LOS ANGELES, May 24 (Reuters) – The “American Idol” finale audience slumped to a record low, but the show’s newly crowned champion Phillip Phillips hit No.1 on iTunes on Thursday with his first single “Home.”

The 11-year-old Fox singing contest, once a TV industry juggernaut whose finale attracted more than 30 million viewers in 2006 and 2007, was watched by just 21.5 million viewers on Wednesday night, according to ratings data.

Viewers in the 18-49 age group most-coveted by advertisers dropped by about 32 percent compared to last year’s “Idol,” although the program was still the top show on U.S. television on Wednesday night.

Fox executives said earlier this month that the audience drop-off this season had been greater than anticipated and that several tweaks were in the works to freshen the format for 2013.

Despite the smallest TV audience since the show began in 2002, viewers cast a record 132 million votes for finalists Phillips and 16-year-old singer Jessica Sanchez.

And on Thursday, Phillips’ first single, the folk-rock ballad “Home”, topped the iTune charts, while his compilation album of “Idol” cover songs from Season 11 was in the No.3 spot.

Phillips, an acoustic guitar player and songwriter, said “Home” didn’t represent his style of music, which he described as more jazz and rock.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Kevin Costner is back in the saddle, brandishing a gun and sporting a grizzled beard.

It’s nine years since “Open Range”, his last Western movie, and Costner relished the chance to get back on a horse for work rather than riding for pleasure on his Colorado ranch.

“It’s so much fun to dress up and go get those (bad) guys,” laughed Costner in an interview with Reuters.

The Oscar-winning star plays Devil Anse Hatfield in the miniseries “Hatfields & McCoys” to be broadcast over three days, starting on Monday and marking U.S. television network the History Channel’s first scripted project.

The three part, six-hour miniseries recounts the true story of one of America’s most famous 19th Century feuds between the Hatfield and McCoy families.

Starting after the Civil War in the backwoods where West Virginia meets Kentucky, the bloody skirmishing between the two clans over timber rights, a pig and a pair of star-crossed lovers cost the lives of more than 15 people over 25 years.

“Hatfields & McCoys” marks a comeback of sorts for Costner, whose last six movies, including two horror films, performed poorly at box offices.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Indie artist Phillip Phillips won “American Idol” on Wednesday, becoming the fifth male singer in a row to take the title and a guaranteed recording contract.

The 21-year-old guitar player from Georgia, who brought an indie vibe to the top-rated TV contest, beat ballad singer Jessica Sanchez, 16, of California in the public vote.

“American Idol” host Ryan Seacrest said a world record 132 million votes were cast by phone, text and online for the two finalists.

The winner was announced at the end of a two-hour finale on Wednesday featuring performances by Rihanna, Neil Diamond, Reba McEntire as well as “Idol” judge Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler’s band Aerosmith, which closed the show by going back to their hard rock roots with the 1976 classic “Walk This Way”.

Phillips looked stunned as Seacrest announced his name, and could not finish his performance of his new single “Home” as he fought back tears. Instead, he unstrapped his guitar and with eyes brimming walked off the stage to hug his family in the front row of the audience.

Sanchez, bidding to become the youngest ever winner of “American Idol,” was thought to have the edge after dominating social media and Twitter mentions in the last few days.

But Phillips’ goofball humor and individual style earned him a large, young female fan base, and he had never appeared in the bottom three in public votes during earlier stage of the Fox TV show.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Jessica Sanchez, the teen with the big voice, chose power ballads while Phillip Phillips went with an indie vibe as the two diverse “American Idol” finalists sang on Tuesday for the hearts and votes of America.

Sanchez, 16, bidding to become the youngest ever winner of America’s most-watched TV show, was deemed ahead after performing songs made famous by Whitney Houston and Celine Dion.

But it was acoustic guitar-playing Phillips who brought all three judges to their feet at the end of the performance finale.

“You were perfect tonight, and I think you are the man,” said judge Steven Tyler as Phillips closed the show with his potential first single “Home” – a song that mixed the style of folk-rock band Mumford and Sons with Paul Simon and featured a marching band.

Randy Jackson called the Georgia singer’s performance “brilliant, genius” and added “Dude I loved the song! I loved you. I loved the production … Everything about that was perfect.”

