Pa.’s Kelly makes ‘Idol’ Top 5, but some fans cry foul

"Funny little thing" Siobhan Magnus got the boot last night on American Idol, leaving the Fox songfest with its final five:

Crystal Bowersox, favored neo-hippie Ohio mom. "Big Mike" Lynche, tender-hearted hulk from Florida. Casey James, goldilocks guitar guy from Texas. Lee DeWyze, never again just an Illinois paint-store clerk.

And Aaron Kelly, the country kid from Sonestown, Pa., a small town north of Harrisburg.

Only two other Pennsylvania contestants lasted so long - Doylestown's Justin Guarini, runner-up in Season One, and Trevose's Anthony Federov, who finished fourth in Season Four.

Fortune may have smiled on Kelly in a couple of ways this week.

Having Shania Twain as the show's mentor Tuesday night certainly suited his country leanings. Kelly, who turned 17 a few weeks ago, no doubt won the hearts - and votes - of lots of mothers and others when he turned Twain's "You've Got a Way" into a tribute to his adoptive mom.

Even crochety judge Simon Cowell had kind words: "Tonight, you were like a different artist. . . . For the first time in weeks, it felt sincere and believable. I think you did really well tonight."

Good chance that's why he wasn't even in the bottom three last night, although he has been several times before.

But some claim a phone-number mixup landed him lots of votes intended for edgy songbird Magnus (Cowell's the one who once called her a "funny little thing"), so she should get a do-over.

Her Facebook page, fans allege, mistakenly listed his telephone voting number instead of hers Tuesday night.

By 9 a.m. today, about 880 fans had signed a petition posted online (www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?26602307) before last night's show. It reads:

"To: American Idol

"Siobhan Magnus Contestant from Season 9 of American Idol was cheated due to the phone number on her facebook page was the phone number of Aaron Kelly. FB id#266023071895 I think this gave Aaron Kelly most of Siobhans votes and this isn't fair. The number was never changed even when we complained and told them to change it on her fan page.

"If you agree this is unfair & if Siobhan Magnus is in the bottom & has to go home i think it should be a non-elimination week."

What happened is unclear.

Facebook has two Magnus pages. One had the correct numbers Tuesday night. The other did have an erroneous post: "Siobhan Magnus VOTE NOW!!! 1-866-436-5705. AT&T CUSTOMERS TEXT "VOTE" TO 5705!"

Kelly's number was 05.

If it wasn't Fox's mistake, though, why should Fox make amends?

Besides, millions watched the show itself keep repeating the correct numbers, and millions of votes are typically cast each week, so Facebook's impact might be minimal.

American Idol did not immediately respond to a request for comment.