‘Idol’ goes to the replay

“American Idol” fanatics had to wait another day to discover which contestant would be sent packing this week.

For the first time in the four-season history of Fox’s top-rated series, “American Idol” was forced to schedule a revote Wednesday after incorrect voting numbers were displayed in the on-screen graphics for three contestants during the performance recap on Tuesday. Results of Wednesday’s vote were to be aired tonight at 9.

Wednesday night’s show was expanded from the scheduled 30 minutes to an hourlong show that featured an encore of the 11 contestants’ performances from Tuesday with live wraparounds and additional thoughts from the judges.

“It was human error,” said “Idol” executive producer Ken Warwick during a conference call. “We found out [about the problem] as it was on the air. Fox called to say we are getting e-mails saying that the wrong phone numbers were going up.”

As soon as the mistake was discovered, Warwick and the other “American Idol” producers decided they didn’t want to be told how many votes were cast Tuesday -- or for whom. They opted to have a nationwide revote among “Idol” viewers.

Warwick said an outside contractor employed the person who made the mistake. He didn’t know if the man had been fired or disciplined.

In tonight’s half-hour installment of “Idol,” the show will announce which of the remaining contestants received the lowest number of votes and will be forced off the show. “Idol” is now the top-rated show, drawing more than 25 million viewers Tuesday.

Viewers who text-messaged their votes Tuesday night were not charged for voting again Wednesday.

The “American Idol” error also led to Fox scrambling to reschedule its new sitcom “Life on a Stick,” which was scheduled to premiere at 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, directly after the “Idol” results show. “Life on a Stick” is now scheduled for tonight, following the special “Idol” telecast, and will move to its regular Wednesday time slot next week.