Lady Gaga couldn’t do it, and she had the Muppets.
Five years ago, Beyonce and Taylor Swift went head to head and got nowhere.
Both Ed Sheeran and Miley Cyrus have pretty much struck out in the recent past.
So the question is: Can Adele, in the middle of selling five to seven million albums, drawing a viewing audience tonight on NBC? Her special, Live from Radio City Music Hall, was produced by Lorne Michaels. She sings all her old and new hits, drops the F bomb, and takes the piss, as the Brits say.
But will it bring ratings?
Pop acts on primetime rarely score hits even when they’re number 1 with a bullet.
“Ed Sheeran: Live at Wembley Stadium” drew a total of 2.09 million viewers this past August. He pulled a meager a 0.5 in the 18-49 demo.
In August 2014, Miley Cyrus had a total of 2.01 million viewers for her “Miley Cyrus: Bangerz Tour” special, with a 0.7 adults 18-49 rating.
There’s so little interest in concerts like this on broadcast TV that Taylor Swift is giving away her “1989” special on AppleMusic to the streamer’s subscribers.
But Adele may be different. She’s an actual phenomenon at the peak of her game. Her “Live from New York City” has a two hour lead from a big finale on “The Voice,” a compatible show. Will “Voice” fans stick around? “NCIS: Los Angeles” on CBS and “The Great Holiday Baking Show” on ABC are the competition.
In real life, Hollywood gets the “Star Wars” premiere. New York has “The Hateful Eight” opening night. Plus Sting is performing his “Symphonicities” at Carnegie Hall.
PS so many celebs at the taping…read my report from that night...
