‘Idol’ Hears It Loud ‘n’ Clear From Hawaii

For once, “American Idol” judge Simon Cowell probably wishes he’d kept his mouth shut.

During Fox Broadcasting Co.’s top-rated Tuesday night show, the biting judge challenged the state of Hawaii to call in its votes for 17-year-old native daughter Jasmine Trias. He deemed her renditions of “Everlasting Love” and “It’s Raining Men” the musical competition show’s worst performances of the night.

Calling her the most vulnerable, Cowell told Trias she’d “better hope every home in Hawaii has five phone lines” and that everybody uses them.

By Wednesday, they apparently had.

Verizon, the state’s main telephone service provider, recorded 5 million attempted cellular and land-line calls for Trias. Of those, 1.3 million got through, ensuring Trias, who had been reduced to tears by Cowell’s criticism, was not in danger of being expelled. Instead, La Toya London, considered the best vocalist by the judges, was voted off.

All this from a state with a total population of 1.2 million.

“Idol” continues to be a powerhouse for Fox, a unit of News Corp. Tuesday’s show, in which the contestants perform, drew 23.3 million viewers; Wednesday’s results show drew 22.3 million viewers. Both were the most-watched shows those nights.

The Tuesday night “Idol” is the most-watched show in the season to date, averaging more than 26 million viewers.

“I think, Jasmine, you have a lot of thank-you letters to write to Hawaii,” a disappointed Cowell said on Wednesday’s results show.

Maybe so. But the first one should probably go to Cowell.