On Wednesday, May 11th 2005, Anthony Fedorov was voted off American Idol. The fourth best contestant of the show in Season Four was loved by many, especially fellow contestant Carrie Underwood. As Fedorov left behind Underwood, Bo Bice and Vonzell Solomon he said goodbye by singing Gamble and Huff's "If You Don't Know Me By Now."

As Fedorov sang, Carrie broke down in tears, pointed to Anthony and mouthed "I love you" to Anthony.

Carrie says, "I"

"love"

"you!"

Her lips spoke a universal language that even the hearing impaired could understand.

However on Tuesday, those watching Fedorov, Bice, Underwood and Solomon's performances with closed-captioning may not have been correctly "heard" when they called in or text-messaged their votes.

No one will ever know how many votes were impacted by the closed-captioning numbers error on Tuesday.

Seacrest and the producers of the show said nothing on Wednesday night about the latest snafu.

While the correct voting numbers were shown in onscreen graphics the hearing impaired and audience watching the show from their gym with the sound turned off received closed-captioning numbers appear on the screen that were in error. The network fixed the problem in time for the West Coast broadcast. However, Rugged Elegance heard about it from our audience of 500,000.

Fox said in a statement:

While the producers and network acknowledge the closed-captioning error, the correct call-in number for each performer was still read by Ryan Seacrest and broadcast on screen during each performance as well as the show recap.

The producers and network apologize to our hearing-impaired viewers for any confusion.

So long Anthony! See you in concert!!

Host Ryan Seacrest said it best when he bid you farewell. You are "a total class act."

Federov who turned 20 last Wednesday was this week given a coach ticket home to Trevose, Pennsylania.

He can be heard again on May 17th when the American Idol Season 4 - The Showstoppers CD is released.

And hopefully he'll be invited back from The Final on May 25th along with the other Top Twelve Contestants from Season Four.

Meanwhile, Vonzell Solomon, Bo Bice and Carrie Underwood were also given a ticket home on Wednesday. However, they will be flying first class on a private jet. At their homecoming they will be greeted by mayors, pep rallies and perhaps thousands of fans. American Idol cameras will be on site to capture it all for next week's show.

Congratulations Vonzell Solomon of Fort Myers, Florida, who joins Bo, 29, of Helena, Alabama; and Carrie, 21, of Checotah, Oklahoma, for the Top Three Hometown Royal Treatment.

Inspire & Be Inspired.

Here's to healthy, adventuresome, soulful, "pursuing your American dream" living!

~ Jennifer Carolyn King, Rugged Elegance, LLC