— It’s hard to escape "American Idol" veterans this week. ABC aired a Queen special featuring 2009 "Idol" sensation Adam Lambert. Tonight, Kelly Clarkson, the very first "Idol" winner, hosts the 2019 Billboard Music Awards, (8 p.m., NBC, TV-14). There, she’ll be serenaded by former "Idol" judge Paula Abdul. The ’90s pop siren will perform a medley of her hits.
Other highlights include the bestowing of this year’s Icon Award on singer Mariah Carey, who will also perform a medley of her popular songs. Other performers include Ciara, BTS, Lauren Daigle, Dan + Shay with Tori Kelly, the Jonas Brothers, Madonna, Halsey, Panic! at the Disco and Taylor Swift. Host Clarkson will sing a number or two as well.
— A night of nonfiction offerings includes the third and final installment of a live "Nature" (8 p.m., PBS, TV-G, check local listings) heralding the arrival of spring. Tonight’s finale focuses on rising temperatures and the effect they have had on extreme weather events and plant growth.
— Military veterans share harrowing stories of liberating death camps in the documentary "Liberation Heroes: The Last Eyewitnesses" (7 p.m., Discovery, TV-14). "Liberation" marks 74 years since the end of the war and the revulsion the world felt when places like Auschwitz were retaken from the Nazis. It also marks the 25th anniversary of the Shoah Foundation, which has amassed more than 55,000 stories of survivors, liberators and witnesses to the Holocaust.
— Netflix begins streaming "Knock Down the House," a documentary about four young women who decided to run for Congress, challenging entrenched incumbents. One woman, Cori Bush, a registered nurse, was galvanized by reaction to the police shooting of a neighbor. Paula Jean Swearengin had seen too many family members and neighbors suffer from the environmental effects of coal mining. Another, Amy Vilela, lost a loved one to a completely treatable medical condition and vowed to reform health care.
Of the four, only New Yorker Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez managed to win her Democratic primary and claim victory last November. Her backstory as a bartender who had to work double shifts to keep her family’s home from foreclosure resonated with supporters old and young, who feel beleaguered by student debts, a lack of decent health care and stagnant wages.
This film represents only part of the media attention heaped upon Ocasio-Cortez since emerging. Some has been rapturous to the point of unrealistic while other coverage has been rather ugly, reflecting poorly on her obsessive detractors.
Ocasio-Cortez’s place as a media star is indisputable. Her success as a legislator remains to be seen. She’s been in Congress a whole four months.
— Viewers besotted with all things sceptered can subscribe to the streaming service True Royalty TV. Beginning today, it offers a film that gets right to the heart of the matter: "Meghan Markle: Inside the Wardrobe of a Princess."
TONIGHT’S OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
— A photographer’s (Daniel Kaluuya) visit to his girlfriend’s (Allison Williams) parents’ (Catherine Keener, Bradley Whitford) house proves harrowing in the 2017 horror movie "Get Out" (7:30 p.m., FX, TV-MA), written and directed by Jordan Peele ("Twilight Zone").
— Lucious’ past resurfaces on "Empire" (8 p.m., Fox, TV-14).
— Performance anxiety on "Star" (9 p.m., Fox, TV-14).
— "NOVA" (9 p.m., PBS, TV-G, check local listings) airs a timely repeat: "Building the Great Cathedrals."
— The team rebounds from a shocking murder on "Whiskey Cavalier" (10 p.m., ABC, TV-14).
— "Breakthrough: Ideas That Changed the World" (10 p.m., PBS, TV-PG, check local listings) reflects on the centuries-long fixation on robots.
— The Baron demands a tour of Staten Island on "What We Do in the Shadows" (10 p.m., FX, TV-MA).
CULT CHOICE
— Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman star in the murky 1999 thriller "Eyes Wide Shut" (9 p.m., Showtime), set in a secret society’s erotic demimonde. Years in the making and long, slow and baffling to watch, it was director Stanley Kubrick’s final film.
SERIES NOTES
More outwitting than wit on "Survivor" (8 p.m., CBS, TV-PG) … Adam tries to make amends on "The Goldbergs" (8 p.m., ABC, TV-PG) … News about dad rattles Betty on "Riverdale" (8 p.m., CW, TV-14) … Barry admits his crush on "Schooled" (8:30 p.m., ABC, TV-PG).
Globetrotting on "The Amazing Race" (9 p.m., CBS, TV-PG) … Graduation day looms on "Modern Family" (9 p.m., ABC, TV-PG) … Secrets and lies on "Jane the Virgin" (9 p.m., CW, TV-14) … Will dreams big on "Single Parents" (9:30 p.m., ABC, TV-PG) … Tensions mount on "SEAL Team" (10 p.m., CBS, TV-14).
LATE NIGHT
Mariska Hargitay, Thomas Middleditch and Hootie and the Blowfish appear on "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert" (11:35 p.m., CBS) … Jimmy Fallon welcomes Alexander Skarsgard and Fontaines D.C. on "The Tonight Show" (11:35 p.m., NBC).