Phillips, 21, also put his own spin on his two other songs – Billy Joel’s “Movin’ Out” and the classic “Stand By Me” – earning screams of adulation from the audience of 7,000 in Los Angeles. But he failed to convince the three judges.

“This is a tough one,” said Jennifer Lopez. “It’s like a battle of the opposites.”

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Medical drama “House” bowed out on Monday after eight years on television with a funeral, a friendship and multiple devious plot twists.

As the curtain fell on one of the most popular TV series in the world, the misanthropic but brilliant diagnostician Dr. Gregory House, played by Hugh Laurie, solved the most perplexing puzzle of them all – himself.

The series finale, called “Everybody Dies”, began with a suicidal House trapped in a burning building, confronting his own demons and hallucinating.

Returning characters, including the dead Lawrence Kutner (Kal Penn) and “frenemy” Amber Volakis (Anne Dudek), ex- girlfriend Stacy Warner (Sela Ward) and Allison Cameron (Jennifer Morrison) appeared as figments of House’s imagination in an episode packed with flashbacks.

Only Dr. Lisa Cuddy (Lisa Edelstein), who played House’s on- and-off love interest, failed to make an appearance after leaving the TV drama a year ago.

The show’s final weeks had left audiences wondering if the series would end with the death from cancer of House’s only friend, oncologist Dr. James Wilson, or that of House himself – or both.

But in the bittersweet ending promised by creator David Shore, both men survived – at least for a while – with their long bromance stronger than ever.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Jennifer Lopez and “American Idol” producers played a cat-and- mouse game on Friday over the singer’s future on the TV talent show that revived her career and sent her to the top of a global celebrity power list.

“American Idol” producer Nigel Lythgoe said on Friday that Lopez must decide whether to sign up as a judge for a third year or go off in a new direction.

In what some industry watchers saw as a negotiating ploy, Lopez sparked a media frenzy this week when she said she wasn’t sure about renewing her contract, and sources close to her said she was “just too busy” to commit to the show. She made similar comments a year ago before signing a new one-year deal.

Lythgoe told reporters on a conference call Friday that all three “Idol” judges – Lopez, Steven Tyler and Randy Jackson – had busy careers outside the talent show, but he would be happy to have them all back.

He said “Idol’s” long schedule of nationwide auditions, plus four months of live shows, was tough for everyone to juggle. Tyler’s band Aerosmith has a new album coming out and a summer tour.

“It’s got to fit everybody, and it’s difficult. You have got to start making decisions. Do I want to carry on doing this? Do I want to go off and make movies?.

“She (Jennifer) has had a wonderful resurgence – world’s most beautiful woman (for People magazine), two No. 1 records – she is doing brilliantly. She is going to have to balance everything up, as is Steven Tyler too. It’s not just Jennifer,” Lythgoe said.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Time was when TV talent shows set out to turn wannabes into stars.

These days? Not so much. It’s the celebrity judges who are raking in the cash and using TV contests not only as a way to re-launch a fading career, but to further boost a thriving one.

For music stars in an era of weak record sales, the trend spells victory for their bank account, but for fans and the music industry always hungering for a new star, it’s a loss. And for TV networks, the once cheap-to-produce shows are ever more expensive, yet they don’t always pay off in bigger audiences.

As recent winners of “The Voice” and “American Idol” fade into obscurity, pop princess Britney Spears and ex-Disney Channel teen star Demi Lovato have signed up to judge “The X Factor,” while controversial radio DJ Howard Stern is the biggest star on the new season of “America’s Got Talent”.

Spears and Stern are among the most highly-paid TV judges, each earning a reported $15-$20 million annual salary – a bigger figure than many A-list Hollywood actors command for a movie.

“The whole playing field has shifted from when ‘American Idol’ started (2002) and the judges were people whose biggest hits were behind them. Now it is seen as a really viable option for current artists,” said Melinda Newman, a music blogger for entertainment website Hitfix.com.

Spears and Stern join a roster of celebrity TV judges that includes Christina Aguilera, Steven Tyler, Sharon Osbourne, Cee Lo Green and Blake Shelton who have seen their fame, record sales and endorsement deals skyrocket since they began sitting in front of the stage rather than on it.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Britney Spears hasn’t even taken her seat as the new judge of “The X Factor,” but the pop icon is already getting a lesson in the media glare of live, talent show television.

