And then there were two.

Two remaining contestants --- and two remaining episodes. With the two-part finale a week away, Fox's summer smash "American Idol" scored its best numbers yet Wednesday night thanks to an extended hourlong edition.

An audience of 16.9 million watched as flame-haired Nikki McKibbin got the teary-eyed boot; Justin Guarini and Kelly Clarkson will now duke it out next week to be named the ultimate American Idol.

That's Fox's largest summer audience for a regular series in almost nine years. Among adults 18-49, the news was even bigger: The show posted an 8.3 rating and 23 share, making it Fox's top-rated original summer telecast in over 10 years.

The show not only won its slot in all major measurements (including both women and men), but it beat ABC, CBS and NBC combined in the adults 18-49 demo.

"Idol" isn't just a summer phenom. Wednesday night's perf was Fox's best series telecast overall ---including in the regular season ---among adults 18-49 and viewers in almost a year and a half.

"When you wake up to numbers like this you realize there's no such thing as a 'summer hit' --- it's just a hit," said Mike Darnell, Fox's exec vice president of alternative series. "Those numbers would be great in the middle of the year."

The clip-heavy nature of the seg, which revealed the two contestants heading into next week's crowning competish, didn't faze "American Idol's" growing fan base. Darnell said the net opted to expand last night's episode (the Wednesday entries have clocked in at 30 minutes) in an attempt to give the show extra momentum heading into the finale.

"When you've got something working like this you want to stretch it out as much as you can," he said.

After settling in to consistent ratings throughout July and the beginning of August, "Idol" has really popped in the last two weeks. The Tuesday (5.8/17) and Wednesday (5.3/15) editions have become the top-rated original series of the summer, besting NBC's "Meet My Folks" (5.2/14) and "Dog Eat Dog" (5.0/14) in adults 18-49.

As with any TV show-turned-pop culture phenomenon, the race to develop talent contests in the wake of "Idol's" success continues. Those include CBS' plan to resurrect the "Star Search" franchise (Daily Variety, Aug. 29) and USA's quest to find the next "Nashville Star" (Daily Variety, Aug. 12).

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