American Idol Performances Available Exclusively on the iTunes Store

This just in from FOX…

Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox Digital Media, 19 Entertainment, FremantleMedia North America and Apple have once again partnered to make contestant performances from Season Eight of AMERICAN IDOL, television’s most popular show, available exclusively on the iTunes Store (www.itunes.com) the day following the performance.

Auditions ended last week as the Top 36 semifinalists were revealed. This week the 36 hopefuls will be split into three groups of 12, and for three consecutive weeks one group will perform. Kicking off today the first group of 12 semifinalists from AMERICAN IDOL will perform live and fans can purchase the music performances for 99 cents per song starting tomorrow. Starting March 11, the video of Top 12 finalist performances will also be available for purchase. And beginning today, fans can pre-order performances of their favorite contestants during the show from the iTunes Store, which will be downloaded automatically the day after the show airs.

“We broke records last year on AMERICAN IDOL with the number of downloads we sold. This year, with such a talented group of singers and a proven partnership with iTunes, we hope to be even more successful and break even more records,” said show creator and 19 Entertainment Founder/CEO Simon Fuller.

“We’ve created another special section on the iTunes Store for IDOL fans with an incredible array of music and video performances from television’s most popular show,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president Internet Services. “AMERICAN IDOL viewers will once again have the ability to purchase and download IDOL performances from iTunes to enjoy at home or on the go.”

FOX will also provide exclusive direct links to iTunes downloads from the free streaming performance videos on americanidol.com (www.americanidol.com), the official website of the show and home to MyIdol, the Internet’s largest AMERICAN IDOL fan site. Fans will be able to simply click through to iTunes if they want to purchase their favorite performances to own and enjoy on their computer, iPod, iPhone or AppleTV.