Taylor Hicks: Still a Dangerous Idol!

Taylor Hicks: Still a Dangerous Idol!

On the American Idol stage, finalist Taylor Hicks is full of tics. Online, his screensavers are full of bugs.

So says a new survey conducted by a Web-patrolling consumer software company, which found 46 percent of popular downloaded Hicks-themed screensavers contained spyware or led to outbreaks of pop-up ads and spam email.

At some level, he's the most dangerous American Idol," said Shane Keats, market strategist for SiteAdvisor.com.

On another level, Ace Young is the most dangerous Idol finalist.

Though eliminated from the Fox singing competition Apr. 19, Young is second only to Hicks for having his momentarily famous face used by sneaky spyware manufacturers. His screensavers turned up hidden computer-clogging extras 36 percent of the time, the SiteAdvisory.com study said.

Even more troubling to Keats, the problem Young screensavers led computers to two "sexually explicit sites." Given the number of children who follow Idol and are likely to follow their favorite Idols online, Keats said the spyware makers "should be ashamed of themselves."

The other top Idols among the spyware crowd: Bucky Covington, Kellie Pickler and Lisa Tucker. The survey said 27 percent of each of that trio's screensavers were trouble.

Like Young, Covington, Pickler and Tucker are done with their Idol runs, having failed to muster enough viewer votes. Their spyware popularity probably speaks to the weeks of run-up time it takes the "spyware guys" to make their programs, Keats said.

That said, it's probably not a coincidence that Hicks, the gray-haired "Soul Patrol" provider, and prime contender for a spot in the season finale, is the go-to face for nefarious Netizens. "The people who make spyware go to where the popularity is," Keats said.

A similar ethos exists among those who write viruses: The bigger the name, the better the chance it'll be used to lure unsuspecting fans in email subject lines. Britney Spears, Michael Jackson and Microsoft's Bill Gates are among those who have had their bold-faced monikers attached to bugs.

So far, Keats said he hasn't seen any infected Idol-related emails: "I don't think we've got the Ace Young virus going around."

As for the screensaver problem, Keats recommended computer users stick to downloading from official sites. He also plugged his own SiteAdvisor.com, which offers a free download that rates a Website on its likelihood of causing computer problems, from "safe" to "caution" to "warning."

Another option is to download a Melissa McGee screensaver--from any old place. According to the study, not one of the surveyed screensavers devoted to the 21-year-old singer from Florida proved problematic.

Guess there's something to be said for being voted off the island first.