AMERICAN IDOL - AND THEN THERE WERE THREE

Jason Castro, whose exotic good looks and sweet personality -- rather than his vocal talent -- were often credited for keeping him in the American Idol running until the final four, was eliminated Wednesday night, as 22.4 million viewers tuned in (13.8 rating and a 21 share). (The remaining contestants are David Cook, David Archuleta and Syesha Mercado.) While it remained an unbeatable figure for the Fox show and gave the network another victory for the night, it was nevertheless nearly 6 million below the number who tuned in on the comparable night a year ago (28.2 million). CBS gave Idol some tough competition with Criminal Minds, which recorded 12.85 million viewers (8.3/13). At 10:00 p.m., CSI: NY took over the top spot with 12.58 million viewers (8.2/14). In the same hour, an interview special with Barbara Walters, in which she discussed her new biography, Audition, posted middling results as it pulled in 7.4 million viewers (5.2/9) for third place.

08/05/2008