Another Tuesday night, another three hours of my life vanished into thin air.

At least I'm in good company, as millions of viewers (you know who you are) tuned in to see Olympic gold medal-winning gymnast Shawn Johnson, 17, claim another, much uglier trophy as the eighth winner of ABC's Dancing With the Stars -- leaving second place stud Gilles Marini and now twice-rejected Bachelor star Melissa Rycroft empty-handed.

Earlier on CTV and Fox, glamour king Adam Lambert and boy-next-door Kris Allen got their last three songs in before the final American Idol votes were cast. Here's a look at how the night played out (in central time):

7:01 p.m.: Ryan Seacrest: "This is American Idol." OMG; I can't believe this is the second-last time I'm going to hear that in 2009. Wow, where has Season 8 gone?

7:09 p.m.: Adam's parents are on camera talking about how he screamed so much as a kid, they couldn't take him anywhere. Ha, and now his scream seems to be taking him everywhere.

7:11 p.m.: Proving he knows how to control his shrieking, Adam hauled Tears for Fears' Mad World out of the archives for his Contestant's Favourite performance -- this time with more guyliner, a black trench coat and dry ice. Simon Cowell says it's "a little bit over-theatrical," and I can't say I disagree. But since nice judges Randy Jackson, Kara DioGuardi and Paula Abdul approved, the score card so far is: Adam -- 1, Kris -- 0.

7:16 p.m.: Kris has gone with Ain't No Sunshine for his preferred track, and it left a lot to be ...

7:18 p.m.: ... Oh, sorry; I fell asleep there for a minute. What? Simon was impressed with Kris' snoozeworthy performance? Well, he knows best, so the score is tied 1-1.

7:25 p.m.: Idol creator Simon Fuller has a say in who sings what tonight, and has chosen Sam Cooke's Change is Gonna Come for Adam Lambert. At last, a tune that forces Adam to lay off the dramatics and just sing.

7:30 p.m.: Star sighting! Katie Holmes is sitting in the audience with she and Tom Cruise's daughter Suri. Lambert fans, perhaps?

7:35 p.m.: Kris pulls out the acoustic guitar for his assigned song: Marvin Gaye's What's Going On. Being the boy next door, his delivery of the socially conscious track was far too laid back. Adam -- 2, Kris -- 1.

7:43 p.m.: At last, it's the winner's single. Co-written by Kara DioGuardi, No Boundaries gives Adam plenty of belting opportunities, but Randy thinks it's pitchy. No big, because at this point, it's too late for criticism. Even Simon admits that Adam's a star -- and it's a 3-1 Adam win, so far.

7:55 p.m.: Kris Allen's turn with No Boundaries, and man does he not look impressed with his performance. Apparently there were too many high notes in there for his range. Simon assures him he "thoroughly deserves to be standing on this stage tonight." So I guess that makes it Adam -- 3, Kris -- 2. Kris put on an impressive show tonight, but I'm still (reluctantly) favouring Adam for the win. Though it could be a close one. Up tomorrow: The Top 13 return (Anoop Dawg in da hizz-ouse!), and a top-secret lineup of celebrity guests perform (Keith Urban, the Black Eyed Peas and Queen Latifah are among them, I hear). Uh-oh, I'm going to miss the precious opening moments of Dancing With the Stars ...

8:01 p.m.: The only thing louder than Samantha Harris' grandma-curtain gown is the over-enthused live studio audience. Oh wait -- never mind; here's Lady Gaga performing Just Dance. Um, I think she forgot a pantleg. And that whole business-bob-in-the-front, party-weave-in-the-back 'do she's got going on is just, well, gutsy.

8:11 p.m.: Oh goodie; highlights from the first three weeks -- and performances from the first 11 eliminated couples. Time for a snack.

8:24 p.m.: Steve Wozniak? Who let the computer geek back on the stage? Potty break!

8:36 p.m.: Ball-er Anna Demidova will be partnered up with a celebrity next season after winning the professional dancer competition. They're going to have to give her a basketball player, judging by the length of her legs.

8:57 p.m.: Comedian Jeffrey Ross is roasting the crap of the stars. And while the jokes start out hilarious ("No actual stars made it to the finale. I Googled you people, it said, 'Ask Yahoo.' "), things take a turn for the nasty when he says Belinda Carlisle looks like a hooker and asks Melissa, "Wouldn't it be ironic if you came in second on this show too?" Ouch.

9:21 p.m.: Shawn and her pro partner Mark Ballas are cha-cha-ing for their lives. After scoring 28 for her paso doble and a perfect 30 for her freestyle number Monday night, the wee gymnast was laughing -- so you can imagine the joy after she earned another 30 tonight. Americans love their Olympians, so she has reason to smile.

9:29 p.m.: As does Melissa, after earning three 10s from the judges herself for her samba.

9:38 p.m.: Gilles Marini is repeating his hot Argentine tango -- and making me fall in love with him all over again.

9:43 p.m.: Lady Gaga is back -- and so are the Jetsons, apparently. How else to explain that spacey Judy-inspired jumpsuit she's wearing for her performance of Disco Stick?

9:51 p.m.: The couple in third place is ... Melissa and Tony? So America's sweetheart got dumped -- again. At least she didn't come in first, only to be told she was really just a runnerup though, right?

9:57 p.m.: Gilles was robbed! But like I said, Americans love their athletes (and there was apparently only a one percent difference separating the final two). Congrats on winning that gaudy-awful disco ball trophy, Shawn. You were flippin' amazing.