"American Idol" Sings while "DWTS" Dances: Tuesday's Knockout Night of Reality TV

amp160On TVamp8217s biggest most fun night of the year so far it was singers v dancers And to borrow from the idiotic boxing metaphor they pounded into the canvas on American Idol the winner was Dancing with the Stars by a knockout Actually by several knockout performances by this seasonamp8217s final trio of handsome congenial hoofersamp160Olympic gold medal figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi took home DWTSamp8217 tacky mirror ball trophyamp8212the showamp8217s only prizeamp8212by being the judgesamp8217 fave from the first round 10 weeks ago But it was Miami Dolphin Jason Taylor who clearly was the audienceamp8217s pick Tuesday night The 6amp82176amp8221 Taylor was the surprise talent in the latest crop of beginner dancers Like Emmitt Smith the Dallas Cowboy who won the trophy several seasonsamp8217 back Taylor proved to be a graceful and gracious ballroom dancer whose skills improved considerably under the shrewd coaching of professional partner Edyta Sliwinska amp8220The best coach Iamp8217ve ever had and Iamp8217ve had some good onesamp8221 Taylor said in the showamp8217s finale Tuesday nightamp160Coming in third was Chilean actor Cristian De La Fuente partnered with twotime DWTS champ Cheryl Burke Despite an injury to his left arm several weeks ago he continued in the competition with Burke tailoring the choreography to accommodate her virtually onearmed partner Only after he was hurt during a strenuous samba did De La Fuente begin to earn high scores from the showsamp8217 judgesamp8212Carrie Ann Inaba Len Goodman and Bruno Tonnioliamp160Going into the final round of dances Yamaguchi whose figure skating career might have given her an almost unfair advantage over the other dancers was drawing consistent 10amp8217s from the judges But it was Taylor who earned the loudest applause from the crowd after his last dance Tuesday eveningamp160Meanwhile it was the muchballyhooed battle of the Davids on Idol Hammering the boxing imagery harder than Rocky Balboa on a side of raw beef the show built up the final evening of competition as a faceoff between finalists David Archuleta and David Cook They even decked out the singers in ring robes and announced their weights 17yearold Archuleta comes in about 100 pounds Cook 25 is taller and heavier at 180amp160They may have been mismatched in physical size but Archuleta proved to be the heavyweight performer for the nightamp8212the last time viewers could cast phonein votes for the winner All three of this shows judgesamp8212Randy Jackson Paula Abdul and Simon Cowellgushed about Archuletaamp8217s performances particularly his closer a soulful if abbreviated version of John Lennonamp8217s amp8220Imagineamp8221amp160Both of these feelgood realitycompetition shows have been consistent topraters for their networks Foxamp8217s total viewers for Idol fell off gradually as the season dragged onamp8212some weeks the show was more than 10 million off of its previous seasonamp8212but it still was a juggernaut compared to this and other broadcast networkamp8217s other anemic series amp160ABC is producing two seasons a year of DWTS meaning another dozen hasbeens and Clisters will stumble through the chacha and the jive to get their shots at the mirror ball trophy in the fall amp160Till then Tuesdays are going to be a yawn

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"American Idol" Sings while "DWTS" Dances: Tuesday's Knockout Night of Reality TV

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Elaine Liner

"About That with Carl Mayer:" Alaina Donnellon (Episode 10: Political Spending) - By Carl Mayer

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"American Idol" Sings while "DWTS" Dances: Tuesday's Knockout Night of Reality TV

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Elaine Liner

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