America...are you high?

That's just one of the more plausible scenarios being floated to explain Wednesday night's shocking American Idol voting results, which found powerhouse singers Jennifer Hudson, LaToya London and Fantasia Barrino--i.e., what should have been the final three--in the dreaded bottom three, and Hudson getting the boot with the least number of call-in votes.

Internet message boards are abuzz with all sorts of conspiracy theories to explain Hudson's seemingly premature depature. On Fox's idolonfox.com forums, nearly 3,500 people had responded to a message asking fans to "sign here if you think Jennifer was robbed."

And even the show's brain trust is struggling to figure out what happened.

Judge Randy Jackson, in an interview with Extra, said everyone on the panel was "pretty shocked," and that the results were "crazy," "nuts" and "insane."

We're guessing he called the interviewer "pitchy," too, but that's just Randy, dawg.

Meanwhile, judge Simon Cowell said it best when he expressed his surprise right after the results were announced on Wednesday's show: "Tongue...floor.

"[But] let's be clear: Every single one of [the contestants] needs America's help, and that's what competition is all about."

According to some scuttlebutt, Hudson didn't get Mother Nature's help.

Extra reports that, because of a storm and power outage in Hudson's hometown of Chicago, some 15,000 people were unable to watch the show Tuesday night and cast votes. Randy Jackson confirmed to Extra that the number of votes between Hudson and next-to-last vote getter Barrino was the closest ever in the show's history. Is a recount or a do-over in order?

Internet boards were teeming with thousands of postings trying to figure out what went down, including the following:

Computer hackers. "I think there are a few smart (ass) computer geniuses who are hacking the system and tampering with the votes! Think about it: How did the top three become the bottom three in a week?" idolonfox.com fan eclyps asks.

The bloc of 13-and-under female viewers, the same group that powered Clay Aiken's run last year, has thrown its considerable weight behind John Stevens, who appears to be the least talented of the remaining performers. (Our friend Audrey dubs him "Howdy Astley.")

Writes a fan called Hatchery, "I have a feeling John Stevens will win! He is so special, and he improves every week. His version of 'Mandy' was spectacular...The momentum is building for you! We're going to vote over and over and over again--we'll make you the new American Idol!" (A typical reply from Sassybell53: "Are you tone deaf? Or 13-years-old and have crush on a cute guy on TV? John is probably a real sweet kid, but he's no American Idol."

Perhaps the millions of AI viewers--22.74 tuned in for Tuesday's cover performances of the song stylings of celeb guest judge Barry Manilow--are bored with the trio of divas and their seemingly sure path to victory.

And, despite Jackson's claim that the show is not a popularity contest, consider some of these postings on the idolonfox.com message boards. On LaToya: "No doubt she has a good voice, but she should go. Her arrogance is extremely obnoxious." On Fantasia: "One Macy Gray in the universe is enough." On Jennifer: "Her attitude was terrible [and] she oversang every song! It looked like her eyes were going to pop out because she was yelling (yes, yelling) so loudly."

Though the single-mom card seemed to garner some sympathy votes for season-one contestant Nikki McKibbin, whose thin voice inexplicably took her to the final three, perhaps Seacrest's decision to bring single mom Fantasia Barrino's daughter on stage did not elicit the same reaction from viewers. On a particularly vicious exchange on the AI message boards, someone called idol_8 writes, "Younger people admire and look up to the American Idols. Do we really want people looking up to a single mother? A single 19-year-old mother with a toddler?"

The three obviously most talented performers split a large portion of the votes. "It is the same in years when someone wins an Oscar because three better films split the votes. The three ladies more than likely have people voting along the same demographic, and that splits their vote," goes one such theorist.

By far the most contentious claim is that somehow the vote was racist. The New York Post (owned by Fox parent News Corp.) reports that the newspaper received call-in complaints that the results were racially motivated, since all three singers in the bottom three were black. This theme was also picked up on in the official idolonfox.com message boards.

"It's very obvious who the better singers are, and it sure wasn't who last night's vote depicted," writes darzia2001 in a typical post. "It's a waste of time when [the] majority of the people who are sitting by their phones voting the whole voting period are either stoned, tone deaf or just plain stupid."

?I think American Idol is racist. They don't want another African American to win," says an ew.com fan, referring to second-season winner Ruben Studdard. An idolonfox.com fan's retort: ?Racist, huh? Let's recall for a moment that 50 percent of the top eight were black. I'm not saying that Jennifer's being voted off wasn't the worst thing that's happened to this show, I'm just saying it's not a race issue.?

Fox declines to release voting information, so there is no demographic breakdown available. According to Nielsen Media Research, AI is seen in 19 percent of African American households this season, compared to 15 percent of overall homes. But that 19 percent represents 3.5 million viewers, as opposed to 26.5 million total show watchers. George Huff, who is also black, was voted on to the next round.

One thing is clear, as Ryan Seacrest pointed out at the conclusion of Wednesday night's show: "America, don't forget you have to vote! You cannot let talent like this slip through the cracks!" And he wasn't talking about himself.

Fox execs, who might be a tad worried if they've read the some of AI message boards, where fans have vowed to stop watching the show after the seemingly unfathomable results from this week, issued, via Extra, their own plea to viewers.

"As proven with last night's results, you can never assume that any contestant is safe. You can never assume that they have enough votes. It's imperative that viewers vote for their favorite Idol every week."

Looking forward, next week's American Idol theme: Latin music with guest judge Gloria Estefan. Remember what William Hung did to Ricky Martin's "She Bangs"?

The six remaining contestants are: London, Barrino, Stevens, Huff, Jasmine Trias and Diana DeGarmo.