All Q did was mount a campaign to draw attention to their show which had opened 10 months earlier. They enticed Tony voters to come and see it. (As we know, many Tony voters don't even bother going to see the nominees!)
Even if they hadn't I suspect AVE Q would have won anyway. Why? Look at the opening night reviews. AVE Q got near unanimous raves. WICKED opened to mixed reviews (hardly any raves) and quite a few outright pans. Fans of WICKED seem to think that the show was cheated, when in fact it was never assured of winning, no matter how popular it is. (GREASE is also very popular yet it never won a single Tony award.)
As for Regis & Kelly (to swing this back on topic) they are at least filling some of the void that opened when Rosie O'Donnell quit her daytime show. Thanks to her promotion (and hosting) the 1997 Tonys scored their best ratings in years.
Cast albums are NOT "soundtracks."
Live theatre does not use a "soundtrack." If it did, it wouldn't be live theatre!
I host a weekly one-hour radio program featuring cast album selections as well as songs by cabaret, jazz and theatre artists. The program, FRONT ROW CENTRE is heard Sundays 9 to 10 am and also Saturdays from 8 to 9 am (eastern times) on www.proudfm.com