Olympic win

For all of the bad publicity and fortune that it has gotten in the past year, NBC finally has some good news. On Wednesday night, NBC’s coverage of the Vancouver Olympics beat “American Idol” in overnight ratings, garnering more than 30 million viewers to 18 million put up by the Fox show. “Idol,” considered unbeatable in television, had previously won the number one slot for its last 222 episodes.

NBC’s win can be attributed to the successes of some of United States’ Olympic biggest stars, including gold medal performances by Lindsey Vonn in downhill skiing, Shaun White in the snowboard half-pipe, and Shani Davis in 100m speed skating. Apolo Anton Ohno also made the semifinals in his 1000m short track race.

Though a huge upset, the news did not come as too big a surprise. Last night, a group of nearly 50 Princeton students gathered at Frist Campus Center to watch the Games.

Experts pointed out that Idol may again be beat by the Olympics, when ladies’ figure skating competition will come face to face with the American Idol time slot. Which will Princeton students choose? America’s grace on the stage or America’s best on ice?

By Sean Wu, staff writer for News.