Ob-la-di Ob-la-'Idol'

To celebrate the start of the "American Idol" finalist competition with the Very Best Idolettes Ever, the producers have broken out the John Lennon-Paul McCartney songbook. This is the culmination of a year-long effort to secure the rights to Beatles songs for the singing competition.

Show host Ryan Seacrest is dressed like a penguin for the occasion. He seems particularly excited by the Brand. New. Set. Likewise judge Simon Cowell, who has taken off his undershirt and put on an actual shirt for the occasion, though he still suffers from buttonphobia.

What do the 12 Very Best Idolettes Ever do with Lennon-McCartney tunes?

Syesha Mercado, the ad-actress, does a dinner theater interpretation of "Got to Get You Into My Life."

But she's immediately followed by Chikezie Eze, doing a whole "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" version of "She's a Woman." Which is such a surprise -- Chikezie was all but out the door in this competition -- that the always impartial Seacrest begins to do the emperor penguin mating dance around him, until he's completely winded.

Ramiele Malubay sings "In My Life" to Danny Noriega, the Idolette who got the sack last week -- you know, the one with Santa Claus issues. Seacrest reminds us we can download that performance on iTunes.

Jason Castro, of the breakaway dreadlocks, does Arlo Guthrie singing "If I Fell."

Carly Smithson, on the other hand, does Kelly Clarkson singing "Come Together," or so Simon thinks.

David Cook turns "Eleanor Rigby" into a hard rock song. Fortunately, he's totally drowned out by the band.

Brooke White gives her piano recital while kind of singing "Let It Be" with her shoes off. And by shoes, we don't mean "shoes" but her actual shoes.

David Hernandez, the Diablo Cody of "American Idol: Best Year Ever," says he took a class in Beatles in college. And yet, he mistakes "I Saw Her Standing There" for a Disney theme park audition piece.

Amanda Overmyer turns "You Can't Do That" into a chain-smoking biker nurse anthem, but then she turns every song into a chain-smoking biker nurse anthem.

Michael Johns's "Across the Universe" is very straightforward and therefore completely overlooked.

Kristy Lee Cook tries "Eight Days a Week" as a Minnie Pearl routine. She's in peril even if she is pretty and blond.

And David Archuleta had won this thing until he forgot the lyrics to "We Can Work It Out."

And so begins the long and winding road to that hard day's night in May when one of two final Idolettes standing sings "I'm a Loser" and David Archuleta is crowned the next American Idol. Help!

[For a complete recap of last night's show, see de Moraes on TV at http://washingtonpost.com/tvblog. At 1 p.m. she'll take your "Idol" questions and comments at http://washingtonpost.com/style.]

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Scripted series did better in the ratings last week. "Lost" and the unveiling of "New Amsterdam" made it to the top-10 list, which is twice as many shows as the week previous.

Here's a look at the week's lucky and un-:

WINNERS

"20/20: The Royal Family." Whenever ABC News wants to make a point, it does a show on the royal family or Michael Jackson. Last Monday was one of those days; Barbara Walters got her "journalist" hat out of mothballs and hosted, attracting more than 14 million viewers. "20/20" beat its nearest competition in the time slot by more than 5 million and by 16 percent among 18-to-49-year-olds, the hot blond chicks for Madison Avenue. It was the newsmag's strongest showing since . . . the Michael Jackson interview more than five years ago.

"Project Runway." About 5.2 million viewers watched Christian "fierce" Siriano win the latest round. It was the fashion design competition's second biggest audience ever, nearly neck and neck with its most-watched-finale audience of 5.4 million. Among 18-to-49-year-olds (HBC of Madison Avenue), the finale clocked nearly 4 million viewers -- the biggest haul in Bravo network history -- which made it Wednesday's No. 1-ranked non-Fox show in that age group.

"Ax Men." History Channel, which never met a pun it did not like, says the premiere of its series about "rugged men" and the dangerous trees they battle "logged" 3 million viewers Sunday, to "saw" through and"chop down" the cable competition. It was the network's second-best series launch ever.

"Biggest Loser." In six weeks, NBC's Tuesday reality series is up 21 percent compared with its previous cycle even though it is up against "American Idol" this time. Because, duh, weight loss is our annual first-quarter obsession.

"Ghost Hunters." Sci Fi series Season 4 debut logged nearly 3 million viewers, up 33 percent over the fall season premiere.

Univision. Last week's No. 2 network in prime time among 18-to-34-year-olds? Univision. Eighteen-to-34-year-olds are even better than 18-to-49-year-olds; they're hot blond chicks with trust funds.

LOSERS

"New Amsterdam." Fox's new immortal-cop drama got two airings post-"Idol" last week but each time fumbled more than half the "Idol" audience. On Thursday, the second "Amsterdam" got beat by ABC's "Lost" by nearly 3 million viewers, even though "Amsterdam" was pampered with a lead-in audience 21 million viewers bigger than that for "Lost."

"Oprah's Big Give." Prime-time viewing among viewers under 50 on Sunday skidded by about 6 percent compared with the previous Sunday, owing to the start of daylight saving time. But Oprah's 9 p.m. series plunged 24 percent in its second week, logging nearly 11.9 million Oprah-ettes. Its lead-in, "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," managed 12.4 million, though with its 8 p.m. start, it would have felt the daylight-saving squeeze more.

"Jericho." CBS series hit a series low for an original episode Tuesday at 10 -- about 5.7 million viewers. The same week last year, running in the lower-viewership 8 p.m. hour on Wednesday and in the teeth of "Idol," "Jericho" snagged more than 8 million.

The week's 10 most watched programs, in order, were: Fox's Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday "American Idol," and "Moment of Truth"; ABC's "20/20: The Royal Family"; Fox's Tuesday "New Amsterdam" premiere; ABC's "Lost"; CBS's "Survivor: Micronesia"; and ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" and "Oprah's Big Give."