Best-bets for April 8: Elton and basketball’s best

1) Gershwin Prize, 8-10 p.m., PBS. Elton John (shown here n a previos concert) and his lyricist, Bernie Taupin, get the annual award for popular song. They’re in the front row, hearing their songs — from gorgeous ballads (Garth Brooks, Maren Morris) to gospel-style zest (Billy Porter and a sensational Jacob Lusk). There are big moments from Annie Lennox, Charlie Puth, Metallica, Brandi Carlile, Joni Mitchell … and from John. Read more…

1) Gershwin Prize, 8-10 p.m., PBS. Elton John (shown here n a previos concert) and his lyricist, Bernie Taupin, get the annual award for popular song. They’re in the front row, hearing their songs — from gorgeous ballads (Garth Brooks, Maren Morris) to gospel-style zest (Billy Porter and a sensational Jacob Lusk). There are big moments from Annie Lennox, Charlie Puth, Metallica, Brandi Carlile, Joni Mitchell … and from John.

2) Basketball, 9:20 p.m. ET, TBS, TNT and TruTV. The college championship game is turned into a TV marathon. The three channels will share pre-game coverage, starting at 7 p.m. ET, and will also have a post-game show; afterward (about midnight), TBS and TruTV have a new edition of “Stupid Pet Tricks.”

3) “The Voice” (NBC) and “American Idol” (ABC), both 8-10 p.m. It’s music-overload time, with talented newcomers on two channels, colliding with the greats on PBS. “Voice” is starting its two-Monday “battle rounds”; “Idol” wraps up its Hawaii visit, trimming the field from 24 to 20.

4) “NCIS,” 8-11 p.m., CBS. The next new episode will be the 1,000th overall, for this show and its spin-offs. Instead of competing with basketball, CBS will wait until next Monday. Tonight, it has reruns at 8 (for one day, people work in other departments) and 10 (a bridegroom disappears). At 9 is a special about the 1,000-show milestone.

5) “Sight unseen,” 9 p.m., CW. Here’s a quick rerun of Wednesday’s opener. Suddenly losing her sight, a cop gets remote guidance, via her bodycam and earpiece. It’s a fairly good hour, despite the iffy logic of her refusing to tell her colleague what’s going on.
— Mike Hughes, TV America

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