SONG VS. DANCE: Hines Ward won “Dancing With the Stars,” while Lauren Alaina and Scotty McCreery (above) competed for the “American Idol” win on Tuesday night.
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‘Dancing with the Stars” has finally waltzed past “American Idol” in ratings.
More than 21 million total viewers tuned in to watch Super Bowl MVP Hines Ward take home the mirror-ball trophy during the Season 12 finale of the ABC ballroom dance competition series Tuesday night.
Fox’s “Idol,” featuring performances by finalists Lauren Alaina and Scotty McCreery, lagged behind by more than 1 million viewers, but still managed to draw an impressive 20 million total viewers.
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The margin of victory was enough to give “DWTS” bragging rights for the first time in its history: it had a bigger audience than “Idol” on a performance night.
According to ABC, “DWTS” is also the first TV show — ever — that’s managed to top an “Idol” performance night in total viewers, too.
As icing on the cake, this season of “DWTS” was its most successful to date, becoming the most-watched overall season since the series premiered in June 2005.
Even after a decade, ” ‘American Idol’ is still a very widely seen show, but it doesn’t stand so much above the No. 2 show [‘DWTS’] anymore that it can’t be beaten,” says industry analyst Marc Berman of Adweek.
Simply put, “the country loves dancing and the country loves ‘Dancing With the Stars’. . . It’s the new form of variety — it’s got dancing, it’s got music, it’s got comedy, it has all the ingredients.”
“DWTS” also had the right contestants this season, namely fan-favorite Kirstie Alley, who wound up in the runner-up spot.
“People were very invested in them, and the contestant they liked the most — Kirstie Alley — made it right to the end,” Berman says.
The two remaining “Idol” contestants, on the other hand, aren’t generating quite as much mass interest.
“They aren’t the best that they’ve had [on ‘Idol’], people aren’t buzzing about the two of them,” Berman notes. “The common comment is that they’re both country-western singers and that’s diluted interest” in the finalists’ last vote-getting performances, he says.
Ultimately, ” ‘Dancing With the Stars’ is still fresh,” Berman says. ” ‘Idol’ is still strong, but there’s not that much interest in the finalists and there’s endless interest in ‘Dancing With the Stars.’ “