Tonight and tomorrow mark the culmination of 40-plus hours of prime-time broadcast, hundreds of performances, and millions of tears as American Idol crowns its sixth champion. The ratings juggernaut for News Corp's (NYSE: NWS) FOX network has three more hours of advertising revenue before it wraps for the season. For those among us who still care (I tuned out around final-four time), it's the critical moment where America (ostensibly) decides between eccentric beatboxing innovator Blake Lewis and teenaged belter Jordin Sparks.
The Kodak Theatre will be bursting at the seams, Simon Cowell will likely have traded his trademark plain tee-shirt for a suit, and Paula Abdul will have a bandaged face after a mishap with her Chihuahua. According to her publicist, the kindest of Idol's judging trio fell this weekend, breaking her nose and fracturing her toe as she avoided trying to step on her miniature pooch. The spokesman for the former pop star said that "She's a little sore, but is doing fine."
The dog was not hurt.
Beth Gaston Moon is an analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research.
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