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

Unbeknown to Fox or Seacrest, the Associated Press had assigned reporters nationwide to try to vote at the conclusion of that May 18 broadcast.

Last Thursday, the AP reported the results of its close encounter with the phone voting system that has "bedeviled the show and fueled conspiracy theories when talented competitors were axed over weaker ones."

AP reporters began trying to phone in their votes "as the last strains of the 'Idol' theme song faded," the wire service reported.

"Too late: the line's busy, chump. Try again. And again, and again . . ."

Out of more than 100 calls placed by the AP from Los Angeles and the home states of Barrino (North Carolina), DeGarmo (Georgia) and Trias (Hawaii), only four got through.

In Georgia, the AP said, the second call placed went through but after the caller hung up, the land-line phone went dead for 17 minutes. As soon as the tone returned, the reporter called the "Idol" line, got a busy signal and again the line went dead, for four minutes.

The next day, the network announced that the two finalists, Barrino and DeGarmo, each would be assigned three separate phone numbers. (Fox had already announced it would extend the voting period after last night's final performance broadcast, as it had done last year, only this time by two hours instead of one.)

"We had already planned on expanding the voting window for the finale, just as we did last year," executive producer Cecile Frot-Coutaz of Fremantle Media said in a statement. "With the volume of calls this season already exceeding last year's finale, we also felt it was important to give fans additional phone numbers in an attempt to reduce the congestion at local exchanges."

Gee whiz, if four-hour voting windows and more phone lines are an option, why not do that throughout the show's run, rather than putting the credibility of this franchise through the wringer week after week?

And, while we're asking questions, can anyone explain Paul Anka doing "My Way" with what's left of his voice at the end of last night's broadcast?