wouldn’t have even known something was awry, if bostonboulevard hadn’t said something to get the wheels in my head turning. I don’t believe that I have done anything off color or sneaky, I simply googled ‘Mindy Gledhill’, and her blog came up. I have also researched other competitors to see if the same thing was happening elsewhere. I found nothing amiss with Libbie, Marie, Tiger, or Cassia. That certainly doesn’t mean that it didn’t happen (if you find something though, I encourage you to point it out). My point is that I found the evidence to back it up with Mindy’s blog. I’m sorry it happened to her.

I hope that this clears some things up, but if you still find me to be off base and horrible, so be it. I feel that I can justify my actions, to make it fair for everyone, Mindy included. Thank you for taking the time to follow up with me. I appreciate your passion to fight for what you think is right as well

With the best regards
mimi_pirat

P.S
To contact an administrator, the best I found was to scroll to the bottom the site, and select ‘Contact Us’ under ‘Support’. From there, I believe the appropriate channel is through ‘Community’. My personal email address is mimi_pirate@yahoo.com if you would like to contact me for the screen shots.

P.P.S
I sent you this message to your inbox and as a comment, because I was unsure of which way you would best receive it

Thank you so much for your kind comment! I do feel honored to have made the top 10 in the Lilith competition. There were some amazing artists to contend with. Tell your son that I said thank you to him too.