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In the news
By Times staff writer "American Idol" scores high ratings for FoxThe premiere of Fox's American Idol: The Search for a Superstar, an adapted import of the British smash hit Pop Idol, gave the network its best ratings for the time period in more than a year. The show attracted 9.9-million viewers in its 11/2-hour premiere at 8:30 Tuesday night, Reuters reported. It was the most-watched show on TV that night. Its second night, Wednesday, drew 11-million viewers in an hourlong airing at 9 p.m. The initial show brought together more than 10,000 wannabe pop stars from across the country for interviews and auditions. Judges narrowed that field to 30 in the two nights. Next, viewers choose who they like best by dialing a toll-free phone number. The top three singers each week will be joined by a wild-card candidate brought back by the judges. Viewers then decide each week who gets the boot until the last remaining person gets a multimillion-dollar recording contract. Great Dane, great debutScooby-Doo, starring Matthew Lillard, Freddie Prinze Jr., Sarah Michelle Gellar and a computer-animated Great Dane, took in $56.4-million to debut as the No. 1 film at the weekend box office, according to industry estimates Sunday. Matt Damon's spy thriller The Bourne Identity opened in second place with $27.5-million. Windtalkers, starring Nicolas Cage and Adam Beach in a drama about Navajo Indian codetalkers in World War II, premiered third with $14.5-million. Ben Affleck's The Sum of All Fears slipped to fourth place after two weekends as the top film, taking in $13.5-million. Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood rounded out the top five with $9.8-million, followed by Star Wars: Episode II: Attack of the Clones with $9.2-million and Spider-Man with $7.4-million.
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From the wire |
