Tuning in to TV

Billy Crystal-led Oscar telecast sees 4 percent ratings bump

Ratings for the Academy Awards are up 4 percent over last year in a preliminary Nielsen measurement.

The ratings company said Monday that the Oscars had a 25.5 rating and 38 share in the show’s overnight count of the nation’s 56 largest media markets, according to the Associated Press. Nielsen’s estimate of how many people watched the telecast nationally was expected out later Monday.

Although best picture winner “The Artist” wasn’t a big box-office draw, the Oscars may have been helped by the return of host Billy Crystal.

Each rating point represents 1 percent of the nation’s estimated 114.7 million TV homes. The 38 share means that 38 percent of TVs being watched during the telecast were tuned to the Oscars.

Singer Levine finds ‘Voice’ beyond his band, Maroon 5

From moving like Mick Jagger to dating Russian model Anne Vyalitsyna, Maroon 5 front man Adam Levine hasn’t had problems attracting women in recent years.

In an Associated Press interview, the 32-year-old said that even though he was a “nerdy” musician in high school, he still always had luck with the ladies.

“I loved hanging out with girls. … It was never an issue, how about that? And, of course, it’s been magnified times a thousand with this whole [fame] thing that’s happened, so it’s kind of crazy,” he said, laughing.

Besides his music career, Mr. Levine has found success as one of the celebrity coaches on NBC’s singing competition show “The Voice” alongside Blake Shelton, Christina Aguilera and Cee Lo Green.

One of Mr. Levine’s contestants, Javier Colon, won the show’s first season, but not everyone thought it was a good idea for Mr. Levine to join the program.

“A musician’s life is constantly filled with people saying, ‘Why are you doing this?’ ” he said. “I’m a fan of people saying that because it must mean I’m doing something right. I’ve never been a fan of the cookie-cutter way of life. I liked that this was spiking something new into what I do.”

Despite Mr. Levine’s success so far on the show, he said he doesn’t really have a strategy when it comes to staying ahead of the other judges.

“I don’t really strategize as much as I want the right people to sing the right songs the right way and to have the right moment to hopefully increase their chances of moving forward because that’s my job on the show,” he said. “I’m there to help people be fully realized and have people see the best versions of who they are.”

Latina chefs providing TV’s new face in cooking

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