'Clash of the Choirs' Ends on a High Note

In a clash of dueling reality-competition shows that premiered last week, NBC's music-oriented "Clash of the Choirs" triumphed over ABC's money-fueled "Duel."

The four-night "Clash of the Choirs," featuring five singing groups competing for the useless title of America's Best Choir, averaged 8.1 million viewers. (Nick Lachey was the winning celebrity choir leader and pocketed $250,000 for the charity of his choice.)

"Duel," a trivia game in which contestant Ashlee Register took home nearly $2 million, drew an audience of 6.8 million over its six-night run.

Despite the networks' hype, not one episode of either series managed to crack the top 10 list.

In the week leading up to Christmas, when many TVs were dormant -- it was the least-watched week among the broadcast networks since the TV season began in September -- CBS managed to land eight of the top shows and easily won the weekly Nielsen ratings race among total viewers.

NBC did win among younger viewers, however, led by the finale of the fourth installment of "The Biggest Loser." The weight-loss reality-competition drew 11.4 million viewers on Tuesday, on par with the finale of last season's third edition.

Fox's "The Next Great American Band" ended its debut season Friday in the same way it started -- with no one watching. A measly audience of 2.7 million watched country rock band the Clark Brothers win the competition.

The show, which Fox was hoping would follow in "American Idol's" oversize footsteps, averaged just under 3 million viewers this fall.

The MTV reality show "A Shot at Love," starring self-professed bisexual Tila Tequila looking for love among both male and female suitors, went out with a bang. Last Tuesday's finale, in which Tequila chose a dude over a lass, drew 6.2 million viewers, making it MTV's most-watched series telecast ever.

The network announced last week that it was developing a spinoff series, "That's Amore," featuring popular "Shot at Love" contestant Domenico Nesci looking for an American girlfriend from among 15 bachelorettes.

The week's top 10 shows, in order, were: NBC's "Sunday Night Football"; CBS's "CSI: Miami," "60 Minutes," "NCIS" and "Criminal Minds"; NBC's "The Biggest Loser"; CBS's Monday 9:30 p.m. "Two and a Half Men," "CSI: NY," Monday 9 p.m. "Two and a Half Men" and "The Unit."