"Idol" Calls for a Do-Over

Someone over at American Idol may be singing the unemployment blues after a screw-up on Tuesday's episode of the show has forced the first revote in the talent search's four-season history.

Fox announced that the show will be staging a revote during a special one-hour broadcast Wednesday night, after incorrect phone numbers to cast votes for several contestants were shown onscreen during the show's wrap-up montage.

An outside contractor was blamed for the error, Idol executive producer Ken Warwick said Wednesday.

He said the individual had been reprimanded but did not know if he or she was fired. He did not reveal the person's identity.

As a result of the mixup, fans dialing the numbers they were advised to call to vote for Mikalah Gordon, Anwar Robinson or Jessica Sierra may have inadvertently voted for Anthony Fedorov, Carrie Underwood or Scott Savol, respectively.

The network acted rapidly to salvage the damage potentially wrought by millions of diehard voters repeatedly casting mistaken ballots during the two hours Idol phone lines were open for voting.

Instead of the usual half-hour elimination show usually screened on Wednesday, Fox will now air a one-hour program, featuring encores of Tuesday's performances by the 11 finalists, combined with additional "live elements." (Read: extra Ryan Seacrest shtick.)

None of the votes cast Tuesday night will be counted, to the frustration of sore-thumbed speed dialers across the nation. Voting lines are scheduled to reopen from 10 p.m. to midnight after the show.

Whichever contestant receives the lowest number of votes will be tossed off the show in a newly created Thursday Idol slot.

Talk about all Idol, all the time...

Meanwhile, conspiracy theories abounded on Fox's American Idol message boards Wednesday, as rabid fans of the show refused to buy the "oops" defense mounted by Fox.

Some posters held fast to the theory that the higher-ups at Fox ultimately determine the show's winner and perhaps Tuesday night's voting didn't go the network's way.

"I bet the reason for this is because someone got voted out that shouldnt have been vote out....it makes you think....," posited a poster by the name squirmy112.

Others were of the belief that Fox purposely broadcast the wrong numbers in order to appease advertisers who were shorted at some point during the season.

"This was done on purpose...they owed a half hour to the advertisers from that week they chiseled the show from an hour to a half hour," pointed out a poster using the handle Smartboy.

"Also the contestants knew about this, as they did not stick up their fingers last night to show the number to call. If you recall, they were gesturing 'call me' but not the number."

Still more posters maintained that the "screw-up" was actually a ratings ploy and that adding an extra show on Thursday was a deliberate plan to compete with Survivor and March Madness basketball.

"Since the show was taped, then they would have caught the error before it aired. It seems like a well thought out plan to me," wrote a poster by the name louieville. "Now the answer is why? My answer is to compete with the NCAA tourney on CBS on Thursday. Call me crazy--but basketball rules where I come from....."

In a conference call with reporters, Warwick called all such conspiracy theories "rubbish" and denied any impropriety by the network.

"Why would we contaminate the honesty of one of the top-rated shows in America by fiddling with it?" Warwick asked.

The additional Idol show irritated some fans now forced to choose between their favorite reality television programs.

"I know that Fox has my undevided [sic] attention on Tuesday & Wednesday nights but I'm a Survivor fan on Thursdays," wrote a poster by the name cosmoslady. "This week is gonna be a really good Survivor show and I for one won't miss it. I am going to tune into the show tonight but not on Thursday. If this is a ploy I think they might be dissapointed in their ratings come Thursday."

So far, Idol's ratings have been nothing but a source of glee to Fox this season. Close to 30 million viewers have been tuning in to the talent quest each week and the show held on to the top two slots in the ratings for the week ended Sunday.