Calls Waiting: 'Idol' Voters Finally Get Through to Fox

The credibility of "American Idol" will be determined tonight.

And not because practically everyone has been forecasting that Diana DeGarmo will emerge victorious over Fantasia Barrino, even though Barrino is enormously talented while DeGarmo is not.

Last night, for example, Barrino brought the audience to tears, judge Paula Abdul called it "her night" and judge Simon Cowell called her final song "her acceptance speech," claiming she's the most talented singer to ever appear on any of the U.S. or international editions of "Idol." DeGarmo, meanwhile, turned in another of her signature karaoke-singer-turned-teen-pageant-veteran-turned-"America's Most Talented Kid"-finalist performances, causing judge Randy Jackson to note that she was "singing her face off."

No, it does not matter who wins. Just ask Clay Aiken, who lost to Ruben Studdard in the second edition of "American Idol" but has sold 2.5 million albums to Studdard's 1.7 million, according to the most recent stats from Nielsen SoundScan.

The show's voting system, however, is in a state of crisis, angering numerous viewer-voters and possibly explaining why, though "Idol" is the most watched program of the TV season, audience levels showed signs of slippage among 18- to 49-year-olds as the season progressed.

Even so, the Fox network and the show's producers steadfastly refused to acknowledge they have a problem, until recently.

Last year, Fox reported during the "Idol" finale that 24 million votes had been cast on the final Tuesday night of the competition, 134,000 more for Studdard than for Aiken.

But Verizon reported its call volume was up by 116 million calls that night, which a spokeswoman attributed to "Idol" voting, trade publication Broadcasting & Cable reported. SBC Communications reported its call volume on the night was up by 115 million.

That would seem to indicate that millions more votes were attempted than the 24 million that were recorded during the three hours the network left the phone lines open.

The next day, television critics were swamped with calls from angry viewers who had been unable to get through at any time during the three hours. The TV Column also heard from many people with the same story.

In other words -- not our problem.

"Idol" is the most important show Fox has on its schedule; during the May ratings sweeps, it was practically the only thing Fox had on its schedule. It turned over nearly a quarter of its schedule to "Idol" broadcasts and tossed-together "Idol" specials like "Idol: The Final Three."

Thanks to "Idol," Fox will finish this TV season in second place among the 18-to-49-year-olds whom advertisers pay a premium to reach. At the end of the November sweeps, before "Idol" returned to its lineup, Fox was in fourth place in that demographic.