American Idol finale audience off from last year
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The &quot;American Idol&quot; triumph of  17-year-old Jordin Sparks drew nearly 6 million fewer viewers  than last year&#39;s finale, in the latest sign that U.S.  television&#39;s highest-rated show may have finally hit its peak.
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No more audition silliness. It's time to get serious on "American Idol." The Fox talent show trimmed down the competition Wednesday night, leaving 24 semifinalists &#151; 12 men and 12 women &#151; to vie for the "Idol" title and a record contract. The decision-making finale will be held in May.
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It&#39;s that time of year again, when normally affable, outgoing people abandon their families for hours at a time to stare enraptured at their TV screens.
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A new sex scandal has hit "American  Idol," U.S. TV's most popular program --- but it all could be  over on Thursday night if a contestant purportedly shown in  some X-rated Internet photos is voted off the show.
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The peak-time TV audience for the Live Earth gig is less than a third of that for last week's Concert for Diana.
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The NBA finals continue to draw far fewer viewers than last year.
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Having learned something from âAmerican Idol,â âWithout Prejudiceâ shifts its focus almost entirely away from the contestants and puts it squarely on the judges.
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The new &quot;American Idol&quot; will be named tonight. Katherine McPhee and Taylor Hicks each performed three songs in last night&#039;s sing-off, staged in front of more than 3,000 fans at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood.
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For three seasons, American Idol has put in a bravura performance as a pop-culture phenomenon. Entering its fourth season tonight (8 ET/PT), Idol brings a few changes to boost interest and ratings. "We're tweaking the middle section because we felt it was a bit imperfect," says executive producer Cecile Frot-Coutaz. But "that's pretty much it. The formula works. It's a simple and clean show."
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Deconstructing Season Six, and debating Idol's impact on Election 2008.
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Four saw the door as `American Idol' whittled its 24 semifinalists down to 20 Thursday night. Amy Krebs, Nicole Tranquillo, Paul Kim and Rudy Cardenas were cast off by viewers getting their first chance to vote in the top-rated talent contest's sixth season.
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Ratings tumbled for the Billboard Music Awards, which Fox aired Dec. 8 from Las Vegas.
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2006 "American Idol" winner Taylor Hicks, best know his his on stage antics and constant "soul patrol" chants, is experiencing difficulty connecting to an audience. His debut album released last December, landed in the #2 spot respectably, but h...
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"American Idol" is poised to set  ratings records when Fox's talent show returns to the airwaves  with a four-hour season premiere on Tuesday and Wednesday.
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The Grammy Awards achieved Sunday nightâs top ratings despite falling almost two million viewers short of the showâs audience a year ago. According to Nielsenâs estimates, 18.2 million tuned in to CBSâs broadcast of âThe 50th Annual Grammy Awards,â down from 20.1 million a year ago. Although the awards show outpaced all other programming for the night among adults 18 to 49, the preliminary overnight numbers suggest that it may be the lowest-rated Grammy show in more than a decade. CBS finished No. 1 for the night over all, leading the 7 oâclock hour before the awards show with â60 Minutesâ (13 million). ABC ranked second for the night, thanks to a two-hour âExtreme Makeover: Home Editionâ at 8 (15.8 million), followed by âBrothers & Sistersâ at 10 (8.6 million). Fox was third with coverage of the National Football Leagueâs Pro Bowl, followed by a lineup of comedy repeats and a new episode of âKing of the Hillâ at 8:30 (6.1 million). NBC finished fourth with reruns of âAmerican Gladiatorsâ at 7 (3.6 million) and 8 (3.7 million), followed by a two-hour special â100 Most Outrageous Momentsâ (8.2 million).
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Fox and NBC tied for the  demographic win in primetime, while CBS won in viewership  during the last week of the 2006-07 TV season, Nielsen Media  Research said Tuesday.
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Blah. If any word were to sum up this year's mostly bland and sometimes unwatchable batch of "Idol" contestants, that'd be it.