Spears had barely wrapped up an appearance in New York confirming she is joining the singing contest before the celebrity knives were out, raising the question of how well the singer, who went through a public meltdown in 2007, can handle all the newfound attention.

Her dress, nails, shoes, legs and figure have all come in for scrutiny – most of it negative – in a taste of what may come when the show returns to TV in September for two nights a week over four months.

The New York Daily News ran photos of the “Toxic” singer’s “bloody picked fingernails”. It also showed a close-up of her thighs, commenting that she “appeared in a short white mini dress that showed off her famous pop star legs – and what looks to be a bit of cellulite.”

Spears, famed for raunchy dance routines and music videos in her heyday, is now 30-years-old and a mother of two. Outside her sell-out global concert tours, she has been largely shielded from the media since a career and personal breakdown in 2007 that resulted in her affairs being handed over to her father.

Mary Fischer at The Stir on website cafemom.com, said the singer was “a hot mess” in the cream dress she wore for her New York appearance on Monday before Fox TV network executives and advertisers.

“She might as well have just thrown on a nightgown or racy piece of lingerie. She would’ve achieved the same effect (showing off the fact that she’s shed a bit of weight and gotten her groove back), but she wouldn’t have looked like she was trying so hard,” Fischer said.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Simon Cowell and Fox television are gambling on pop icon Britney Spears and teen singer Demi Lovato to revive “The X Factor”, but for many media watchers it could be a case of “Oops!…” did they do it again?

Spears, 30, and former Disney Channel star Lovato, 19, are expected to bring in bigger, and more importantly younger, audiences when the singing contest returns for its second season on U.S. television in September after a weaker-than-expected debut in 2011.

But whether viewers will tune in is less certain, and the huge check Fox and the producers wrote – Spears is reported to be getting $15 million for one season – may not pay off, pop culture and TV experts say.

“It’s a short term gain for ‘X Factor’. There will be a huge amount of PR and when the show premieres there will be huge ratings,” said Lyndsey Parker, managing editor of Yahoo! Music. “But I think it could be a disaster. I think Britney could make Nicole Scherzinger look like a genius,” Parker said.

Spears, who became a teen sensation with hit records such as “Oops! … I Did It Again,” suffered a career and personal meltdown in 2007 but later rebounded. Now, at age 30, the “Womanizer” mom of two is mostly shielded from the media and rarely gives live interviews.

Andy Dehnart, editor of RealityBlurred.com, said many viewers will likely tune in just to “see her crash and burn.”

“It’s not clear she is really a TV personality and somebody who can give the show what it needs, which is really insightful, concise, witty critiques of these singers,” Dehnart said.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Simon Cowell and Fox television are gambling on pop icon Britney Spears and teen singer Demi Lovato to revive “The X Factor”, but for many media watchers it could be a case of “Oops!…” did they do it again?

Spears, 30, and former Disney Channel star Lovato, 19, are expected to bring in bigger, and more importantly younger, audiences when the singing contest returns for its second season on U.S. television in September after a weaker-than-expected debut in 2011.

But whether viewers will tune in is less certain, and the huge check Fox and the producers wrote – Spears is reported to be getting $15 million for one season – may not pay off, pop culture and TV experts say.

“It’s a short term gain for ‘X Factor’. There will be a huge amount of PR and when the show premieres there will be huge ratings,” said Lyndsey Parker, managing editor of Yahoo! Music. “But I think it could be a disaster. I think Britney could make Nicole Scherzinger look like a genius,” Parker said.

Spears, who became a teen sensation with hit records such as “Oops! … I Did It Again,” suffered a career and personal meltdown in 2007 but later rebounded. Now, at age 30, the “Womanizer” mom of two is mostly shielded from the media and rarely gives live interviews.

Andy Dehnart, editor of RealityBlurred.com, said many viewers will likely tune in just to “see her crash and burn.”

“It’s not clear she is really a TV personality and somebody who can give the show what it needs, which is really insightful, concise, witty critiques of these singers,” Dehnart said.