Ruben Studdard Wins Questionable ‘Idol’ Finale

Tonight Ruben Studdard was named ‘American Idol’, beating Clay Aiken by only 1,335 votes according to host Ryan Seacrest. With 24 million votes cast, the difference was statistically insignificant, and likely doesn’t paint a true picture of the true winning margin. During the 3-hour voting period coast-to-coast both lines were jammed to capacity. If the both lines were able to process 2 million phone calls an hour, it wouldn’t matter if voters dialed Ruben or Clay’s toll-free number 4 million times or 10 million times during the hour, it would still only process 2 million calls. No matter who was named the winner, because of this jammed phone situation, the losing side is going to feel cheated. ‘Idol’ producers need to come up with a way to handle a much heavier call-load next season so this doesn’t happen again.