Adam Lambert's Howl Heard Loud and Clear on Idol

Hurricane-strength singer reaches show's biggest audience in 9:30 p.m. half-hour; overall, Idol dominates Tuesday ratings, though continues to be way off from last year

Tuesday TV's Big Winners, Besides Whoever It Is Who Controls the Michael Jackson Song Catalog These Days: Hurricane-strength Adam Lambert and the rest of the 9:30 p.m. American Idol gang. Those contestants reached the two-hour show's largest audience: 27.1 million viewers, per preliminary Nielsen data.

Idol Watch: Overall, the show averaged 25.2 million, up about 1 million viewers from last week, down a tad—read: 5 million—from last year's opening round of the finals.

Heavy Stuff: Up against No. 1 Idol or no, a two-hour The Biggest Loser (9.3 million) was up from last week.

The Thrill Is Gone: Teen boys abandoned Reaper (2.2 million), which, overall, was only down a touch from last week's premiere, but left without any sizable fan base.

Etc.: Law & Order: SVU (11 million) was big, but reruns of NCIS (13.3 million) and The Mentalist (14.2 million) were bigger.