“IDOL’S” RATINGS DROP FOR FINAL 2 ELIMINATION

American Idol revealed its final two contenders Wednesday night, Crystal Bowersox and Lee DeWyze — but “only” 18.5 million viewers tuned in. Any other television show would have been ecstatic to draw an audience that size, but a year ago American Idol‘s final-two show drew 21.8 million viewers — and in fact, Wednesday’s audience was smaller than last week’s. The diminished audience may have been attributable to the fact that, almost from her first appearance on the talent contest, Bowersox has been touted as the frontrunner. But such was the case a year ago when Adam Lambert, also regarded as the frontrunner, lost out to Kris Allen. On Wednesday’s show DeWyze remarked, “I’ve never wanted to win more than I do right now.” Bowersox merely thanked the judges.